Type: Wildlife
Best from: Jodhpur
You need: 3 days

Kheechan is a quaint little village in Western Rajasthan that sleeps for five months. Then suddenly, it wakes up on a September morning when the first lot of about 20 migratory birds rent the air with a deafening 'kraaw-kraaw'. These birds, known as demoiselle cranes or kurja in Rajasthani, come all the way from Mongolia. Their number keeps increasing till it reaches a staggering 15,000 in January. In February, they start going back home in wave after noisy wave. And once the last bird flutters away, Kheechan becomes silent and goes tou00a0sleep again.

Early birds: Some of the first arrivals of the Demoiselle Cranes in Kheechan. Pics/C Gangadhar Menon