India Horseback Riding Tour

Udaipur: The Lake City

Plan to arrive in Udaipur (UDR) by midday for pick-up at the airport and transfer to our hotel. Palaces, temples, havelis and innumerable narrow, crooked, colorful streets are a distinct part of the city’s undeniable charm. We’ll get into the serene groove immediately with a sunset boat trip around the world-famous Lake Pichola. Fun fact: it’s an artificial freshwater lake!

Included Meals

Dinner

Accommodations

Lake Pichola Hotel or Udai Kothi Hotel

17th-century Charm

In the morning we poke around the City Palace Museum complex and have the opportunity for a bit of shopping. After lunch, we have a three-hour road transfer out of the city through the Aravalli Hills to Narlai. Our hotel, Rawla Narlai, is a delightful 17th-century property, which was once a favorite hunting lodge of the Jodhpur Royal Family. It is still owned by members of the Jodhpur family, who have invested vast amounts of time, money, love and care into restoring this little gem. We have time to settle into the hotel before making our way to an enchanting candlelit dinner on the rooftop terrace.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Rawla Narlai Hotel

Meet Your Marwari Horse

It’s an early 6 a.m. start for those who wish to climb the 700 steps up Elephant Hill to watch the golden sunrise over the foothills of the Aravalli. Tea and biscuits are served by a local Rabari shepherd at the top.

In the late afternoon, we meet our Marwari horses for a one-hour ride from the hotel to Jodha Stud Farm (the horses’ home). There, we’re served a fragrant home-cooked heritage farm dinner within the ambience of the stable complex. After our unique farm dining experience, we head back to the hotel for an early night in preparation for the miles ahead!

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Rawla Narlai Hotel

Off we go!

After breakfast, we head back to the stables to mount up for our full day ride to Dantiwara. Passing through rural villages and following a dry riverbed, we ride through the enveloping plains of the Aravalli hills, India’s oldest mountain range. We stop for an elaborate picnic lunch near a temple before making our way to our luxury lakeside tented safari camp.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Tented Safari Camp

The ride

19 miles (30 km), which takes about 6 hours

Into the Forest We Go

Today is another full-day ride, to Perwa in the Bali Forest. Making our way along the bottom of the Aravalli hills south west to the village of Perwa, we pass villages and rural farmsteads, cutting through smooth volcanic rock formations. We take an extended lunch in the shade in a shepherds’ village. 

After lunch, we ride along a reservoir wall on a high sand track. Here, we may be lucky to spot leopards at sunset, on a hill near our camp outside Perwa. Jeeps transfer us to our camp, and after rinsing off the day, we’ll gather for a decadent meal.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Tented Safari Camp

the Ride

19 miles (30 km), which takes about 6 hours

Leopards and More Leopards

For those who wish to rise extra early this morning, we have another chance to spot leopards at dawn! After breakfast, we ride to Jawai and onwards to Jawai Bandh reservoir. Leopards roam wild and free in this area with temples appearing like a mirage in the distance. Lunch is shared in a cozy clay bungalow where a local family introduces us to their Rajasthani traditions. 

We jump in jeeps in the late afternoon and begin searching for the cats at dusk. Dinner is served alongside an expansive reservoir, with experienced security guards watching over us in case leopards or alligators come a little too close for comfort.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Tented Safari Camp

Travel 

12 miles (20 km), which takes about 4 hours

Women’s Empowerment

After breakfast, we drive to Jodhpur, visiting one or more local women’s empowerment initiatives and NGOs along the way. Lunch is on the road as we travel to Rohet, where we also experience a local delicacy, kachori, a delicious spicy deep-fried snack.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Devi Bhawan Hotel, Jodhpur

Travel

3-4 hours by van shuttle

The Work of Giants

Have a leisurely morning resting by the hotel pool, get a massage or book yourself a locally guided tour around the old part of this “blue” city. 

In the afternoon, we visit the famous Mehrangarh Fort, built in 1459. Much has been written about the Citadel of the Sun, for truly, it is one of the most impressive in all Rajasthan. So colossal are its proportions that Rudyard Kipling called it “the work of giants.” Today, it is acknowledged as one of the best preserved forts in India. 

In the evening, we have the opportunity to go shopping at a local market and antiquities warehouse.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner 

Accommodations

Devi Bhawan Hotel, Jodhpur

The Great Thar Desert

In the morning, we drive one hour north to Mathania to meet up with our beloved Marwari horses again. We mount up on sand dunes and ride until our scenic lunch at a farmer’s house in the desert. Satiated, we continue northwest, making our way over the sand and signature pink granite of the area (it was used to build the impressive Mehrangarh Fort). We pass small hamlets and farmsteads, taking in the panoramas from the edge of the Great Thar Desert of Rajasthan that forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. If we feel comfortable and confident, we can canter into our desert camp on the outskirts of Osian.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Tented Safari Camp

Travel

1 hour (van shuttle)

The ride

16 miles (25 km), which takes about 5 hours

Life in the Desert

Today we saddle up for a full-day ride from Osian to Hacra, traveling deeper into the sand dunes. We may encounter wild Nilgai (a thin-legged Asian antelope), small chinkara gazelle (also known as the Indian gazelle) and curious mongoose as we descend into agricultural farmland and reemerge at the desert’s edge again. 

We arrive at our tented camp close to the Bishnoi community hamlet of Hacra. Local nature guides will join us when possible to provide more insight into the desert environment and the distinct flora and fauna that surrounds us. Sometimes the camp is visited by joyous locals who are eager to share traditional music and dancing.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Tented Safari Camp

The Ride

19 miles (30 km), which takes about 6 hours

The Marwar District

Today we take a full-day desert ride from Hacra to Cullu. We ride north, where the sand may be deeper, but your sturdy Marwari horse has an amazing, determined stamina not known in other breeds. They are genuine desert horses and we are riding in the beating heart of the Marwar district, their namesake. 

Lunch is in the cool comfort of a shady spot near a farm. Our afternoon ride through the desert traverses well-traveled camel paths, where we can climb sand dunes and give ‘er on long canters before returning to the sanctuary of our tented safari camp.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Tented Safari Camp

The Ride 

19 miles (30 km), which takes about 6 hours

Tally Ho

We have another full-day ride ahead of us from Cullu to Khichan. Before heading out, we say grateful goodbyes to our dedicated grooms, tent wallas and talented cooks. Having created a strong partnership and connection with our horses, we’re able to take full and confident advantage of the open landscape with this establishment of trust. We pass by several farmsteads and villages and observe a distinct shift in landscape from desert sand to pink rock and rolling farmland. 

We arrive at Khichan in the late afternoon and say our heartrending goodbyes to our precious horses, who will travel home overnight for a well-deserved rest.

Included Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodations

Hotel Kurka Resort

The Ride 

19 miles (30 km), which takes about 6 hours

Demoiselle Cranes

We have a treasured early morning visit to the nearby Demoiselle crane feeding grounds. These elegant cranes roost here during the winter season (October to March), migrating from the Mongolian steppes. At the peak (December to February), their numbers reach over 10,000. The birds fly over us, dream-like, as we share sunrise chai and reflections on our last day together. 

After breakfast back at the hotel, we transfer by road (two hours) to Jodhpur airport (JDR) for departures. Heavy hearts will be buoyed by the question, Where next?

Included Meals

Breakfast

Travel 

Two hours by van shuttle