Riding Tours Blog

Day 4 – That morning we were excited to be heading out toward Nagaur to meet our horses and begin the ride and we left by car soon after breakfast. The famous rat temple of Karniji at Deshok was en route so we stopped to pay a quick visit to this unique shrine. It is home to hundreds of rats which are considered sacred in the temple where they are fed and cared for. They run harmlessly about under foot unmolested and the place is a manifestation of the Hindu belief in tolerance for all God’s creatures.

We arrived at camp near Nagaur in time for lunch. There we were greeted by Kr. Raghavendra Singh Dundlod known as Bonnie, our guide and host, who owns the horses, accompanying vehicles and camping gear. He has been guiding our trips for 15 years and runs one of the best organized rides we have around the world. He belongs to an aristocratic family of Rajputs and has his own palace/castle in another part of Rajasthan at Dundlod. Our roomy tents were pitched in a semicircle facing the cook wagons and tents for the staff of about 30 people to look after us and the horses. In between was a dining table and chairs where we would sit for meals. The horses were picketed nearby and a toilet trailer with a shower room was behind our tents. This is the kind of thing we cannot provide in a wilderness pack trip from our own Wyoming dude ranch. A cold wind had begun to sweep down from the Himalayas to the north and the sand was starting to blow so we took shelter in the dining tent to eat a delicious lunch. After a short rest we were introduced to our horses and mounted up for a ride to the fair which was about four miles away. Unfortunately the wind was still blowing hard so we had to wear warm jackets and Bonnie tried to avoid going directly into the wind which the horses did not like. When we arrived on the edge of the fair grounds there were camels everywhere as far as the eye could see. Narrow lanes were left open between squares where the camels were picketed and where their owners camped which was often under their carts. Some of our horses were not entirely comfortable with such close proximity to these large animals, but the camels were usually unperturbed. We made a quick tour of one end of the fair and then headed out of town to put our horses through their paces. The sandy tracks and flat country were ideal for some fast canters and we stayed out for a few hours getting used to our mounts before returning to camp for cocktails and dinner. While we ate we pulled up our chairs around a blazing fire. Happily the wind had gone down, but we were glad to have the warmth of the fire as we ate. That night we all slept soundly in comfortable beds in our own spacious tents although it did get down to freezing temperature before morning and we bundled ourselves up in a good supply of sleeping bags and blankets. It can be cold sometimes in the desert.