Our first day in the saddle, leaving Jaipur. Traffic, potholes, oh the potholes, dust, salt and sand. We break ourselves and our guest in with a longer then expected cross country ride to end up on the banks of Pushkar lake. A happy but tiring beginning.
From the most expensive yet perfect tiny hotel room to roof top Kirtan overlooking Rishikesh and Ma Ganga. India teaches you to go with her flow.
Welcome to the first episode of our India Diaries, where we share some of our journey with you. It's been an eventful first 48 hrs!
Words like Beautiful and magical kept falling from our mouths.
Spent the morning with some wonderful new friends. An ayurvedic master our host and a beautiful young teacher from Chile, he has been running a retreat where we are staying. Before hiring a Enfield and doing our favorite thing.
OK, this is a long one! With a lot of talking! What a truly incredible day!! It's actually hard to describe the fullness of our experience.
We started the day open, feeling the sunrise. Then fell headlong into such moments! Topping it off with a reconnection with a dear friend from our distant past, soul family, who we then spent the most moving afternoon with.
So make a cup of tea and settle in for the magic.
Love Jono and Yasmeen
Do we need to push?!?! Our first electric tuk tuk ride!
Our guests arrive, it is a beautiful intimate group this time.
We travel deeper into the hills of Rishikesh ( the hair of the saints. Rishi are the saints and gurus, Kesh is the hair. The Gunga flows from Shivas head and hair. )
To our retreat accommodation and reconnect with our dear friend Jogi.
We drive deeper into the hills high up to the site of an ancient Shiva temple where the energy pulses with sacredness.
Eat Ramfruit. With mixed responses and Yasmeen color coordinates her new injury. Enjoy the growing joy we are feeling.
Love Jono and Yasmeen
Episode 6 India Diaries. An extraordinary experience of heartfelt openess on the banks of Ma Ganga. Tears of love and joy. Be ready for an emotional ride. But will we make it home???
Episode 7 India Diaries. The mystery deepens. Yasmeen experiences a profound reconnection. We eat the most incredible organic foods, and reality warps and time disappears.
Episode 8 India Diaries. Perfumed blessing from Anandmayi Ma, experiencing the sacred in all it's glorious contrasts. A 5 star lunch, against the backdrop of the rawness of humanity. Haridwar you are an incredible city!
Episode 9 India Diaries. We say good by to The Sattva and head to Dehradun. Getting to visit the revolutionary farm that is Navdanya. Created by the magnificent Vandana Shiva. We witness the most outrageous 1st birthday party then have our own celebration to farewell our dearest friend Jageshwar Kashyap. Love reading how this journey touches you all.
Episode10 India Diaries. Riding, flying, waiting, navigating. We journey to our next destination. The final leg is an initiation into trust and the unknown. Then we arrive! And oh my where we arrive to!!! You will be as excited as we are to discover our destination. Love Yasmeen and Jono
Episode 11 India Diaries. We awake to a sunrise that carries blessings in its light. Revealing the palace we arrived at late last night. And we all have fallen in love! A new member joins our group!! What a cutie she is. Should I be trusted to take the group on a jeep safari! Poshina and Darbargadh Palace is a world of wonder! Thank you Honey and Hanu for your gracious hosting. Love Yasmeen and Jono
Episode 12 India Diaries. A soft and peaceful day in Poshina, filling up on the light, the love and Raman, with more puppy blessings thrown in. Love Yasmeen and Jono
Episode 13 India Diaries Ancient teaching with a Master under a Banyan tree. The Guru and the Shepard. Buffalo milk Chai and Orange spirit cocktails. This is a very special video that captures a day of magic and the divine. Another long one, so put the kettle on and enjoy. Love Yasmeen and Jonathan.
Episode 14 Indian Diaries Another day of wonder, when your personal guide is a Prince life becomes full of delight and surprises. Including having Yasmeen Clark mobbed. Hanu is such a gracious man, he and Honey give so much. We have enjoyed giving back to them in some small ways. Love Yasmeen and Jono
Update 18/02/23: This is VJ. He will be caring for Durga, while we sponsor him and her food etc. He will take her to his village over the hot season of Summer when the Palace closes. His wife and two year old son will also care for her. It was a bit hard to leave her this morning. She really entered my heart. So hard to find a way that she stays in the US for 6 months before being allowed into NZ. So staying an Indian dog it is. We look forward to seeing her when we return. Hopefully in December or around then. Hanu was falling in love with her a little too. Was hoping she could stay as Princess Durga! Now I will look forward to the monthly photos of her and her progress report. She is Guarded by the Goddess Durga Ma She recovered so well this week from the very vulnerable and weak puppy who made her way into Palace grounds earlier in the week. May Shiva also guard her and keep her safe. She really is an extraordinary little Soul Jonathan
Episode 15 India Diaries. New friends and the long sad goodbye. Darbargadh Palace, you have been a haven and a gift. But so many tears. We leave Puppy Durga, and at one point Geordie behind! Love Yasmeen and Jono
Episode 16 India Diaries- the final in this chapter. Udaipur the city of lakes, the Venice of Rajasthan. We play tourist and enjoy a loving farewell, with the added excitement of the fastest tuk tuk ride ever! This has been the most fulfilling journey with the most wonderful souls. Thank you Lucy, Andrew, Raeul, Tonia, Geordie, you have been the most precious travel companions on this journey into the sacred. We have loved every moment. The tears, laughter, gatherings, adventures and the food...oh the food! It must be time to eat again soon! Thank you for following us and sharing your encouragement. Love Yasmeen and Jono
Raman's Sacred Soul India Retreat has ended and after a couple days between we enter another fantastic journey. The Transformational Royal Enfield Tour!
Our first day in the saddle, leaving Jaipur. Traffic, potholes, oh the potholes, dust, salt and sand. We break ourselves and our guests
in with a longer then expected cross country ride to end up on the banks of Pushkar lake. A happy but tiring beginning.
From Pushkar to a Palace, we visit the most wonderful temple of healing, a place of deep care and warmth. Yasmeen and I get up close and personal with the sand and an update on Durga the puppy.
We ride to Phalodi, enjoy traditional Ghoat bbq, (no animals were harmed!) Take on the ships of the desert that burp from both ends.
India Enfield Diaries ep 4. The Sick days.
We get married... again. Our ride takes us from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur then onto Jojawa.
I sleep through most of it. Not the getting married part. Thanks for all the great feed back on our travels, please do like and comment on the Youtube page Love Yasmeen and Jono
We enjoy some of the most magical riding, take a train through the hill stations, visit sacred site of enormous sacrifice. Spend more time with Royalty and generally have the most wonderful time exploring other parts of Rajasthan less travelled. Before returning to Jaipur to say our sad farewells in a rather fun way. This final video of our 5 week adventure is a small taste of what is possible. If you want to join us on our next tour in India, reach out and let us know. We will be back!! Love Yasmeen and Jono www.indiapersonaltours.co.nz
This is the end of our India Diary updates. Thank you for watching and we hope you enjoyed these moments as we did and look forward to you joining us next year! We have some pretty special things planned!