I visited the Kaas Plateau with “The Western Routes” in September this year. This was my first visit to Kaas, although it was on my wishlist for a very long time!
Here I bring you my very first experience of Kaas and the memories it has carved on mind.
The Drive
“Its not about the Destination. Its about the Journey to get there.”
This aptly fits the drive to the Kaas plateau. The drive to Kaas leads through a very picturesque view among the mountains. The view of the vast expanse of lush green meadows is very refreshing. The atmosphere is cool and breezy and provides for a perfect drive. There are two dams on each side of the wandering road: The Kanher Dam and the Urmodi Dam. These sights along with the flowers all along the way make this drive pleasant and memorable.
Urmodi Dam, view seen from the road to KaasView of the mountains from the drive. View of the plateau along the drive to Kaas covered with yellow flowers called Smithias
View of the Urmodi Dam while driving to Kaas
View of the mountains from the drive
View of the plateau along the drive to Kass covered with yellow flowers called Smthias
The Flora:
The flora on this plateau is endemic to this plateau. Several rare species of plants are found here, some of them are rather endangered. More than 850 species of flowering plants are reported. 624 species have entered in the Red Data Book. Out of these 624 species 39 species are found in Kaas Region only.
Sita’s tear, Micky mouse, Pinda, Abolima, Kavla, Abhali, Nilima…..the names may sound funny but these tiny little flowers cover the whole plateau coloring it like a beautiful carpet.
Impatiens Lawii
Lahan Kawla (Smthia bigemina). Also called mickey mouse
Elephant’s trunk (Vigna Vexilata)
Nilima (Cyanotis Fasciculata)
The Bloom:
Plateau seems to change the colors after every 15- 20 days as the cycle of flowering plants progresses with the monsoon progress since June to October. During my visit the dominant variety was the Impatience Lawii. The plateau was purple in color with tinge of White and Blue. This goes to say that you have got to visit the plateau multiple times to catch the varied colors that fill it! 🙂
Responsible Tourism:
Another experience was the number of tourists and photographers flocking to this place. The crowd was in such huge numbers that it would take hours to drive out of the plateau in the traffic.
People were busy stamping the flowers, plucking them, photographing self and kids right in the middle of them, littering around…..It was a disappointing sight. Police were enforced to control the crowd with a little heed. Government is taking efforts to prevent nuisance by fencing the path and adding security forces. We need to make sure as tourists that we keep the place intact and help conserving this gift of nature.
The bloom on the plateau has been on a constant decrease due to high influx of tourism. I wish the next generation is able to see as much as present bloom in the coming years. 🙁
Details of the Trip:
Where: 120 Kms from Pune
When to vist: Sept to early Oct only
Time visited: 21st September 2014
Time to see around: 2-3 hours
Traveled with: http://www.thewesternroutes.com
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