The Magic of Kaas Pathar and mesmerizing Panchgani
Part 2 of the Wai-Kaas Pathar Trip- As it happened.
We had the slot booking of 11 am at Kaas Pathar. So it was inevitable for us to wake up and leave early since it was an hour and a half journey from Pandit Wada. We woke up at 7 am the following day & after finishing our morning chores, we were all set to depart for Kaas by 8:30 am. After eating poha, we left for Kaas.
The previous night, there were two more surprise additions to our group. Rama’s parents decided to make a last-minute plan the morning that we left to join us on the trip, and they departed for Pandit Wada by that afternoon and joined us at the perfect time while we were placing our order for dinner. It was a pleasant surprise as their joining came as a bolt from the blue. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get a slot for the next day at Kaas due to their sudden plans. So they decided to follow our day one itinerary before joining us at Panchgani.
The journey to Kaas was marvellous. It was a bright sunny morning with a clear blue sky and sunlit clouds like the previous day. En route to Kaas, we bypassed Satara city. Satara means seven hills as the district is surrounded by seven hills from all sides. It is a city rich in heritage and abundant in forts, lakes, museums and temples. The morning rays of the Sun shone brightly on the famous and majestic Ajinkyatara fort, which we saw on the way to Kaas. AR Rahman and Shankar-Ehsaan- Loy’s soulful and divine music was a de-facto companion in this journey. Singing and humming the lyrics along with friends in the journey gave a different level of happiness altogether.
As we started closing in near Kaas Plateau, the dynamics of nature slowly began to change. The rich beauty of Western Ghats began to unravel slowly and steadily. The last few kilometres of the journey from Satara to Kaas gave my eyes the best and the most extraordinary scenic views of the entire trip. The mountains of the Western Ghats were dazzling in full glory laid by a carpet of greenery thanks to the monsoon.
The curvy roads, clean and well maintained, the stunning red soil, the mountains covered with almighty hues of Green, the small waterfalls and streams naturally activated by the monsoon made it a sight to behold. Due to the elevation, the air seemed fresh and pollution-free. This site was an absolute treat for the eyes.
This scenic view had every trait that anyone associates with great poetry or literature. It was as if heaven had descended down on Earth. There wasn’t a single dull moment in the entire last few kilometres of the journey. There was this never-ending urge inside me to stop where we were after every few minutes to enjoy this unstoppable serene beauty before realising that the time was ticking and we had to reach there by 11 am.
I so wished I could remain there for hours, sitting at peace doing nothing but gazing at the scenic spot. All my sensory organs were jumping in joy with the jaw-dropping moments that I was experiencing. There was an outpour of gratitude that was taking place within my heart. The scenery had become like an impregnable fortress whose magic couldn’t be cast aside by a magic wand. I had wished for time to freeze, the car to stop moving, and the eyes to stop blinking. I could sense and smell the aroma of the freshness in the air, of the moment that I was soaking in. I could feel that satisfactory soul smile coming from the inside with my heart beating full of joy and happiness.
It was a scenic view, which had all the elements in it, to book its place in the league of the most epic ones that I had seen so far. It dared to be in the list of ones that forever leave an imprint in some corner of our hearts, whose blueprint keeps on playing in our mind like a tape recorder whenever reminiscing about it in the future. It would cover all the different facets which nature in its varied forms blossomed to show on full display for everyone to see as if it was telling the world to come, watch & take notice of the spectacular view.
There are moments in our lives where we experience this level of satisfaction and positivity around us where the mind forgets all the worries and tensions that have been bothering us. These are the moments that we crave to last for more extended periods, and when we experience those, we have to make sure that we maximize and capitalize on them. It goes a long way in rejuvenating, recharging our minds giving us new ideas and showing us new ways to look at different things. I had such a moment of a lifetime for some minutes during those last remaining kilometres. My senses were at their peak and probably functioning at their best then.
We finally reached the parking of Kaas Plateau, where we were escorted to the main gate by a bus. After ticket verification, we were free to roam anywhere we wanted. Having a piece of limited and abysmal knowledge about flowers, I was awestruck and spellbound by the magnitude and the plethora of flowers that laid in front of my eyes. I saw so many flowers for the first time in my life. Technically, it was the second time since I had already visited the Carlsberg Flower Fields in California when I was a toddler. But it is pointless to count those as I just see myself in my photo albums in a sea of flowers that lasted the horizon ended. So in my living memory, it was the first time.
As we stepped down from the car, the winds suddenly turned cold. It was experiencing early winter- my favourite season in September. It was a spectacular view. I saw a plethora of belts of flowers in yellow. After being surrounded by the sea of yellow, the first thought that came to my mind was #Yellove and the Yellow Army. I was imagining Chennai Super Kings winning the IPL trophy.
There are barricades at most places so that people don’t crush flowers. Also, they are well guarded by security personnel who keep a close eye and are vigilant in not letting people cross the small narrow lanes to get near flowers. We entered Gate 2 premises and started exploring the flowers. Our first sighting was a sea of yellow and white flowers that lasted till perpetuity. Then, we also spotted some pretty purple flowers. After walking for half an hour clicking some epic photos in between, one of the security personnel directed us to witness the lotuses in their full bloom since it was afternoon time at Gate no 4. While returning at the main entrance, there was a beautiful lake along with serene grasslands, where we decided to do a short photo session before shifting gears to move to Gate no 4.
The path to reach Gate no 4 consisted of entering and exiting a route with Gate no 3. When we finally entered Gate 4, it was a 2 km walk to reach Kumudini Lake, where lotuses were blooming. As we started walking, the lake seemed in no sight. We started experiencing what travellers in the desert experience- a mirage. Every few steps that we took, we thought that we had finally reached it, but it was still quite far away to our disbelief. After a long tiring walk, we finally reached Kumudini lake. W felt that the destination wasn’t worth the effort and walk. The white lotuses were blooming but so tiny that they looked like a wave of marshy land covered with moss.
We paused for a moment over there, recharged our batteries by drinking some water. That is when Charuta spotted some fantastic windmills. We started following the windmills to have a closer look at them. The road leading to them had no barricades. The grey clouds had suddenly started to follow us from behind. As we went ahead, we discovered that the windmills were way too far, and due to limited time, it would not have been possible to cover them. So we went as close as we could, had some great clicks with the windmill in the background and decided to return back. The sea of yellow and white flowers was a constant in this route. We also saw some pretty blue flowers known as seetechi asava in Marathi. Just like in a trek, the descending journey is never tiring; the return journey to Gate no 4 didn’t feel tiring at all.
It was closer to 2 pm by the time we had reached Gate no 4. Our slot timings were about to end. It was a great end to Kaas Plateau. The flowers had moderately bloomed this season. Although all the flowers hadn’t entirely bloomed because of the ongoing rains, it was a spectacular sighting for the eyes. My first-time experience in the sea of flowers turned out to be one to remember for ages.
We reached the parking where our Innova was waiting for us. It was 2 pm, and my stomach was growling. We stopped at the nearby restaurant. Like the previous day, Charuta, my foodie partner in crime, and I decided to have Chicken Handi with Butter Garlic Naan. Rama and Joshi Kaka had paneer while Aditi Kaku ate Dal Khichdi. Although the food was delicious, the restaurant services reminded me of the great case studies I used to solve a couple of months ago in Costing, where we were given a situation of how shoddy the hotel services were and how you as a consultant were appointed to revamp them. I felt as if I was practically experiencing the case study.
After an amazing lunch, we were all set for the final destination of our trip-Panchgani where Vaidya Kaka and Kaku would meet us. It was supposed to be another long road trip. The journey to Panchgani consisted of going back to Wai and later climbing the Ghats to reach Panchgani. We again experienced those magical views of the Kaas-Satara road while returning back to Satara. During this road trip, trying to mimic Rama’s trademark sentence “Oh God mala yetach nahiye” became my favourite pastime. Everyone had a hearty laugh with the journey songs in the background.
As we bid adieus to Kaas and reached Satara, almost everyone dozed off to take a power nap in the car after lunch. After crossing Wai, another exciting road trip began- the Ghats. The path leading to Panchgani was full of Ghats. It reminded me of my Mussorie-Kedarkantha journey, which was in high mountainous terrain full of ghats. Travelling in the mountains is always special to me. I have always loved travelling on curvy roads of the Ghats on high altitudes. Travelling in the mountains never fails to give me goosebumps, and it felt surreal to experience them en route to Panchgani. This was just like another typical Ghat journey.
Named after the five majestic hills enclosing it, Panchgani makes for a renowned hill station. Perched at an elevation of around 1,334 meters above sea level, this hill town is packed with towering mountains, serene valleys and dense forests.
As we closed in near Panchgani, all of a sudden, we were in the clouds. We brought in with ourselves a wave of fog. The tranquil valley was completely covered with white mist by the time we reached it. Everything seemed to turn white. The big pine trees in Panchgani covered in a ray of white mist reminded Rama of a Harry Potter horror scene. It reminded Charuta of the non-existent haunted horror stories which she was petrified of. Panchgani, to date, retains its vintage British architectural buildings. It has very famous world-class boarding schools for the Page 3 personalities of Mumbai.
Vaidya Kaka and Kaku had already reached Panchgani a few hours before us after completing our Day 1 itinerary. They were waiting for us at the famous Table Land in Panchgani. We met them at Table Land and decided to explore the place. The fog by now had completely surrounded the area. Table Land is a large plateau located at a higher elevation. The site was surrounded by horses for tourists to ride around Table Land to have a scenic view of nature.
Walking in that dense fog felt like walking in an illusion. We could barely see the road in front of us but not well enough to make out any details. Ir reminded me of how I could barely see the outline of the future but was not clear enough to make out any details. Sometimes nature truly reflects our interior landscape.
Charuta shot some incredible time-lapse of the fog across the lake. It felt like a Hollywood film. She beautifully captured the small boat slowly rowing across the lake covered in a thick blanket of fog. Next, we decided to wander the lanes of Panchgani. Walking on the bylanes of Panchgani reminded me of a typical 20th Century hill station built by the British. It still retains its vintage looks that makes it stand out from the rest of the hill stations in the country.
Our next stop in Panchgani was the famous Mapro Garden. Charuta bought some jelly chocolates before we decided to feast on the favourite pizza and sandwich of the Mapro Garden. Hot Chocolate was a must in such incredible, windy weather. We wanted to drink the famous strawberry shake but couldn’t as it was available seasonally. The food tasted awesome. Our bellies were full, and it was 7 pm by the time we left Panchgani.
We descended towards Wai. While descending in the night sky, Wai looked surreal. After reaching Wai, we purchased the famous and tasty Kandi Pedhe in Wai to bring back home. After reaching Pandit Wada, we played cards for a while before having some fascinating discussions.
Joshi Kaka had some fascinating stories to narrate about the history of that region, along with some exciting tales from his teaching career. Vaidya Kaka was recounting beautiful insights and experiences from his work. Later, when we checked the scorecard, it turned out that Mumbai Indians had lost the game.
It was a perfect Sunday for me as CSK had won the afternoon game, and MI had been crushed by RCB. Everyone was disappointed to see MI lose, while I was like the lone wolf celebrating MI’s defeat. It sparked off a fascinating banter where I was all at sea defending the CSK fortress while everyone came in support of MI. It probably may have been tough to digest MI’s terrible performance for all the MI supporters this season. CSK had been the table-toppers while MI had been competing for the wooden spoon. It was a complete turnaround from the previous season, as promised by MS Dhoni at the end of the last season. Team after team was getting crushed at the hands of Dhoni’s Yellow Army while MI continued to look for answers to their middle-order struggles where they just couldn’t find a way to win a match.
It was a satisfying end to the day. Charuta was completely frightened of the imaginary ghosts that she imagined in Pandit Wada. It was bizarre that she and Rama were not at all afraid of the natural and present danger of the choppy Dhom Waters but were extremely scared of the unreal and absent threat of the imaginary ghosts of Pandit Wada. That had a ripple effect on Joshi Kaku as well.
Yet when Joshi Kaka decided to tell some horror stories of Konkan, the asleep Rama woke up suddenly to have all ears to the ghost stories he was narrating. Charuta, too, was keenly listening to the ghost stories despite being afraid of the imaginary lurking danger.
Early next morning at 6:30 am, Vaidya Kaka, Kaku and Rama bid adieu to us as she had work in the afternoon. We woke up and left an hour later after having a fresh early morning tea. Before departing, Charuta made a beautiful vlog of the Pandit Wada that we were staying for our memory.
We said goodbye to Wai as we left for Mumbai at 7:15 am. We travelled non stop as we were not hungry and reached Panvel around 10 am. We decided to have our breakfast at the famous Mani’s restaurant in Mulund. We all had Medu Vadas before finally reaching Thane at 11:30 am.
When I came to Wai, I had many expectations, and this trip turned awesome, surpassing my expectations. I truly lived the saying, ‘Expect the unexpected!’. I was returning to Mumbai with a head full of dreams and a heart full of joy-filled with some excellent memories that would stay with me in some corner of my heart forever.
One of the biggest lessons of this trip was that there is no limit to the amount of incredible beauty that this state or country has. Every 10–15 km you travel, you’ll end up with a serene spot. There is so much left to explore. 15 km ahead of Panchgani was Mahabaleshwar. It is incredible to see so much tourism potential that we have.
