Sheep, bricks, dung piles…and cricket?

A menagerie of fascinating sights along this tree-lined stretch of road south from Abohar headed toward Ratangarh. Though we put in a big day of riding–over 80 miles–we found a few moments to stop along the way and capture a bit of the sights. Shepherds and brick factories have become routine, but we were surprised to see a group of boys playing cricket in a field at the edge of one particularly small and dusty village.

Cricket is a national obsession in India according to the media, but this was the first time we actually saw anyone playing sports at all. We have yet to see a soccer ball in use anywhere, so it seems that cricket rules.

As dusk fell we were in a very rural area looking around for a place to pitch our tents. We found a nice little canal with a dusty road running along it and pushed our bikes back looking for a suitable campsite. Before we could unpack anything, the local doctor came riding by on his moped and invited us to come stay in his village. It was about five miles further along, but we got to stay in the luxurious accommodations of a village hospital.