Demoiselle cranes of the desert made the, as such exhausting drive to the interiors of Rajasthan, most magnetic and bewitching.

Phalodi, amidst the Thar Desert is a small town in the far interiors of the Rajasthan. This oasis town is a marvel, not much been palpated by the outside world, still maintaining its originality. As I was going through the slew of brochures, I perceived much about this magnificent region. The rich culture is depicted in its magnificent havelis, the best Rajasthan architecture in its 8th century temples - some of the oldest shrines that survived the Islamic conquest of India. The town has also the mastery over its vegetarian cuisine - an achievement of culinary excellence.

First Day: We have taken a long road from Delhi a good 10-hour drive. A night halt at the government guesthouse in Jaisalmer was a must, to energize and regain the freshness. The accommodation was a basic one, but being in Rajasthan, the services were most courteous and the relaxation of 6 to 7 hours was quite refreshing.

Second Day: The town 160km from Jaisalmer is on the long-stretched Arab- Marwar- Sindh route. Phalodi is a place of money and mystery. It is a common belief, here that a tremendous sandstorm is said to have buried the treasures of Humayun who was departing from Sher Shah Suri. Even now the coins turn up on the sand, bearing the mark of the early Mughal period. I was quite eager to reach the desert where I could dig out some for myself, ...........Karan, laughed at my, this behavior adding "as if, the coins are still waiting for you to come, and dig them out"-"Very funny"- I snap at him. Karan- is also doing masters in business management from Delhi with me.

After reaching Phalodi, the ideal choice of staying was nothing better then beautiful heveli, know as Lal Niwas - built in 1750. As I wrote above that Phalodi is embellished with plethora of masons- (residential places of the affluent people)- a masterpiece in itself. As the name suggests the heveli was completely built out of red sandstone. It was like a small palace that has been prudently restored. The interiors were just magnificent - artifacts on the wall, splendid chandeliers with cut work glass, the arms / weapons and lather opium boxes, all fetched me back to the golden years of Rajwaras.

But what is truly incredible about the place was that the other half of the haveli was left undecorated with bat droppings, spider webs and the like, here at same time one reaches in to medieval Rajasthan - an experienced which lends true perspective. For dinner we were all set, prepared to plait in a right royal 7-course feast that included the traditional dal-bati, choorma and a katdhi (a liquid curry, made up of gram floor and Curd).

Third Day: Next day was about getting up fresh and going for Rajasthan Desert Ride. A one-hour camel ride took us to the oasis of Khichan, - the rest of the topography was a shallow plane with sand dunes of modest height encircling the region.
I will like to mention here, that Kichan is a bird's paradise and bestow many opportunities of bird watching to its visitors. At first we could not see the birds- only hear their bustling noises. As we climbed over, one of the sand dunes, to my wonderment, I saw, over the sand dune horizon rises almost 3000 demoiselle cranes. "Waoo"! I couldn't stop uttering, Karan was all set with his binoculars as well as video shoot. It is a heart stopping sight. These migratory birds from Europe and Russia are one of the smallest of the crane family.

The birds with black legs and bills of yellow, green and pink have feathery gray areas on their head that ranges from the crown to the nape. A white extended line-mark from the corner of the eye to the back of the head was giving a very different look to these beautiful creatures.

Surely this was the magnetic pull of the desert -a flock of more then three thousand birds flying in unison is just beautiful. Like us, there were many tourist of other nationalist who had come here to enjoy the magnificent view of these creations of nature. For some time, Karan, and m,e we both forgot the long hours, that took you to this aerial paradise.

Our next two hours were spent with the group of Japnese and French birdwatchers gazing at the agile and flowing birds that soar over the desert horizon. I could feel that Indian tourists have yet to develop bird watching sensibilities - that requires enough patience.
Besides, bird watching we also paid our visit to the exquisite Jain Temples in this tiny town and also did some shopping from the famous intriguing antique shop. I came back remarkably aghast at the experience of sighting, so much bird population in barren place -Phalodi is the place if bird watching and to sight some rare architecture splendor is on your mind and Rajasthan is in your sprite.