Drishti Journeys

I recently attended the Peru sacred journey retreat. It was my first retreat of any kind. The yoga teacher Judit was incredible however the organizers of the group (drishti journeys) had no presence as leaders or organizers. Many times it fell to other participants to count people or keep the group on track in excursions. The owner and his wife were essentially on their own vacation and several participants didn’t even know they were the organizers until half way through the week. Overall they just had a lack of leadership and presence and I would personally not use them again. There was no opportunity at all that they lead our group. Minimal effort overall. Thankfully the yoga teacher Judit made the experience worth it.

Words can’t even describe the week I had with Drishti Journeys in Bali. The group of individuals that was cultivated, the experiences and immersion with and in the culture… it was all so much more than I ever could have imagined. Drishti Journeys truly knows what it means to live Yoga. This retreat was so much more than just the Asana for me, the experiences and activities seemed carefully curated and aligned with all things yoga, love, Dharma and Karma. Highly recommend!

Participating in so much culture was fantastic - the Melukat to begin the retreat, eating meals with local families, visiting a textile shop and watching pieces being made each step of the way, and touring a local market. They do a great job of weaving so much cultural enrichment into the retreat. More group meals would enhance the experience.

My friend and I booked a trip to Bali for a yoga retreat along with our elderly mothers by Drishti Journeys for May 2024. They charged us a hefty amount of USD $2500 for 7 nights. We fell for their good looking website and Leah the yoga teacher's great reputation.
Our first red flag was when we were not even greeted by the organizer Mr Reinier Voorwinde upon arrival which is the first gesture of hospitality, I felt odd but then went and introduced myself and our group. There were only 12 participants in the retreat out of which 4 people were our group and 4 people were the friends and family of Mr. Voorwinde & Leah We noticed that the resort that they booked was less than $100 a night, it had a lot of steep steps and was not comfortable for our elderly mothers to climb. They did not think or warned us about it. During registration when they enquired about our food restriction, we specified that I am a vegetarian and my mother is a vegan. We were served same dish during 3 meals. One meal was packed junk food of cookies and chips unlike the food that you would expect in a yoga retreat and that too in a beautiful tropical country like Bali. We felt unwelcome, disrespected and excluded.
Their itinerary kept changing as it was so unplanned, we saw the last 3 days were left for self wonder and explore. We felt deceived and were upset wondering what are we paying them for. Third day we decided to quit this retreat and met with Mr Voorwinde to let him know about it. We requested refund for the remaining of the trip. Mr Voorwinde was so disrespectful and made such personal comments and judgement. He has been saying such atrocious comments in his follow up emails which would not be appropriate for me to mention in this public forum. We have just received $400 refund back per person so far from him. We are still fighting for our right to get a refund and have escalated the matters with the legal authorities, reported this as fraud.
In a nut shell, please do your thorough research before booking a trip with Drishti Journeys, You will be able to get 10 times better experience with 10 times less cost if you plan it yourself.

I highly recommend Reinier and Drishti Journeys for vacation and retreat, as well as adventure and connection. I walked away with such a profound submersion into another culture, perspective, and way of living outside of my own that has impacted my life, hopefully for years and years to come. To say the retreat was amazing is an understatement - thank you Reinier for your committed and sweet presence and guidance.