Ulpotha, Yoga Retreat in Embogama - Sri Lanka

Timetable, Prices & Special Offers

Programme                Teacher                Massage Therapists              Dates             Cost P/Wk

Hatha Yoga               Rachel Auburn     Matthew Gale & Hilary Dowling   8th  - 22nd Nov      $1,250 P/P   

Hatha and                Annoushka Hempel    Malaika, Hilary Dowling       22nd Nov - 6th Dec   $1,250 P/P

Kundalini Yoga        

Vinyasa Flow           Amanda Latchmore     Malaika, Paola Ceccarelli    6th - 20th Dec         $1,250 P/P

 Yoga                         Paola Ceccarelli 

Vinyasa Flow            Daniela Schmid              Gill Croft, Malaika          20th Dec - 3rd Jan    $1,500 P/P

Yoga

Dynamic Hatha        Claire Farman               Gill Croft, Laura Johnson      3rd - 17th Jan       $1,250 P/P

Yoga  

Astanga Yoga         Stephen Thomas            Ying Li, Laura Johnson       17th Jan 31th Jan     $1,250 P/P

Iyengar Yoga      Lorraine McConnon    Laura Johnson, Nico Thoemmes  31th Jan - 14th Feb   $1,250 P/P

Vinyasa Flow         Kathy Roberts       Laura Johnson, Nico Thoemmes     14th - 28th Feb       $1,250 P/P

Yoga 

Hatha Yoga        Nigel Gilderson         Louise Dixon, Nadav Arad            28th Feb - 14th Mar  $1,250 P/P

Vinyasa Flow          Mika                    Louise Dixon, Nadav Arad            14th Mar 28th Mar     $1,250 P/P

Yoga

Travel

For flights from the UK
For direct flights with Sri Lankan Airlines contact Dash at Paradise Travel on 020 8434 0411.
It helps if you mention Ulpotha. Please be aware that departure is one day before the start of the holiday due to the time difference and journey time - note transfer info below.

Airport transfers
We will meet you at the airport and return you to the airport after your holiday. The cost per vehicle (maximum of 4 people) is approximately $100 each way. The transfer cost should be paid to the driver. Please enquire should you wish to be collected or dropped off at a location in Sri Lanka other than the airport.

Excursions
An excursion to some of Sri Lanka's outstanding cultural heritage sites is organised every week from Ulpotha.  The cost is included in the price of your holiday (not included are entrance fees and any meals, drinks or extras taken outside of Ulpotha).  Ulpotha is located in Sri Lanka's incredibly rich Cultural Triangle nearby to the following intriguing sites:

• Anuradhapura
• Arankale
• Aukana
• Dambulla Golden Temple
• Hatthikucchi
• Kandy
• Pollunarawa
• Ritigala
• Sasserewa
• Sigirya
• Yapahuwa

Trips around the island or to the beach can also be organised for you once you arrive in Ulpotha.

Additional Information

Accomodation

At the centre of the village is the Walauwwa, the traditional main house now restored around a central stone courtyard with an ancient well.  The adjoining Ambalama, an open sided pavilion, provides a covered sitting area with mats, cushions, and beautiful views towards the surrounding hills and which is where meals are served.   Accommodation is provided in exquisitely but simply detailed wattle and daub huts.  These are built using traditional methods and materials, and consist of open sleeping/living areas covered with a pitched roof of thatched palm fronds.  Each accommodates two people. 

Much use has been made of clay, stone, wood, pottery and fabrics which reflect traditional village aesthetics.  By design there is no electricity and life is lived by the rhythm of the day.

Though the loos [toilets] are modern and clean and the showers are open-air, they are not en-suite in keeping with traditional village practice.

Eco Policies

Ulpotha uses natural materials for all its buildings, while following organic farming practices that follow the lunar cycle and use no mechanical means.  All crops are hand planted and harvested, while the fields are ploughed and the rice is threshed by buffalo. 

However, the most fundamental of Ulpotha’s environmental policies is to limit the number of guests it accepts (no more than 19 paying guests at a time) and to do so for a limited period in any given year (a maximum of 26 weeks). 

Though there is no electricity, light is provided by flares, lamps and lanterns, lending Ulpotha an ethereal quality at night.  Similarly there are no fridges either, since they were deemed by one of the founders of Ulpotha as little more than a means of eating un-fresh food.

Community

In Ulpotha, the villagers who live and work there are part and parcel of the experience enjoyed by guests.  Though they have deliberately not been given any training in any aspect of hotel-type service, they are gracious, hospitable and a lot of fun.

Ulpotha is largely run by the villagers themselves.

Meals

Local village life is based on a vegetarian tradition, with the staple diet centered on highly nutritious strains of red rice.  Meals are cooked in clay pots over open fires and are produced from the organic crops grown in Ulpotha.  Vegetables, yams and melons fill the gardens, along with mature banana, mango, papaya, jack and breadfruit trees.

All meals are cooked in the indigenous style featuring rice, curries, salads, buffalo curd, local savories and sweets and, of course, fruits. 

Facilities

There is a treatment centre where one can have complete Ayurveda treatments administered by Ulpotha’s resident doctor.  Proceeds from these go towards funding Ulpotha’s newly created Free Clinic for the surrounding local villages. There is also Yoga available twice a day taught by some of the world’s leading Yoga teachers.  In addition, one can go for walks in the mountains, swim in the lake, participate in meditation and Pranayama sessions, go bird watching, have massages with our visiting massage therapists, indulge in herbal steam baths, or go on excursions to some of the many intriguing cultural sites that surround Ulpotha.  Alternatively, one can do what Ulpotha is most amenable to – relax and hang out in one of the many hammocks and hanging beds that dot the grounds or in our lovely tree-house or lake huts.