Alwar is a pre-historic region of Rajasthan that is protected from desert sands by the Aravalli Range. It has lush lakes, wooded hills and two tiger sanctuaries and a bird sanctuary. It was once part of the Matsya kingdom. Places to see: Bala Qila where the first Mughal, Babar, spent a night, the City Palace museum containing rare manuscripts, paintings, jade and ivory and silver objects, and weapons. Moosi Maharani ki Chhatri is a beautiful red sandstone and white marble cenotaph of an Alwar ruler's lover.

Down the road to Jaipur is Siliserh a quaint palace looking upon a lake ringed by hills. You can sit on the terrace and watch water birds come in or the sunset on the lake on an evening. Siliserh is tucked out of sight and most visitors miss it. Further up is Sariska, the reserve of tigers, that also shelters sambhar, chinkara, wild boar, and jackals. Parakeet, grey partridge, crested serpent eagle and the bulbul are habitues here. Sariska's forests hide the Viratnagar city of the Mahabharata and some of the oldest edicts of the Buddhist king, Ashoka the Great. Rock formations tell stories of the past.

Deeg, in contrast, has the most beautiful palace gardens influenced by Mughal design because of Deeg's proximity to Delhi. Gopal Bhawan, Nand Bhawan and Krishna Bhawan palaces reveal meticulous construction plans.

Bharatpur is nearby. It was the Jat kingdom of the great Suraj Mal and the Lohagarh or iron fort that took 60 years to build reveals Jat determination to repulse invading Marathas, Mughals and British. The deep moat and solid mud walls manifest astonishing engineering skills. The Keoladeo National Park is a little outside Bharatpur city. It is a fine bird sanctuary. Over 400 species of water birds and migratory birds from Afghanistan, Central Asia, Siberia and Tibet visit the sanctuary. Important visitors are the greylag and bareheaded geese but the star remains the rare Siberian crane that hauls its bulk over thousands of miles.

Finally, there is Ranthambhor. Tiger conservation has been most successful here. The sanctuary is a mini country containing green hills, lakes and water holes. Jogi Mahal is a swell retreat inside Ranthambhor where you wake up to tiger roars. The Ranthambhor Fort is formidable but contains the popular Ganesh temple. Further out is the unordinary Sunheri Kothi of Tonk where you may buy felt rugs called namdas and leather goods.