The Yellow Arrow Gully Trail

....continued from where i left off...

kobb...click clittety cluck...cratch...keetch...

i look down up this way that way stopping sometimes and peering at crevices...noticing the stains and patterns on the rocks...as if something has been poured over them. Also wondering how green vegetation have appeared from those tiniest of cracks or in other places tree with ramifications assuming shapes making the whole look like an abstract sculpture...

Some sides of the Gully with the light and all the chemical alterations/ visible on the rock wall made the entire look like a painting of some sort...

On my way i saw plenty of  healthy thick bushes of leafless spurge called THHOR or scientifically also known as Euphorbia caducifolia...the last time i had seen quite a variety of some beautiful Thhor was in Jurassic Cactus Park at Kuldhara in Jaisalmer. Then i was fortunate to see many of them with bright red, pink and green blossoms. But here sans blossoms they still looked superb in their fullness and green ness as a contrast to all that earthy ochre beige and brown and grey. All around erupting as a gigantic bush of green among the pinks of the rocks against the blue sky in this vast free space.

Funny thing is i was following the yellow Gully trail arrow but i am not sure if i got slightly diverted to another trail because it took me to a sub summit of some sort and not to a lake as was mentioned in the map. No i did not panic as help was at hand. An EMERGENCY phone number given in the visitor's guide cum map. Besides there was not much to be alarmed about for i was not in a dense forest or anything where i was lost. Rather this sub summit felt very refreshing and quite relaxing. i could see ...the road a couple of houses and how to reach there...everything...

It was just amazingly beautiful. This place where i had reached. It felt somewhere yet like the middle of nowhere of the trail and i felt excited and adventurous to get back on the right trail. Also rested here for awhile, drank a few sips of water, surveyed the area before i moved back to look for those yellow arrows.

i could see the outer walls of the Mehrangarh fort and also those ropes through which the famous Flying Fox Zipline adventure sport touring of Mehrangarh fort is so enthusiastically indulged into by the more daring and raring to go tourists. Contemplated on the thought that although it looked scary (all those jutting out jagged sharp rocks not to miss the height too ) maybe if it is safe enough i must give it a try. 

  

i did reach the real summit without much beating round the bush and going about the same place twice. From this yellow gully trail viewpoint the ramparts of the fort and a Shiva Temple perhaps at a distance far away evoked serenity and calmness and i wanted not even to hear my thoughts ...maybe i wanted to hear the sound of the temple bell...if it could reach me...i could not. Neither could i see much but it being nestled towards a side where there was some dense green vegetation. i let my mind imagine devotees who would be there while i am here watching from a distance a place of worship which looked from a distance detached but yet emanated stillness...

Return was easy as all i had to do was to just look for the guiding the way yellow arrows. Well one never can miss any as they are there at easy intervals as you traverse across the rocks, grasses, scrubs, ups and downs.

Soon i see a familiar gully which leads me to the reception.

i rush towards the entrance and because my trail had got over well ahead of time i lingered around in the front reception area.

Then used the rest rooms too which surprisingly i found very well maintained , sanitized and as clean as three star hotel. Admired the photographs of the flora of the parks which although are displayed everywhere were even in the rest room. But before entering that clean loo what had sought my attention immediately was this against the rhyolite rock plastered wall ...

A very typical Jodhpuri rather i should say how it would suit Rajasthan to do it. In this case to direct the respective genders to their respective destinations. So cute and artistic but most importantly the version so very Rajputana. Moreover i could see the use of all the rocks that could be from the Park itself. Rhyolite, Sandstone and maybe Quartz or even Feldspar in those His and Her creations... 

There was many more that i could if i had the time...especially the vegetation...all those plants mentioned in the gully trail. But for a person like me even 24 hours would be less...i would need days. So then this is it what i have of that yellow gully trail which i took when i had been to Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park.

More of what i have to say in my next post...

http://mrvideo.in/en/video/FTi7wgUz5l0/Mehrangarh-Fort-Jodhpur-Documentry-Video-Unbelievable-Views-of-Biggest-Fort-of-INDIA-Rajasthan