A trail ride with accommodation in both the palace and in comfortable and spacious tents. A total of 6 nights with 5 days riding. English-speaking guide.
You fly to New Delhi and change to a domestic flights to Jodhpur where you are driven to Siddhart’s home. After test riding, it's off through a landscape that changes between farmland and semi-desert. The desert is in stark contrast to the villagers' colorful clothes. The people of Rajasthan are characterized by their friendliness, hospitality but also their pride and integrity. Tourists are rare here so you are happily welcomed into the villages and served tasty food.
You will stay four nights at the Palace and three nights in a wilderness camp in spacious tents with real beds, bathroom facilities and windows. As a rider, you're close to India's locals and its exotic setting, making for a tremendous experience.
After the thrilling ride, you will return to New Delhi for your flight home or recommend a visit to the world famous Taj Mahal. In 2007, the Taj Mahal one nominated as of the new Seven Wonders of the World. A perfect end to a great trip!
Below is an example of what the week will include.
This trail ride is one of contrasts. It begins with you feeling like royalty in a palace before heading out into the countryside to see how most people live their daily lives. To do this on horseback is, as always, the best way.
Number of participants: Minimum 2 maximum of 12 riders.
Preliminary day-by-day program
Day 1 - Arrival at the palace. Overnight and dinner at the palace.
Day 2- We start our ride after breakfast to do our famous village safari, but on horse back. We ride to villages and Dhanis ( hutments ) to meet and interact with local folk, from various communities such as Bishnois, Raikas etc. We get off to visit their beautiful homes experience traditional rural life in its authenticity. The safari is a window showcasing the best of rural India. We encounter black buck antelope and the Nilgai on the ride and get to see huge verity of bird life. A fantastic picnic lunch is included in this ride. It is a royal picnic usually by a water-body. After having visited 2 to 3 villages and interacted with the various communities part taking in their customs and seeing their crafts. We ride back to the palace by evening.
Day 3 - Ride out after break fast from the palace. Our famous picnic lunch is served at a mid way point and the riders reach the camp in time to witness the sunset. Bar-be-que dinner with bonfire and over night in the luxury tents at the Wilderness Camp. Distance. approx 18 km.
Day 4 - Ride out from the Wilderness camp into the wilderness with picnic lunch being served en-route, this is the longest ride of the six days and you arrive at a beautiful mobile campsite at a remote location. This camp is specially setup for the guests at a beautiful picturesque location. Distance approx. 23 km.
Day 5 - Ride out after breakfast for Mihir Garh. Before lunch, ride to Dhoondli village, where the riders get to visit the typical , beautiful traditional Village of Western Rajasthan. They also get to participate in the age old custom symbolising friendship and brotherhood - The Opium Ceremony. Lunch is served in style by the Dhoondli lake. After a leisurely lunch the guests ride on to Mihir Garh - The boutique mud Fort in the middle of nowhere. High tea awaits the guests upon arrival. Dinner and overnight at Mihir Garh. Approx distance - 20 kms.
Day 6 - Ride out after breakfast from Mihir Garh back to the palace. The rest of the day they can enjoy the beautiful palace and all that it has to offer. Alternately they can do a day ride with a picnic lunch out in the country side and return back for tea. Both options are open for the guests, depending on how they feel on that day.
Day 7
After a wonderful breakfast you will have (unfortunately) to say goodbye to your host and his fabulous home.
You will be driven to Jodhpur Airport. Jodhpur-Delhi flights leave 3.30pm-4.40pm
You ride through the villages, where sometimes you take a break or your lunch in the company of the villagers. Rajasthan villages are very colorful and exciting and the people are distinguished by their kindness and hospitality, and also their pride and integrity.
These villages are not on the usual tourist trail, so there tends to be a lot of commotion when you come riding through.
One of the villages you visit belongs to the Bishnoi people, the original "tree huggers".
The riding is about 4-6 hours per day with a break for a good lunch. The pace of this ride is steady, with plenty of walking, trotting and a opportunity for a few gallops in the morning and in the afternoon. The tempo is a little different depending on the riding experience of the group. But no matter the tempo, it's the overall experience that makes this trip so rich, colorful and exciting.
The days will be like a warm Northern European and North American Summer. You will take a break in the middle of the day when it is at its warmest. The nights can get quite cold.
Luggage, food, drinking water, medical kit, etc. will be transported by car. Drinking water will also be carried in saddlebags. It is worth noting that the Indians do not normally drink alcohol. The prices of alcoholic beverages are therefore approximately the same as the western prices.
The car will meet you for lunch every day. You will eat lunch in villages or out in the countryside.
