My Exploritales: 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.