Back to the 4×4 with traction control and electronic stability bit. You can have a lot of slipping sideways fun if you know your car well and it comes equipped with safety features such as those mentioned above. The vast nothingness means you can drift around, but again keep your eyes peeled for the wildlife there. You’re encroaching on their habitat, so a little respect wouldn’t go amiss. Make sure to take a guide if you enter the Rann, because everything looks the same, and you will get lost on your own. Rann Riders kindly parted with one of their staff guides, and he could tell his way around based on an individual shrub or a particular set of tracks. It was incredible! Like the guy had a sixth sense for Rann navigation, there’s no other way to describe it.
After the fun in the Rann, we turned back to Rann Riders, and I was reunited with my buddy Princy. A sumptuous dinner later, I lay down in the cottage, the stridulation of crickets permeating through its wooden walls, which, along with the slow rustle of dry leaves, formed a curious yet soothing lullaby. It was introspection time. This journey had taught me so much already, about India, her people, her culture, her diversity. More than anything else, though, it had shown me the joys of a road trip, one that was amplified greatly by the presence of the Santa Fe, my fondness growing for it with every city we crossed.
