Day 1 - Arrival
Riding: No riding.
Most guests fly into Delhi this day and spend a night here (hotel night not included) before taking the train the next morning.
Day 2 - Delhi - Jodhpur
Riding: 1 - 2 hours
Train from Delhi to Jodhpur, with arrival before midday and transfer to Hotel Ratan Vilas Palace. The hotel was built in 1920 by Maharaj Ratan Singh of Raoti, a keen horse lover and one of the greatest polo players of his time. Ratan Vilas, with its imposing exterior carved from red Jodhpur sandstone, is a genuine heritage edifice in a sylvan setting.
The villa continues to be home to the grandson of Maharaj Ratan Singh, Maharaj Bharat Singh, and his family. In order to put the place to good use they now welcome visitors and run it as a family hotel. Lunch is eaten here.
After lunch there is a drive of approximately 45 minutes to the base camp where the horses and safari team are waiting, having arrived from their home in Nawalgarh. Guests are welcomed with folk music and gifts and will be allocated suitable horses for an introductory ride in the surrounding countryside. Overnight tonight is at Ratan Vilas or a similar standard hotel in Jodhpur.
Day 3 - Jodhpur
Riding: 1 - 2 hours
This morning you are taken sightseeing at Mehrangarh Fort and to explore parts of the old city of Jodhpur with car and guide. In the afternoon you will be driven to the camp for a ride - Jodhpur is on the eastern fringe of the Thar Desert and serves as the gateway to its wonderland of sand dunes and shrubs, rocky terrain and thorny trees.
Rao Jodha established the Rathore Dynasty in Jodhpur in 1459AD. The Mehrangarh Fort was hewn out of the rocks and the city of Jodhpur emerged from the sands of the Thar Desert to form the flourishing kingdom of Marwar. This encompassed some 36,000 square miles and was strategically placed on the trade route between Delhi and the Middle East. It was also a flourishing trading centre of wood, cattle, camels, salt and agricultural crops. The past, in fact, is never very far behind in Jodhpur where palaces, forts, temples and other elegant monuments of architectural and historical worth vie with each other for attention.
Mehrangarh Fort spreads over 5km and is situated on a hill. It houses a palace intricately adorned with long, carved panels and latticed windows which have been exquisitely carved from red sandstone. It also has a museum with a rich collection of palanquins, howdahs, royal cradles, miniature paintings, folk music instruments, costumes and impressive armoury.
Overnight tonight in Ratan Vilas or similar standard hotel in Jodhpur.
Day 4 - Jodhpur - Luni - Satlana (Safari Begins!)
Riding: 4 - 6 hours
This morning you are driven into camp to start your safari! The ride begins in a dry, flat region with a lunch halt in a small rain catchment area beside a temple to the folk divinity 'Mamoji'.
Each day on your safari you will cover distances of around 25 - 30km, riding through open countryside, farms and villages. The route follows the dry riverbed of Luni. Overnight stays are in tents in your moving luxury camp. Each evening you will swing to the rhythm of the camps' folk musicians.
During the safari you will pass through many settlements of the Bishnoi community who have made environmental protection their religion. The Bishnoi people follow 29 principles laid down by Guru Jambhoji who made environmental and wildlife protection a "religion" in the fifteenth century. Common throughout Rajasthan and Gujarat, they are renowned for their concern for nature and particularly their refusal to harm the Blackbuck which now only survive in Bishnoi villages and reserves.
Bishnoi beliefs came to the political forefront in 1730 when the king of Jodhpur ordered his men to collect wood for his new place. Despite the pleas of the Bishnois, felling commenced in the small village of Khejadali, near to Jodhpur. In desperation Amritdevi, a Bishnoi woman, hugged a tree. The fellers assumed that the king's request was to be respected and so ignored the woman's pleas... she and 362 of her fellow people lost their lives trying to protect the forest. On hearing the news, the king recalled his men and accorded state sanction to the Bishnoi religion, a turning point in history remembered each September when thousands attend a festival in Khejadali.
Tonight is your first night in camp.
Day 5 - Satlana - Ghana
Riding: 4 - 6 hours
Riders will head upstream into the large expanse of the dry riverbed of the Luni river. Being very sandy, the going this morning is quite slow. After leaving the riverbed the ride takes you through villages and dry, scrubby country. The festival of colour, Holi, has just passed and so in this region people are still celebrating with dancing and drumming.
Before reaching camp tonight you will cross 8 or 9km of protected bushland, belonging to the Ramdev ji Temple. Such temple protectorates are called "Oran". The camp tonight is in a farmer's field and in the evening we may have the farmer's family or other ladies of the nearby village come to visit us.
Overnight in camp.
Day 6 - Ghana - Karmavas
Riding: 4 - 6 hours
Today's ride takes you through flat, dry desert land which is arid but not sandy. Riders will be surprised by the clean, well-maintained houses of the villagers. Your direction today is north-west and you will approach the campsite with the low hills of the Aravali ranges visible on the horizon. Typical desert flora will be seen this day.
Overnight in camp.
Day 7 - Karmavas / Asotra
Riding: 4 - 6 hours
Riding towards the hills you will pass clusters of acacia before crossing the village 'Mangla'. Today's lunch stop is in the backdrop of a hillock, facing the riverbed. After lunch you will ride on to Asotra... a big surprise, a green belt. Around Asotra an aquifer from 2000BC was discovered, created by the ancient Saraswati river basin. As a result, farmers now pump water using electric pumps to raise their crops and riders will head through this fertile oasis. Camp tonight is in a farmer's field and riders are able to meet the villagers and the family.
Overnight in camp.
Day 8 - Asotra - Balotra Fair (Tilwara)
Riding: 3 - 4 hours
Rather than having to ride along a road with steady traffic to pass by Balotra city, riders will travel by jeep to Jasol. The horses will have been taken by the grooms early in the morning and you will meet up with them to Jasol for the ride on to the fair at Tilwara village, approximately 16km. You will reach Tilwara by evening and can explore the fair ground on arrival.
Evening campfire and folk entertainment. Overnight in camp.
ABOUT BALOTRA HORSE AND CAMEL FAIR:
In south-west Rajasthan, around 145km from Jodhpur, lies the small village of Tilwara, situated on the banks of the dry, seasonal Luni river. The closest town is Balotra (19km away) which falls in the district 'Barmer' of Rajasthan. Many centuries the famous ruler Mallinathji was in control and he is now worshipped as a divinity. The temple to Mallinathji is located on the opposite bank of river to Tilwara. Every year in the first fortnight of the Hindu month of 'Chaitra' there is a large fair held here - horses, camels and bullocks come to the fair, as well as donkeys in the last phase.
The owners of the animals camp in the dry riverbed, perhaps using their carts or making temporary dwellings from acacia bushes. The prosperous horse owners and traders bring their tents and attendant staff, cook and so on. The animal owners occupy the riverbed for many kilometres and they cook, sleep and trade in these temporary dwellings which are called "aali" in the local dialect. At sunrise and sunset the horse owners display their horses by riding up and down the riverbed whilst audiences and buyers cheer them. Anybody can accost the riders and bid or negotiate on a deal.
These days the state government organises horse shows and competitions - last year this was presided over by the Maharaja of Jodhpur! The fair is held in the very heartland of the Marwari horse, the local Indian breed, and some very good quality horses are brought to the fair. People travel from faraway states (Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra) to purchase animals from the fair.
It is a rare spectacle to see five to seven thousand horses, fifteen to twenty thousand camels and about thirty to forty thousand bullocks and cattle and their owners in the flat expanse of the riverbed. The market places which appear sell all kinds of goods from camel and water tanks to earthenware utensils, rugs, ropes, tack, camel saddles, colourful girdles, beds, doors, brass, copper and steel pots and pans. There are also many stores of recycled materials like conveyor belts, parachute materials, musical instruments and all sorts of things that villagers would buy. This fair is a paradise for photographers and it takes a visitor back to an atmosphere from biblical times - one feels to have walked in the past.
Your safari camp is set up roughly 1 - 1.5km away on the banks of the riverbed, overlooking the fair. Guests will go on their horses to ride around the fair and at pre-decided points the grooms will wait so that you may leave your horse and walk around if you wish. Guests are warned that temperatures in March are getting hot but you are more than rewarded by this extraordinary event.
The fair is much larger than the famous Pushkar or Nagaur camel and cattle fair and is not frequented by tourists, it remains unspoiled.
Days 9 to 10 - Balotra Fair
Riding: 3 - 5 hours
Morning and evening ride with afternoons free to explore the fair.
Evening campfire and folk entertainment. Overnight in camp.
Day 11 - Balotra Fair - Jodhpur
Riding: No riding.
Morning ride around the fairground if you wish. After breakfast you will be driven back to Jodhpur (around 4 hours) for lunch at Ratan Vilas. Later transfer to railway station for train to Jaipur or Delhi.
NB. March is the beginning of the summer season and days begin to get very hot, with peak temperatures ranging from 25 - 38C (night temperatures 15 - 20C). Riding will start early in the day and there will be a long lunch break so as to avoid riding during the heat of the day.
Note: All programmes and itineraries are weather dependent; in the face of adverse, or unexpected, weather conditions reasonable attempts will be made to provide equivalent riding. All programmes are accurate at the time of writing. However, the team may adapt or modify details, whilst aiming to provide a similar experience.
