The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Pony Trekking in Lesotho

Okay, so we haven't been horseback riding since 2006. No worries, we'll be okay, right??

And we were. But it wasn't without it's interesting moments!

Some of the mountain passes that the ponies go through are a little hair raising. As in "hold on tight, and close your eyes!"

In fact, we read some comforting words with regards to how to handle these mountain passes.

"Put your faith in the horse. If you are nervous, get off the horse and walk behind it. If you prefer to ride and then become nervous, close your eyes, hold on tight, and pretend to ignore the sound of the rocks careening down the side of the mountain. Despite the occasional stumble, the horses always make it."

Ha!


Despite all the joking around, everything is done very professionally. Although some of the horse guides may not speak the best English, they do know their horses and the horses are very well looked after. And we never once felt that the horse didn't know what it was doing. Even though we may not have!

We set off at just after 9:00am.

Sorry, but a lot of the pictures are of Ruth's back, and her horses back end!

We had to wear riding helmets. I would have been quite happy with a cowboy hat! But somewhat surprisingly, the lawyers have taken over in some of these parts and we had to sign a release and promise to wear the helmet.

The sheep can go anywhere. Apparently so can the horses!

Sure is green!

Another great idea is to go Trekking in Nepal.

Sheep.

Soon, we head higher.

But when we headed above the river, we couldn't take any pictures. This was when it got a little hairy! The path was narrow and with lots of loose rocks. But again, the horses knew what they were doing. Several times, we looked back at each other thinking "holy crap!", but there was no need to worry. These horses travel these trails every day without incident.

This was our destination!

We sat by the falls and had our lunch.

There was another group that came up behind us...three younger guys from Japan. One of them stripped down to his underwear and had a shower in the falls! Sorry, too cold for me!


We eventually took a route out that brought us above the falls!

Not the best pic of the two of us, but our guide was not that familiar with photography!

Back down by the river.

Too funny. I look like a little kid with my brain bucket on.

Oh, and by the way...you won't be seeing me with those sunglasses any more. That's a story for tomorrow!

Heading back to the lodge, we got in line with the three Japanese guys.

Four hours on a horse? A little sore, and still feeling it today. We were thinking of doing the overnight trip, which requires six hours each day. We'll be recovered enough by Saturday, but our other option is to hike it and hire a horse to carry our gear. Horseback riding is fun enough, but we're thinking hiking is actually more comfortable!


20 comments:

  1. We have only been to Lesotho in the winter when it is freezing and covered in snow. It is wonderful to see pictures of the countryside in summer.

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    1. I am sure it is just a beautiful in the winter with the snow on the mountains!

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  2. now that's my kind of day. Love horseback. Looks like your help has a mcdonalds M.
    seems somewhat ludicrouis in a tiny country like that the lawyers have their fingers in the pot.

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    1. We had a great day, loved the horseback riding but 4 hours was definitely enough for us. The M on the helmets is actually M for medium not McDonalds! :-)

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  3. Neither of us are horse people, so hiking is definitely our style and speed. Still, I giggled about your "Brain Bucket". Too funny. Thanks for another super post, and who would have known Lesotho had so many lawyers!

    20 Years From Now

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    1. Yep, it seems that lawyers have to get in everywhere. Mind you, this is the only activity that we had to sign our lives away on. There were lots of signs around the lodge that said that you were responsible for your own actions and that they were in no way to be held accountable for and that's the way it should be.

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  4. I like the pictures of riding the horses. Looks like a fun way to see another side of things.

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    1. It was a fun way to see things, we really enjoyed ourselves and the horses were so gentle.

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  5. With that brain bucket, and those shades, I would have bet on Kevin to show. Looks just like a real jockey. LOL

    Cheers

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    1. He would have no problem making it to the starting gate but he would be lucky to make it to the finish line! ;-)

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  6. Okay, I think when you guys get home we are going to need a couple of campfires and a good bottle of scotch to hear all about this trip from the horses' mouths no pun intended.

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    1. You will have to come back to Hacienda Contreras around the middle of March then. Can't wait to see you guys and give you both all kinds of info.

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  7. What a beautiful country Lesotho is. Greats pix and and another great read.

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    1. It is absolutely a beautiful country and we are sad that we are only seeing a small part of it. We will have to come back and see more of it, which wouldn't be a hard pill to take. We love it here!

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  8. That looked like a fantastic outing. Feel sure you will easily get some decent but cheap sunglasses where you are - having said that not a lot of locals where them so you may need to get to a touristy spot.

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    1. We had an amazing time, it is so pretty here! Kevin got those sunglasses here in South Africa while we were on the Garden Route, I am sure we won't have any problem finding another pair.

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