[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by laluks

I will not be able to make it on 17th. I will visit Kaas though, may be the next week. Have a nice meet.

Laluks sir, we (Bangalore boys) were expecting your guidance for this trip. Would be great if we all can go together.

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Whats on in your mind, guys?

Many are opting out, many will in the next week.

I'm ok with next week also but it depends on other Bangy guys availability as it would be much better for us to go in a group.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Laluks sir, we (Bangalore boys) were expecting your guidance for this trip. Would be great if we all can go together.

Kaushik, I'd definitely love to go together. But given my schedules it might be two night outs, and I do not want to force that kind of drive to you guys.

I'd help you out with the route for sure.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Whats on in your mind, guys?
Many are opting out, many will in the next week.

I dont mind 17th, 18th, 24th or 25th as long as it is confirmed a couple of days before.
I hope we do not pull put/ cancel; have been waiting since last year!

exchanged pms with a few others who seem interested but are still tentative. perhaps we will have more confirmations too closer to the date.

[vivek_vt]

Originally Posted by parsh

@vivek_vt, Nice pics. Looks quite an editing gone into it. The ones I took couldn't be too bright due to the cloud and fog but are good enough to notice. The view seems to be from near the point where the dams are visible on both the sides where the wild yellows have blooming on both sides of the drive.

Only the first one is edited. rest two are exactly as clicked and yes you are right. The view is from that point only ..

Btw there was no parking problem for us. Had parked right on the road. (Around 11-12PM in the day)

[parsh]

Originally Posted by vivek_vt

Only the first one is edited. rest two are exactly as clicked and yes you are right. The view is from that point only ..

Btw there was no parking problem for us. Had parked right on the road. (Around 11-12PM in the day)

Yeah, actually meant to say that one only. The yellow is damn beautifully captured, I have similar one.

The place your car is parked in the pic is not the main platue, and there are no restrictions there on parking beside the road and you can even drive on this platue (there is a semi-grassy path for that) towards near the edge of the hill just as if you would be diving into the valley.

Did you go to the main platue? At the beginning of the main platue they have forest guard station and later they are roaming around advising telling not to park there on the main platue and either go to the earlier or later parking place.

Originally Posted by thegame

I will be in the vicinity between Sep 12 - 15. One of those days I am planning to visit Kaas.



Any pointers to park in the plateau will be very helpful.

Since I am visiting this place for the first time, tips on hidden or not so obvious view points will be great.

@thegame, the place is wonderful at any time but becomes special in these days of flowers blooming. I will be posing some pics of where you can get your car to park just beside the main platue and where mostly the guards are (were) not present.

Edit:

Originally Posted by flycatcher

Thanks for the update. I was planning to come to kaas next week. But I was about the call off the trip as there was news about heavy rains and adversely affected flower blooming. Your photo updates will help me deciding whether to go on with the trip or not. Please do put up the pics soon..

I will be uploading pics and info tonight and hope it will be useful to you all.

[CorsaLove]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Laluks sir, we (Bangalore boys) were expecting your guidance for this trip. Would be great if we all can go together.


I'm ok with next week also but it depends on other Bangy guys availability as it would be much better for us to go in a group.

Oh Man! People already opting out?? Laluks Sir, it would have been great if you had come along.

17th I can, but cant make it on the 24-25th weekend, Flying to US on the 26th.

[vivek_vt]

Some more pics of the place


An HDR of the forest just after the flower plateau on way to Bamnali


View of satara city


sun flowers at Naldurg (35 kms before Sholpaur on Hyd-Sholapur Road)


seems like the end of the world Again captured in the forest enroute to Bamnali




Kaas

[nomadabhi]

Started with 10, reached to 23 and now with the news in picture, numbers dropping down. I am still in, (me and my better half) and a (friend + wife + kid)

I have one more day (18th) with me. Any thing near by of interest? (No mahab/panch/kol/gokak/Tapola)

[PGNarain]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Good to know that many Bangi boys are joining this meet.

Roughly , plan for the day will be

10am-start from mahendra exe toward kaas/bamnoli,

11:30am--reach to bamnoli,
11:30 onwards---bamnoli boating, visit to triveni sangam by car, homely local food/ lunch at the village

3pm--kaas lake

4pm to 5:30pm kaas plateau flower show

5:30 pm onward ---you are free to leave the place toward your destination.

The time-frame will be flexible,
there will be no visit to thoseghar/sajjangad/chalkewadi etc.

If you all guys are interested to visit thoseghar, it can be accommodated in this time-frame but that will be hectic.

Hi Ashish, thanks for the itinerary, is this the final plan?? Sorry to pile on you but I am just asking becoz I was rather keen on visiting Chalkewadi Wind Farms. If it is not on our trip, I will probably stay over in Satara and add some other places and hence need to make hotel reservations accdly.

Originally Posted by selfdrive

I dont mind 17th, 18th, 24th or 25th as long as it is confirmed a couple of days before.
I hope we do not pull put/ cancel; have been waiting since last year!

Amen, I too and very eager to make this trip, so I will not miss out whatever the dates and plan.

Let's hope nothing comes up at the last minute!!

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by PGNarain

is this the final plan?? Sorry to pile on you but I am just asking becoz I was rather keen on visiting Chalkewadi Wind Farms.

As earlier quoted, the plan is flexible.
If all guys are interested in Thoseghar, then we will divert first to thoseghar and then kaas in the end.
If few guys want to visit thoseghar, then also no problem, they can visit thoseghar starting early from satara and can join the rest of gang at bamnoli.

[Monaro CV8]

Any BHPians from Satara side doing a recce of the Area?

@AP : Just in case, if the flowers blooming is getting delayed, we have an option for plan B.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

@AP : Just in case, if the flowers blooming is getting delayed, we have an option for plan B.

yeah,
i am keeping watch on the news coming from kaas.
If blooming time get delayed, we will work on plan B, i.e. visit will be rescheduled to 24th sept.
Right now, the meet is on 17th as scheduled.

[parsh]

While the travelogue will take some time for content and pics to be compiled, I have few snaps here that should give you immediate view on treacherous road, yellows before main platue, blooming on main platue and ideas on car stationing place. Many of these are also going to be part of my travelogue but just putting it here for info. Since it is still a little more than a week to 17 Sep, hopefully the weather should subsidize and blooming may be decent by 17/24. Keep your hopes alive. But we thoroughly enjoyed this trip inspite of non-blooming of the flowers to the fullest, purely due to the monsoon magic and scenic beauty.

Some of the points I mention here may not be new to the majority but just putting in case somebody going in first time unaware of them.

Be wary of the trecherous traffic jam at the Khed Shivapur Toll on NH4 after Katraj tunnel. In those torrential rains it was a sea on left side and nobody was ready to venture in the leftmost side of the road. Somebody seemed to have lost the silencer part as well. The trucks jam the rightmost lane. They have a rightmost lane of opposite side opened for
this traffic also and so if you can get into that lane cutting thru the trucks lane, it is the best bet if you see this kind of jam out there.


You might catch a Xenon road tested on this stretch as well but hard to keep up with.


As you reach Satara, take the road with Tunnel direction and not the other. On way you may want to get some delicious Satara Kandi Pedhe and Samosas at Rajpurohit. You would land at the following junction where you see the Tunnel on left side road.


The Kaas road is the right one at the junction, 22kms to Kaas village, the main platue is much before that.


Though road is 2-way, beginning stretch of 3-4kms a is very trecherous especially with MSRTC buses plying dangerously on it and has really bad trenches immediately on both sides of the road and by chance if you loose sight you can only imagine. So particularly drive safe in this stretch. Later part is pretty good and only a small stretch with smaller potholes.


A nice vintage point to stop. Expect some monkey business here.


Road-side linens are livening up. Dams start becoming visible from this point onwards.


So is the beginning platue (not the main platue) immediately afterwards.


You arrive at the main platue with Forrest Guard checkpost and the guards dressed in blue rain-coats (due to rains here).


The present view is pretty green from the car with the grass and saplings just starting to bloom. In full bloom this would actually look like AP showcased in the opening post.


continued...

Mods, if my earlier incomplete post is there, kindly remove it.
All, pls do not see and reply to the earlier incomplete post if you see it.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by CorsaLove

Oh Man! People already opting out?? Laluks Sir, it would have been great if you had come along.

17th I can, but cant make it on the 24-25th weekend, Flying to US on the 26th.

In that case let's plan for 17th only and let's stick to it. I won't be driving all alone that far I guess.

[parsh]

Continuing on the main platue ends at a small waterfall on right side and the road dives down with indications for Horn and No Overtaking.





You can go straight to Kaas village and onto Bamnola. The forest guards at the checkpost seen earlier warn you not to stop on the platue. Fortunately, in that time of torrential rains, not much was visible from this farthest end of the platue to the the guards. We drove down some distance and realized it is going to be tedious job to come back walking from the parking lot. So we turn around mid-way and come back to the end of the platue, waterfall place. Using the nil-visibility for cover park the car there with decent parking space besides the road. Soon after the Fiesta asks for platue and stops and later other cars follow suit.







The main platue from closer looks shows the beginning of the blooming.











Right now, this is what I can upload, some beautiful pics of flowers (whatever they were at that time were still beautiful) are yet to be processed. Nevertheless an enchanting experience.