Horseback Riding Vacation in India (Day 8)
Day 8 – We headed out for Tantwas village for another camp in the desert. We often sighted the wild chinkara gazelles which survive well in the desert. They are beautiful and graceful animals which treated us more with curiosity than fear. Bonnie was in frequent radio communication with the jeeps which usually were able to stay within a mile or so of the riders without being obtrusive in case we needed anything. The trucks meanwhile had gone on ahead to pitch the evening camp for us. On this day the jeeps had some trouble getting through the sand in places and the staff sometimes had to get out and push. Horses and camels really work better in this country. Once we tried to hire a camel so that we could take turns trying a ride, but the camel we picked turned out to be pretty unmanageable and after one of our party had a rather hairy ride the rest of us declined.
Our camp for the night was near an isolated village where the head man greeted us with warm hospitality. He was a picturesque fellow with a patch on one eye and a shotgun slung over his shoulder. Bonnie told us that in his younger days he had been active in smuggling across the border from Pakistan.
