Kaas Plateau – The Valley of Flowers

About 130 kilometres from Pune lies the beautiful place of Kaas Plateau. Four weeks in a year, the entire valley blooms with a variety of flowers in a landscape that can only be defined as majestic. I spent the last weekend here (the best time to visit is between September and October) and it was hands down one of the most beautiful places I have been to. If you are a nature lover, you wouldn’t have the heart to leave.

The Drive

One of the best parts of the trip was the long drive starting from Pune. Our journey started early in the morning, at about 7. The weather was perfectly cold with just a hint of a drizzle. The two-hour drive took us across breath-taking sceneries, through tunnels and by mountains. As we started the climb to the Kaas valley, the climate got even better. The temperature started to fall and we passed through several misty peaks with lakes on either sides of the road. Traffic played the showstopper to our beautiful ride unfortunately, and it took us about 45 minutes to get to the Valley through the congestion.

Rain Kissed

The next stage was a 20-minute walk to the plateau (preceded by some chai and Maggi). The drizzle continued and there was mist all around us but that didn’t stop us.

We got our tickets checked and entered the valley to be greeted by a carpet of blue flowers. No words or photos can explain what we pictured.

In a short while, the skies opened up and it started to pour. The rain drops felt like needles on our skins, but determined to achieve what we set out for, we moved further inwards. We were drenched by the time we covered the place and our hands were numb with cold, but the contentment of covering the valley was just a different feeling altogether.

Descent

The climb to the top had eaten up most of our energies. We ended up dragging ourselves back down the slushy road, refusing to let our bodies give up. I decided to make the most of our drenched states and jumped into a small stream nearby to clean up. It was quite fun considering that I couldn’t even feel my hands at this point.

We made it back somehow, though drenched and shivering. Despite our sodden state, we carried with us the confidence of having conquered a different experience in a different place.