[amitwlele]

@Biju - Wonderful snaps as usual. It looks like raining Kaas threads. SDP has one going, you and the TBHP meet thread. Looks like i am the only one who missed out.

In this thread i especially loved the snaps from Urmodi dam backwaters and your boating trip.

[akbaree]

The beauty of Western Ghats is second to none. Thanks for sharing.

[C300]

Wow! Another Kaas log! Excellent picture Biju. The weather was perfect. Loved the pics of those Buffaloes enjoying the greenery and sunshine.

[pjbiju]

@Indian Ranger. Thank you.

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Lovely photographs, although looks like most of them were shot during harsh daylight. That place is just awesome, both Kaas and Bamnoli. We were bit luckier in terms of flowers as we show much more flowers.

Thanks Kaushik. Yes, tt was a very bright dayl. So I had to make do with the harsh light and dark shadows. We did not encounter rain at all. By late afternoon, it was a bit hazy. The place as you said is awesome. Last year I could not make it beyond the plateau because of lack of time. Although it was very sunny, it was not hot at all during the day.

Originally Posted by amitwlele

@Biju - Wonderful snaps as usual. It looks like raining Kaas threads. SDP has one going, you and the TBHP meet thread. Looks like i am the only one who missed out.

In this thread i especially loved the snaps from Urmodi dam backwaters and your boating trip.

Thanks Amit. Yes, SDP and I started the threads on the same day. I did the trip one day after he finished his trip. You can always make a trip to the Kaas Lake and Bamnoli, if you have not been there. You would have a really wonderful day out there.

Originally Posted by akbaree

The beauty of Western Ghats is second to none. Thanks for sharing.

When one visits such places, one can proudly say Incredible India. Wish our citizens took more care of such places.

Originally Posted by C300

Wow! Another Kaas log! Excellent picture Biju. The weather was perfect. Loved the pics of those Buffaloes enjoying the greenery and sunshine.

Thanks C300. If there were some spotted cows grazing there, one could say that that he/she was just back from a trip to Switzerland.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

One could take the boat out to the middle of the lake and then simply sit inside soaking in the beauty.

And perhaps do some fishing..

Or read a book

Or simply take a nap

Or admire the sunshine

Or pray to God

...

If you want to live here...

You could perhaps buy a boat

Or two boats if you are richer

Or buy many of them if you own a bank or two

You could become a policeman, posted here

Or become a politically important person to enjoy a ride inside this VIP boat - notice the sliding windows

Or you could visit whenever you feel like, like us

Hey Biju, that's beautifully written. Lovely thoughts!
Somehow missed your last 2-3 posts on Mon/Tue. Caught up today. Brilliant photographs. I re-lived my own experience through your thread. Thanks for sharing.

[lloydofcochin]

Pjbiju,

Beautiful pics. Rating 5 stars.

[oilmonkey]

Great travelogue of a wonderful place. Thank you for introducing this place to ppl like e who dint know...

Will try to be there sometime this Nov...

Anyone else headed there around that time?

[ks14]

Hi Biju,

Wonderful review. I had gone there right during the middle of monsoon. Kaas was still a paradise that time. I don't have good photography skills like yours. But, still managed to get a decent picture of Kaas lake in an ordinary camera when it was misty all the time.

The lake of Urmodi on one side and the Kanher dam on the other side creates the picture card bliss for Kaas.

Thanks once again for the pictures and the review.

Originally Posted by pjbiju

While driving back from Kaas, we also stopped to take pictures of the green pastures and the Urmodi dam backwaters. In fact there were several places that I had marked in my mind. Places where I wanted to stop for pictures. But we did not stop at all those places.

[KarthikK]

Fantastic pictures and awesome thread! This thread has inspired me to take the car all the way from Bangalore to Kaas during next year's flowering season. Added to my next year's to-do list

[pjbiju]

@lloydofcochin. Thank you.

Originally Posted by oilmonkey

Great travelogue of a wonderful place. Thank you for introducing this place to ppl like e who dint know...

Will try to be there sometime this Nov...

Anyone else headed there around that time?

There were a lot of people (and even now there are a lot of people) including those staying in and around Satara who did not know about this place. I guess the reason for this is that Bamnoli is like a dead end. I think it is a very small village and there is nothing else of commercial value in between. Very little reason for people to travel to such a place. All the attention has been towards Thoseghar water falls than Kaas plateau. Thanks to the Internet, more and more people are travelling to this place now. I hope the initiatives taken by the forest dept. continue and also hope that they provide some basic amneties at Kaas and Bamnoli.

Last week for 2-3 days, there was no boating at Bamnoli for some reason. I will try to post the contact numbers of Bhairavnath Boat Club so that one could check if boating would be available on the day they plan to visit Bamnoli.

Originally Posted by ks14

Hi Biju,

Wonderful review. I had gone there right during the middle of monsoon. Kaas was still a paradise that time. I don't have good photography skills like yours. But, still managed to get a decent picture of Kaas lake in an ordinary camera when it was misty all the time.

The lake of Urmodi on one side and the Kanher dam on the other side creates the picture card bliss for Kaas.

Thanks once again for the pictures and the review.

I think visiting Kaas and taking the boat ride at Bamnoli during the rains would be a different experience. May be next year, I will try to make two trips - one during the rains and one after the rains. Thanks for sharing the picture.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Fantastic pictures and awesome thread! This thread has inspired me to take the car all the way from Bangalore to Kaas during next year's flowering season. Added to my next year's to-do list

You should definitely do that. And plan to be there on at least one weekday. That will help you enjoy the beauty in peace. Anyway if you stay at Satara, you can actually be there before sunrise everyday, come back to Satara and go back again for the sunset. I could not make it before sunrise this year, travelling from Pune, though that was my initial plan.

Please also go through SDP's thread which has better flower photos. MX6 has also posted a couple of photos in the Kaas meet thread.

[RGK]

Excellent photos Biju. Your travelogue proved again that there are plenty of places in India to be seen and enjoyed. Thanks for sharing..

[MX6]

PJB. I shall post some of my pics in your thread if you don't mind. We need to meet up. There's a tapri (rather dinner) meet brewing up in Lavasa. Would you be interested in Joining? It's been a while and this saturday night seems the be perfect.

Let me compress some of the pics where I don't have my family and post them here if it is ok with you.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by RGK

...Your travelogue proved again that there are plenty of places in India to be seen and enjoyed. Thanks for sharing..

So very true. There are many places in India that we can travel to and enjoy.

Originally Posted by MX6

PJB. I shall post some of my pics in your thread if you don't mind. We need to meet up. There's a tapri (rather dinner) meet brewing up in Lavasa. Would you be interested in Joining? It's been a while and this saturday night seems the be perfect.

Let me compress some of the pics where I don't have my family and post them here if it is ok with you.

MX6, please go ahead and post your pictures. I too would love to meet up with everyone. Hope to make it to one of the future meets in Pune. Unfortunately, this Saturday is already fully booked. :(

[MX6]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

MX6, please go ahead and post your pictures.

Thanks PJB. Here are some unseen pics from my last year's trip. They are all shot in RAW format and had some minor editing and huge compression.

This was the Kaas that was.

One elderly lady sitting all alone amidst the flowers.


The ikonic vehicle with another one behind. Just the two cars in the whole plateau that day!


The misty morning.


Sepia toned pic of once free land. Now it is the car park for all Kaas visiting people.


Sometimes I feel that with human intrusion the charm of the place is lost. And I have my share in destroying the charm of the place. This year the place was extremely crowded. Top that bureacrats/ netas/ their relatives were free to do anything in Kaas. Poor genuine nature lovers had been pushed to oblivion.

But still, the place is magical. Later tonight I shall post some of the pics from this years trip to Kaas. A trip which would very well be my last to Kaas!

[MX6]

Here are some pics from Kaas this year.

Morning view from my hotel room


And I just missed the sunrise.


The famous Karvi flowers.


Whew.


Carpet of flowers.


Mrs MX6 and Junior MX6.


What would the world be without colours?


The hard working bees.


And the soil is cracking up.


Tiny little yellow flowers.


A rare bug - endangered.


This one's pretty famous.


Those three houses!


Thosegar falls.


The crowd at Kaas.


And this is what we humans do when we go to any place. Endangered bugs stuck to chewing gum - dead.


Photo courtesy - ToI. It was saddening to note a lot of the crowd that came this time were unruly. While it was good to see that the forest officials stopped cars from parking on the plateau (meadow) and barricaded a lot of places, the red beacon cars broke every possible rule! It was astonishing to see them on a sunday (holiday) ferrying family. And to see so many resorts mushrooming around, is only sounding the warning signals.
Kaas might not exist in future. If we want it to, then the humans need to be more responsible. And people in power shouldn't misuse it either.

Thanks PJB for letting me post some of the pics (15 of the 340) here.