2020 March

My love of travel goes far deeper than creating and running Ekno Travels. You could say that my life has been consumed by travel. I got my first insider experience travelling around Australia before embarking on adventures to New Zealand, England, Scotland and Japan.

But it wasn’t until I travelled to the Himalayas – firstly as a volunteer in a Nepali village and then to Dharamsala, the home of the Dalai Lama – that I fully realised the power that travel has to connect us to the people, places and unique cultural experiences that make up the world.

Many people have shared in my journey since I started Ekno Travels over 15 years ago. My vision was to set up a sustainable tourism company and employ local guides and the services of local people.  Since then that has happened and I am very happy to say that not only do we have local guides, but two of employees have now become my business partners in India.  Vikas heads the field operations whilst Shiv is in charge of the internal operations.  We opened a new office in India in December 2019 in Sidhpur and look forward to many more years working together to keep us all connected (pictured above) .

We will continue to work to provide to insider guides in India to you, the people who have travelled with us in the past and created lifelong memories. We are all a part of a global community who will be affected by this current crisis.

I  believe that even during these uncertain times, it is important to keep planning for the future and not to give up hope. There will be a time when we can travel again. That’s why we are making sure that you can once again explore India and beyond when you are ready.

We truly are Indian and subcontinent specialists as we live and breathe this part of the world. We look forward

tosharing it with you again in the future as the world defeats COVID-19. We intend to spend our time over the coming months planning new and exciting trips from the safety from our own homes – Sharon & Brooke in Australia, Vikas, Shiv, Ashish & Kalpna in India. We are a small team but we believe that we will bounce back stronger, more rested and ready to hit the ground running.

We have postponed all of our mid-year trips until 2021 as these are to destinations which can only be reached during the summer season (Ladakh and the Spiti Valley in India and our pilgrimage to Tibet).We will be focusing on the upcoming festival season, an experience not to be missed in spiritual India. Or you might be looking for more chilled out time in enchanting Kerala with the city of Kochi recently voted as the top trending city in the world. With its quaint old world charm of colonial backstreets, interesting architecture, thriving art forms and bespoke cafes and galleries it is the perfect remedy to combat the fear currently in our lives. Beyond India, our Pilgrimage Paths to Japan is still planned for  December 2020.

We will keep you informed with regular newsletters during this period of uncertainty.

All of us at Ekno Travels are wishing you and your family the best of health at this difficult time.

Sharon, Vikas, Shiv, Ashish, Brooke & Kalpna  

Did you know that Pilgrimage Paths to Japan covers three parts of the Kumano Kudo which allows  you to be have half of the Dual Pilgrim title uner the UNSECO World Heritage pilgrimage routes.  One of the conditions is that you must cover Hosshinmon-oji to Kumano Hongu Taisha on foot (~7 km) plus a visit to Kumano Hayatama Taisha and Kumano Nachi Taisha.  During the last few  days of the Pilgrimage we get to cover all three and along the way get the opportunity to gather stamps in a book for recording your journey.   Part of the fun is finding the places where the stamps are kept and placing them in your book.

A “Dual Pilgrim” is someone who has walked both the Kumano Kodo and the Way of St.James (Camino de Santiago). This program was developed to celebrate, honor, and share the stories of those who have completed both of these UNESCO World Heritage pilgrimage routes. Dual Pilgrims receive a limited edition “DUAL PILGRIM” pin badge and are featured on the Dual Pilgrim page of spiritual-pilgrimages.com. (Inclusion on the website is optional).

The Dual Pilgrim logo is a combination of a shell and a three-legged crow. The colors are shades of orange, often seen in beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

To receive the Dual Pilgrim status, pilgrims must complete one of the options for the Way of St. James, and one of the options for the Kumano Kodo and register.  When completing the sites, you can register at the tourist office at Hongu or at Tanabe.

Meet Cathy and Phil from our 2019 Pilgrimage Paths to Japan who having completed the Way of St.James (Camino de Santiago*) in 2018 were able to become Dual Pilgrims. *The Camino de Santiago is known in English as the Way of St. James, is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the saint are buried. Many follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth.