बहारों फूल बर्साओं ........

I am sitting among the lovely blooms.....love this pic!!!

The woods are lovely,dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.............

The wander thirst in me was at a new high as I read about the many treks organised by various trek groups for the Kaas valley of flowers.I had heard about this place only recently when my photographer friend went there and it intrigued me.A place where the flowers looked like multi-hued carpets.........this I had to see!!!!Here was the opportunity that I did not want to miss. It had been a tough month at school with so many deadlines and activities galore and I was waiting for a break from from all that .Furthermore,some of my new trekker friends had posted some great photographs of this place that had got me hooked. The nature-lover and the photographer in me won and I registered myself with Offbeat Sahyadri group for the visit to Kaas for the week-end, i.e Saturday 21st September to Sunday 22nd September 2013.

Since this trek was an overnight one there was more convincing to do as my hubby had so many reasons as to why I should not be going for it.As always,this time too I convinced him that there were other lady trekkers in the group and that it was a safe and decent group I was with.( This hubby-convincing I have to do before every trek I take is really becoming a pain for me.How I wish I could be answerable to none , just pack my haversack and leave.)

So,I was all set for the trek and left for the Swaminarayan Temple at Dadar which was the first pick up point.For the first time I was going for an overnight trek with any trekking group so the excitement was doubled.I thought there would be some singing and masti during the long bus-ride to Satara.I was surprised to meet a small group comprising of just 6 more trekkers who joined me at Dadar, a few others were to be picked up at New Mumbai  and Lonavala. Introductions done, we commenced our journey.I liked the yellow mini bus that was our official sawaari for the trek.Honestly speaking,all through the journey (at least upto Lonavala) I felt I was with Kesari's honeymoon special for couples tour and at times I felt I was in Gandhinagar Express with newly wed  honeymooners.The reason for this was that the 6 trekkers who boarded the bus at Dadar were all couples (one was a recently married couple) in new-found Loove....and they were Gujrathi -speaking so their conversations were about work (as most of them were working for the same company)Their conversations were about how they met, meeting the in-laws for the first time,office talk and to what extent they could make out in the back of the bus.So basically, I was left with nothing else to do but to sleep through the journey as though I did make an effort to start a conversation, they had other things in their mind.We stopped on the way before reaching Lonavala for a tea and loo break.That was where I introduced myself to my new friends(at last) Manoj and Chetan.Was happy to have them in our group,at least now it would not feel like a 'couples only' trip.I had a restful night and we had the group leader Zeenat and a few others join us at Lonavala.

We had a restful journey and reached the Satara bus-stand where we had our breakfast.Some of us had misal -pau while the rest had upma or sheera. There were a few Jains among us who could not eat what we did so they opted for fruits and biscuits.We had hot chai and left for the Kaas plateau.

The ride towards the top was very picturesque.The different shades of green en route to the Kaas plateau was exhilarating.Where in Mumbai can we breathe in such fresh air and have such scenic beauty to behold?We reached the plateau and had an introduction round there.there was a chilly wind blowing there and though the trek organisers had reminded us to carry wind-cheaters due to the chilly weather there,I had not taken any  and so I had to bear the chilly winds and for a few minutes I had my teeth chattering due to the cold winds.Ours was a small group as compared to the larger groups I had been with at my earlier treks.Even the regular trekkers with Offbeat Sahyadri mentioned that this was a small group and they usually had larger groups.We were all told to meet at about 11.30 near the parking lot near Kaas lake after our sojourn through the Kaas plateau.So we all began with our amazing experience at Kaas. The plateau looked like it was carpetted with blooms.There were different colours of the blooms visible all around.there was a large week-end crowd there and families,avid photographers and nature lovers were making the most of their visit there.It brought a smile on my face to see the photographers in various poses trying to get that perfect angle for the perfect picture.I captured a few of my trekker friends in such poses.I remained with Zeenat and the guys as the couples moved away from our group for some privacy.I don't think they even noticed much of the Kaas blooms as they were busy clicking pictures in various lovey-dovey poses.Well,we let them be and enjoyed ourselves by being one with nature.The place is fascinating and I have never ever seen anything like that before. Kaas Plateau has been declared a UNESCO Heritage site and rightly so.We trekked all along the plateau taking care not to stamp upon the blooms but there were many who had no regard for the blooms as they stepped on them in total oblivion.How I wish people would learn how to preserve and protect the natural beauty around us.It is the same story at all the places I have trekked to.The people litter and spoil the place with total disregard for cleanliness.Here ,thankfully there was not much litter around.

We walked and clicked many photographs.One of my friends,Manoj stated that he comes here at least four times a year to capture the sheer beauty of this wonderful place.We walked along a barricaded path towards the small lake with kumudini blooms.It was so beautiful to see the beautiful white blooms in the water surrounded by the rounded leaves.It started drizzling a bit and we rushed to keep our cameras away safely but thankfully it was only for a few minutes.We walked the long way back to the car parking area which was near the beautiful Kaas lake.Now we had to wait for the other couples and during that wait some of us had roasted corn on the cob.We left from there and were stuck in slow-moving traffic for quite some time before we reached Shanbhar Vishranti, a lodging and boarding place where we had decided to have our lunch.We freshened up and chatted together till the hot food was served.The table was set in such a way that we had a magnificent view of the mountains around us.We could also see the tourists cars and buses on their way to the plateau. We had already instructed the one who prepared our lunch that there were some Jains among us so he had made Jain food for them, i.e. food without onion,potato,garlic or any root vegetables.We had lunch consisting of chapatis,bharleli wangi,daal,sprouts ussal and rice.The rice was a special variety that was grown in Satara itself.The rice was very aromatic and tasty.The cook informed us that it was Indrayani rice.(I may be wrong here as I may have forgotten the name of the rice he mentioned) Surprisingly ,we were told by our Jain trekkers that brinjal was not considered as Jain food and some of them even had objection in eating the sprouts ussal. Thankfully they had carried many methi theplas and pickle/murabba so they ate that.We all had a hearty lunch and sat on the swings for a while before leaving for Sajjangad fort.

The route to Sajjangad too was picturesque and we reached there shortly.We had to cancel our plan to go to Thosegar waterfall as it was already very late.I was really disappointed that we could make it there.Anyway we climbed up the fort which had steps leading to it.Many people who are devotees of Swami Samarth visit the fort very often as it was the fort where Swami Samarth had his Samadhi. As we walked up the steps I noticed many Maruti idols and was very surprised to see them.My friend Vilen told me that just as there are eight Vinayakas(Ashta Vinayak) there are eleven Marutis.The fort was earlier called Parali fort when it belonged to Shivaji Maharaj and he had gifted the fort to his spiritual and political Guru, Swami Samarth . After that the fort was named Sajjangad. There is a math of Swami Samarth on the top of the fort and a temple too.There are also rooms available for the devotees and the priests there.I saw many shops and small eateries there.I was disappointed to see no sign of the fort at all and when I rued about this my trekker friend, Vilen Chavan  gave me this information about this fort that I have mentioned above.We had a nice time at the top as the view was beautiful.We clicked many pictures and for the first time I clicked a jumping pose there thanks to Manoj and Chetan. Zeenat was an expert at jumping photographs and reminded me that she has been doing that since 2007!!!I was inspired by her.She is a professor at Pune University and trekking is her passion,.She is very agile and enthusiastic.I am glad to have met her.After the photo session we descended the fort and began our journey back to Mumbai.We sang songs on the way back and this made me rejoice as I had a dull journey on my way to Satara and this was a welcome change.We stopped on the way for snacks and tea as we were famished.We had misal pau,dahi -misal and /or bhel.The Jain trekkers had their food at another restaurant nearby that catered to their specifics.The tea was also refreshing.I was worried now as it was already nine pm and I was told that we would be reaching Dadar at about 1 am!!!!I had school the next day and it was a BIG question mark as to how I was to reach home(Mulund ) so late in the night.I am sure my husband would have a fit and create a ruckus if he knew that I was coming so late.I had already got a phone call from him and he was furious at me for being so late.Thankfully Aniruddh and Zeenat took a call and it was decided that they would take the Thane-Belapur route and I would be dropped near the Mulund-Airoli link road. I was really relieved to hear that!As we came towards Mumbai,some trekkers were dropped at  their respective stops while the rest journeyed to Dadar.I reached the link road and had to convince a reluctant auto driver to take me to Mulund and he obliged after I agreed to pay him ten bucks more than the fare.I reached home at 12.30 midnight.My husband opened the door and gave me an angry glare.I just went to freshen up.It had been a wonderful experience.I am glad I went for that trek and I just wish that the treks wind up in time so that we can each home earlier.I made some new friends and hopefully we will keep in touch .

Psst- I showed the pictures I had clicked to my hubby the next day and the first question he asked was,"Where are the girls?You said there were girls too at this trek but here I can see only boys and only two of you "(He was referring to Zeenat and me) Ha-ha,trust my husband to notice that first. Husbands!!!!!

Here are some of the pictures of  my trek to the beautiful Kaas plateau with Treks and Trails India.My first trek with this group.

Breakfast at the bus depot at Satara.

Shanbhar Vishranti near the Kaas plateau.

Road to bliss?

Ace photographers try to get the right angle for the pics.

pretty in pink!!!!

Feeling on top of the world!

The lovely colourful blooms......

Do raahein!!!

A must visit place just after the monsoon.

Sitting on the rocks with the carpet of blooms in the background.

Lovely leaves in pretty shapes.

Different species of flowers adorned the plateau.

I simply love this pic!!Totally relaxed!!!

Enjoying myself with my new friends.

The board with information about the Kumudini flowers..

yellow blooms swaying in the breeze.

A better view of the lake.

The kumudini flowers among the rounded leaves

The beautiful lake full of Kumudini flowers

Manoj doing what he does best.

This is just the right angle for this click....Chetan at work.

The beautiful Kaas lake!

The way to the parking lot

The parking area was full that weekend

What a view!!!

Our savaari

The view form the top of Sajjangad fort

Eleven Maruti idols were seen on our way to the top

A view of the area beyond the temple top.

The main entrance arch

The huge door at the entrance to the fort

The temple at the top of Sajjangad

Misal pau and chai!

Aaj mein uparr........aasamaan niche.....!!!

Chalte-chalte...mere yeh geet yaad rakhna......
kabhi alvida naa kehnaa....

Feeling relaxed and at peace......among the mountains.

Bhel for evening snacks.Yummy!

kuch bhi pose!!!

One with nature.......peace at last!

Specially for a FB cover picture.

Enjoying the view with my dost log

Scaling New Heights........

After breakfast of idli and chutney....pose time!!!

After two treks this year I was thirsting for some more adventure.The last few week-ends were restricting as I had loads of school work so I made up my mind that this week-end I was surely going trekking,come what may!Trek Mates India ,as usual came up with many options and all I had to do was choose.I zeroed in on the trek to Mahuli fort though I saw that the endurance level was shown to be 'medium' as I had decided to challenge myself at this trek......(after two easy treks ek medium wala trek banta hai !!!)

As usual , this time too my hubby dearest tried to talk me out of the trek citing various reasons-bad times for women ,the train journey will be lonely and anything can happen in the early hours,you are not as fit as the younger trekkers you will be going with.......and lastly you have already gone on two treks,what is the need for any more treks??? But for me my earlier treks were just the beginning of many more treks in the future and so I readied myself for my third trek completely ignoring my hubby's appeals.I fervently hoped I would not be late coming back home as I had a hectic day at school the next Monday morning, and keeping my fingers crossed I left early on Sunday the 1st of September for the Mahuli trek.

At about ten minutes to 6 am my daughter dropped me at Mulund station and as instructed by my trek leader Vikram Singh ,I booked a return ticket to Asangaon. This was the first time I was travelling to the designated spot by local train as in my earlier treks I was picked up by the trek group by private bus which took us to the base village.A new experience and I was game.I saw only two more passengers in my compartment and there was also a RPF personnel.It brought some relief as there were so many cases of attacks on women in the trains recently.The so-called security cover of the RPF lasted only for a station as he alighted at Thane,the next station.I did not want to drowse off as I found that there was just a lone passenger with me and I had to be alert.I missed the singing in the bus that we did in our previous treks as here I was alone and bored.At Kalyan I was the only passenger in the compartment.Why am I telling all these details? This is so that next time when the trek leaders tell us to meet at any station, they should ensure that all the group members can be in the same compartment so that we can travel together and make the journey memorable by singing and chatting together instead of travelling alone.There were a few trekkers like me who travelled alone to Asangaon station and this could have been avoided.The more,the merrier,right?

Reaching Asangaon I saw my trekker group and we all left for the base village in autos.The ride to the base village was quite a bumpy one and on the way we saw the Manas Mandir temple where I had been a few months ago with my extended family.We could see the lofty mountains on our way to the base and when we reached the base we had breakfast of piping hot tea and idli and chutney which the group leaders had carried for us.We began our trek to the top, surprisingly without the round of introductions and instructions, as that was done on our first stop on our way up.Vikram and Swapnil were our trek leaders and we all introduced ourselves.We were twenty-five trekkers in all,of which most travelled by train while a few came by private car directly to the base village. Introductions and instructions done with,we had our photo session as many of our group were avid photographers.Thus began our main trek.We walked through narrow pathways,through the forest and on rocky terrains.Thankfully, it was not raining so we had ample opportunity to click photographs of the breath-taking view all around us.It also made our trek that much more easier as compared to what it would have been after the rains making the route more slippery and difficult,.

I must admit that there were a few occasions during the trek ,on the way up and on my way down ,that I felt that I should never have opted for this medium endurance level trek and I should have stuck to going to easy treks.This was because at many places the climb was a bit difficult for me but thankfully we had great leaders who with their good experience at trekking guided me and made me have more confidence in my ability to complete the trek.For many others the trek may not have seemed difficult but it was a testing one for me and a few others.In fact a couple of them even gave up half way and decided to stay put and not complete the trek.they opted to wait at a certain spot on the way up and descend with the group on our return from the top.Though there was just that wee bit of doubt in myself I decided to go to the top with rest as did not want to give up. I wanted to challenge myself as jo darr gaya woh marr gaya! So I did complete my trek,albeit with some scary and dil ki dhadkan badhanewale moments.

It was a great experience to make new trekker friends and see the photography skills of my fellow trekkers.We had begun from the base at about 9 am and we reached up at about 12.45 noon.We were tired to the core and many were famished.Though we had carried water to drink ,many of us had finished their quota of water before they reached up.The view from the top was mind-blowing!I loved the climb on the metal ladder just towards the end of the climb up.We enjoyed the fish spa at cool pond on the top and saw the ruins and the caves at the top.May of them enjoyed under the waterfall near the caves.We refilled our bottles with the clear and sweet water of the waterfall near the caves.We had lunch together amidst banter and laughter.With our stomachs full we felt like napping but our leaders did not allow that for more than a few minutes."Come on,we have to move trekkers!We are already running late!" was what they kept saying.So we started lour descend from the top in the hot and sweltering weather and it was another rigorous climb down.If the climb up was difficult,the descent was not any easier.Thankfully,I had Vikram with me to make it more easier and he instilled confidence in me by encouraging me all the way.My new friends were really great company and they made me feel so comfortable.I think that is one of the biggest plus points of treks with the TMI group,the group members are a good lot and the leaders are very accommodating and encouraging.I was filled with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment after I had completed my trek.Though I had a fall twice on my way down and each and every muscle and bone of my body was aching after the trek ,I was filled with happiness for being a part of this memorable trek.

We reached the base village and changed.After that we had poha and garam chai.I must say that I was not too happy to eat the poha as it was cold,dry and not so tasty. We waited for a while singing songs and then we rode by private vehicle to the Asangaon station.We rushed to catch the 7.43 pm train and thankfully, were there a few minutes before the train started.This time our train journey was memorable as we chatted along and sang songs at the top of our voices.As the stations passed, there were many fellow trekkers alighting at each stop and we gave each one of them a fitting good-bye with a song. I alighted at Mulund and reached home at 9.15 pm.How glad I was to reach home early as during my earlier treks I was home only after 10.30 pm.I went to bed and the next morning I got up with my whole body aching.It was a pain to climb the stairs or descend them.Even walking briskly as I usually did was a task.But no,I am not complaining as the trek was worth all this pain.I had a superb time at this trek to Mahuli fort.I had clicked many photographs and had redeemed my confidence in myself.As an added bonus I had made a few new friends and I hoped to be in touch with them.

What a wonderful trekking experience I had!!!Waiting for many more treks to come and making more memorable moments.Three cheers to the trek leaders Vikram Singh and Swapnil Manjrekar!!!Also thanks to all my fellow trekkers who made the trek so memorable.

Here are some snapshots of the Mahuli trek.I must mention here that many of the photographs here were clicked by my fellow trekkers.I am using them here so as to give a better insight about the trek that was.
(Credits to all the photographers - Arun Kumar Dash, Shreekumar Krishnan, Vilen Chavan ,Prashant Kudwalkar and CA Nilesh Chhallani. Hats off to superb photography by you)

Let's do the Shree Ganesh of our trek....beginning with the Lord's blessings!

For whom the bells toll......

This happens only in India!!!

The small temple near the base.....Ganpati Bappa Morya!!!

Another view of the Nandi bull.

The Ganesha idol inside the temple.

The Nandi bull at the temple near the base.

Walking along with the group.....

Crossing the little stream on the way up.....

What an amazing view!!!

The pointed peaks.

Nilesh sits at the edge of the cliff.

Near the Shivaling.....

The caves......and the trickle of water.

Near the main entrance which was in ruins.

The lion carving.

The carving near the caves.

Making memories to cherish.

The caves on the top.....

Among the pretty flowers....two pretty ladies!!!

Lunch time....we are all famished!!!

There is always time for a photo-op!!!

Half way there but still more to go...

The famous TMI pose.....at the caves.

Just chilling with the group.

My new friends.

Just a short rest on our way down.....

The introduction and instruction round.

Kadam-kadam badhaye jaa!!!

A view of the iron ladder that took us to the last bit of the climb.

Just chilling before lunch time.

Three cheers to TMI!!!

The descent after a gruelling climb

Final rest at the ledge before the top most point.

That is the photographer,over there,Shilpa!

Happy to be on the top at last!

Enjoying the fish spa at the cool-cool pond!

Living on the edge!See the route of our trek in the background,you can see some of our group.

Happy to be with the jolly group!

This is how we scaled the mountain

The trekking route as seen from the top.

Walking along with shilpa....

That is really some view!

Walking along together.......

A birds eye view of the route we took..........looks unreal!!!

The route taken by the trekkers...