Kaas - Plateau of Flowers

Kaas : Plateau of Flowers

Trek: Leisure trek to Kaas : Plateau of Flowers
Base village: Kaas, Maharashtra

Height: 1200 metres

Grade: Easy

Trekkers: 20

Dates: 14th September 2014 (Starting on 13th September)

Trek coordinator: Trek Mates India (TMI)

Trek Lead: Manoj Kalwar
Botanist: Viral Patel

Prologue:

UNESCO had lately included Kaas plateau in its World Heritage List and hence it had just found a place in my " " list. As ideal time to visit this place is mid september -October, i was looking out for such an event on Mumbai Hikers website. Then i came across an event arranged by Trek Mates India which i choose to enroll. It was all inclusive Mumbai to Mumbai one day event for exploring Kaas plateau satara starting preceeding night.

So as per itinerary we all were to gather at Dadar near Swami Narayan temple at 11: 00 pm at night. From there we started for Kaas plateau at 11:30 pm in a mini bus. We were pick up few of our fellow trekkers on the way at chembur and vashi. Once they were picked up on the way, we continued on Mumbai - Pune Expressway and the Pune - Bangalore highway.

So by 5 :30 - 6 am we reached Satara. To reach Kaas on has to pass through  Satara city and ascend on ghats towards west. One can see entire satara city from the ghat area. The view of city with white clouds hanging over it was just awesome. 

Then after hour travelling through ghats we reached Kaas at around 6 :30 am. There our food and waiting facilities were arranged in local shack cum refreshments house. There we  finished our morning chores and had our breakfast.

Then at 7:30 am we started towards Kaas plateau. We had with us Manoj Kalwar as trek guide. Also there was a botanist and expert Mr. Patel who was is actually Phd student doing research on Kaas. He was there to educate us about various flower and guide us how to identify them.

One requires to obtain permit for entering the flowering area. There were police manning the entrance and after payment of due entry charges, we entered in flowering area. The entire area had road in between and flowering area on both sides of the road.  There was wooden and wired barricade to prevent haphazard eateries in the area. Specific entry points are marked for entry. There our guides gave us necessary instructions. Then we entered the flowering area.

It was one of the most beautiful sight i had ever seen. The entire landmass encompassing vast area appeared as if someone has spread a pink coloured carpet on it. Most important part is that it is all naturally created. No human interference or resources had been spent done to create the same. It was one of the wonderful creations of nature. The only human interference needed is to protect it from undisciplined human encroachers.

Some areas were covered with white coloured Flowers, some in violet, some in faint yellow. It was a visual treat to one's eyes.It appeared as if Mother nature has spread her canvas and was judiciously spreading bold colours on it. There is a muddy tract in between the vast expanse of plateau. 

 Nature has it own ways for making wonderful things; the plateau is one of such wonderfully made creations.

The flower bed is made of porous rocks with scarce layer of mud. The flowers blooms in the second half of rainy season starting September to October. The flowering season mostly depends on type of rains in early monsoon months. The flowering time of different coloured flowers varies in this flowering season; so that one can see pink flower bloom in one week and violet coloured flowers bloom in another week. The dried seeds of this flowers drop after bloom and remains in the mud for whole year. Once again in next in rains these seeds germinate to bring flowers to decorate the nature's coloured carpet. This cycle repeats year after year and will continue forever if there is no human interference in the same. We humans are notoriously known to interfere and pervert most of nature's creations and cycles.

Coming back to our strolling at Kaas, there are predesignated mud tracks between flowering areas which one has to follow. However many of times, people to get good clicks, step into the flowering beds destroying the flowers. There are police and guards to prevent such undisciplined humans. Moreover there are also snakes residing in the flower beds. But voluntarily little care and discipline is expected from humans to preserve such an wonderful creation of nature so that others can also enjoy its beauty.

By now sun had risen and the temperature had soared. Even when we were in September, the sun's rays appeared were burning our skins. The combination of humidity and sun's heat had bearing on our skins. So we along with our botany expert we were strolling in the muddy tracts. 

Botany Expert - Mr. Viral Patel

There he showed us variety of flowers with their peculiar features. I could not remember most of them leaving two; the Balsam- the most abundantly found flower on Kaas plateau and the mickey mouse flower. This flower which is exclusively found at Kaas is known as Mickey mouse flower as its shape resembles the face of mickey mouse of Disney world.

Balsam

Smithia (Kavala) - Mickey Mouse Flower

There we were able to identify variety of flowers including many exotic ones and few endangered species. They are as below:

Seeta's Tears

White seeta's tears

Elephant Trunk (Halunda)

Asiatic Dayflower

Jambhli Manjiri

Chavar

Exacum Lawii

Greater Cat Ears (Abhali)

Have Aria

Hill Spurge

Impatiens

Lantana with a pollinator

Nisurdi

snowflakes

Sonki

Tooth Brush Orchid

Tutari (Rhampicarpa Longiflora)

Yellow Jewelweed (Impateins dalzelli)

Our group pic - P. C. Kaustubh

Photographer of our group - Jal Panthaky

Then after 4 hours of strolling and studying variety of flowers we went down along the slopes to visit kaas lake.

Old Building built by British

There is an old building built some british officer on the way towards lake. There at the lake we decided to cool our by now burning bodies. But swimming in unknown lake is risky. However we unknowingly had a national level swimming champion Mrs . Patel with us, who assured us of her support in case of any misadventures. So along with her we heartily swam in that lake. It was a great fun and most welcomed activity after the hot sunny stroll.

After swimming till 1:30 pm, we all were very hungry. So much that we could hardly walk up the slopes to our hotel and needed food served immediately. We were so much delighted to find a hot non veg unlimited lunch awaiting us at our refreshments shack. Everyone literally gulping down the food. There was Tambda and pandhra kolhapuri rassa flowing on our tables. Oh what a gastronomic delight it was!! Words fell short of describe it. Overly hungry folks with such an non veg delight. Awesome.

The local Restaurant - Sahyadri Pushp

Then to top it there were cold drinks to wash down our food pipes which were by now burning with tambda rassa.

Then after lunch we strolled near by for few minutes so that our overloaded bellies were settled down. There we had fun on that natural lawn wherein we funnily revenged our botanist Viral patel for pakaooing us in the morning session. 

"बहुत शहाणा बनता हे, सुबह से पका रहा हे"

Fun on the natural lawns

Filmy Fun 

There at the green lawned slopes we had some photography sessions.  After the fun on slopes at around 3:00 pm we started our return journey to Mumbai. Following the same route from where we arrived we had a short tea break near Katraj to reach Mumbai by 9 :30 pm.

Epilogue: In short it was very well planned leisure tour to kaas. It was one of its kind visual delight to one's eyes. With cheerful and crazy trek mates along with gastronomical treatment to one's taste buds, it was one of the memorable trips ever.

Photo Courtesy:

All exotic flower pics above were photographed and were made available by Jal Panthaky, Viral, and Kaustubh 

Trek Guide:

Mr. Manoj Kalwar (Now co-founded travel group with Jal Panthaky named "Travel Trikon")

Mob: 98190 21806

Website: www.traveltrikon.com

How to reach Kaas

Kaas can be preferably reached by private vehicles as there is no railway network nearby. State transport buses can also be availed from Satara bus depo. It is around 280 kms from Mumbai and 135 kms from Pune.

Stay Facilities at Kaas

This tour can be done in one day flat. However if you want to explore the place at leisure then there are various lodging facilities available in the vicinity. Also One can combine this tour with visit to Thoseghar waterfall and Chalkewadi windfarms nearby.

Food facilities at Kaas, Satara - Maharashtra

Hotel Sahyadri Pushp (Click for Google map coordinates)

Both veg and Non-veg cuisine available. Unlimited Kolapuri Tambda- pandhra rassa not to be missed.

Mobile:  094225 92035

Happy Trekking, Keep Exploring!!!!

Hotel Persian Darbar, Byculla

Mumbai Food Diaries- Mutton Rann Biryani @ Hotel Persian Darbar Byculla

Gastronomic funda:  Mutton Rann Biryani at popular Mughlai restaurant in Mumbai

Address: Persian Darbar Byculla, Mumbai (Click for Google map Coordinates)

Meal for 2: 600 onwards

Cuisine type: Mughlai, North Indian, Chinese, Biryani

Gastronomers: Irish Pereira, Garry Lobo, Ronald Dmello, Samson Dmello

Damages: Rs. 2300 (including 18% GST)

Ambience: 4 out of 5

Food: 3 out of 5

Service: 3 out of 5

Prologue: We had a plan to visit Mohammad Ali road during Ramzan. But due to some or the other reasons, the plan could not materialize. However after that we had planned to go for Iconic Rann Biryani. Now 'Rann' means Loin portion of lamb and it's unique meat texture makes it one of popular meats.  And there are very few places in Mumbai serving it like Persian Darbar at Byculla, Shalimar at Bhendi Bazaar etc. But out of the lot, Persian Darbar stands out for its Mughlai cuisine and so it made it into our gastronomy list.

As planned we were to go for this food trek in the evening after work wherein it was decided that we gather directly at Hotel itself at 7 pm from one's respective offices.

As Mutton Rann Biryani is one of such dish which can be called as Group dish. Its serving quantity is such that it requires 4-5 persons to finish it. So as planned, all of my brothers were to avoid any miscellaneous eating in the evening so that we can finish the Rann Biryani single handedly.

I reached the venue by 7:15 pm. The hotel is popular and any lay man will direct you the address to it. It is just parallel to flyover just outside Byculla Railway station on East side.

When i reached the hotel, two of my brothers had already reached the venue and were settled in the mezzanine floor. The restaurant's ambiance was of Arabic theme. I was surprised to know that they out hunger had ordered and gulped a Manchow soup (which we had decided to avoid). One has to plan for effective gastric/ belly space for such an group dish. Moreover we were running short of additional person as the quantity is  for 5 persons effectively. we were  plan But they had lost to their hunger pangs that they could not hold any longer. However they had ordered for our Rann biryani, which was ready by then . There we were again waiting for fourth accomplice to appear there. After 15 mins of waiting, he arrived. The steward there was signalled to get our meat for the evening. He promptly nodded and there it was !!!

Our Gastro team

In its first glimpse,  it was huge steel platter containing slightly conned white biryani rice layer decorated with tomatoes and eggs.

Seeing our game our eyes twinkled. Now was the moment to pounce on menu we have been salivating since the time we had entered the venue.

Mutton Rann Biryani @ Persian Darbar

After thanking God Almighty for the same we started of with salad and eggs on it. We all started digging from our respective sides. The top white rice layer was followed by masala rice layer.  Underneath masala rice lays Mutton Rann drenched in spicy thick gravy. The masala was judiciously used ..not to spicy not to bland.

The mutton Rann was succulent and juicy. It had retained it's aroma from charcoal grilling. The bone marrow was however was not that soft and hence we couldn't relish on bone marrow. The meat had its different texture.

However the gravy beneath seemed to be very thick and seemed somewhat oily and starchy to begin with. However it was good when mixed with white rice above.

As being hungry we initially ate in hurry only to slow down later. For liquid to occupy the free spaces between in belly, we ordered for Fresh sweet lime soda instead of soft drinks. The combination of spicy Rann biryani with cold soothing lime soda seemed good and so much that we repeated it again.

Within half an hour of gastronomic moments, we were almost full and there was hardly anything left leaving bones and some thick masala.  We were filled almost to the brim and couldn't take anything more. There we had to drop our plan of having firni - another speciality for dessert.

The final scene

For of those who would like to go for mutton Rann Biryani in future, make sure you have at least a group of 5 heavy eaters. We four of us had to really press ourselves to finish the platter,  so that nothing is wasted.

Epilogue: To sum up it was a good evening spend in at one of iconic Mumbai hotel with some good meats and cheerful good people.

Disclaimer: The above restaurant in review was personally visited by Irish Pereira wherein he has paid for the full bill & does not believe in featured / sponsored reviews. The reviewer believes in anonymously visiting a hotel to present an honest account of all the factors to you.

Happy Eating, Keep Exploring!!!!

Hotel Chaitanya, Malvan - Sindhudurg

Malvan food diaries - Hotel Chaitanya

Gastronomic funda:  A tiny restaurant serving authentic Malwani food and Maharashtrian non-vegetarian dishes.

Address & other details: Hotel Chaitanya  Malvan (Click for Google map Coordinates)

Cuisine: Non-Vegetarian & Vegetarian

Meal For two: 500

Gastronomers: Irish Pereira, Bhaskar & Bhageshree Sawant, Pradip Patil, Pranali & Shriansh Tamhanekar

Damages: Rs. 1943 (Including 5% GST)

Ambience: 3 out of 5

Food: 4 out of 5

Service: 4 out of 5

Hotel Chaitanya is one of the popular sea food destination in Malvan, Sindhudurg. Located in heart of Malvan town, this place provides food enthusiast's with most authentic Malvani food.

Prologue:

We had a chance to visit Malvan for our office trip and wherein Chaitanya was one of the hotels recommended by our tour operator for Lunch. It is just at a walking distance from Malvan jetty wherein to board the ferry for Sindhudurg fort. 

Our Team

After reaching there, the Hotel’s ambience was also good to begin with. We were 6 of us seated on table and we decided to taste most pf the menus and preferred to order for 4 different seafood menus. There was no regular menu card available and one has to refer menu board fixed on the wall for placing an order. Please refer there menu board below.

Menu Board

Some of their daily special dishes are listed below:

The food offerings are as per platewise. We had ordered in all 5 different menus namely. Surmai thali, Paplet thali, Khekda thali (crab), Bombil thali, and Chicken saguti.

All menus were awesome and catch were fresh. One can easily make out whether the fish used in the dish is fresh or not.

Surmai Thali

To begin with, i would like to start with Surmai thali. This thali comes with generous oversized Surmai piece with bowl of curry, sol kadhi, rasam, slice of onions coupled with Wheat chapatti. One can also go for rice bhakri instead of Chapatti. Surmai was fried with typical rava or semolina coating. The crust was very crispy outside and juicy and textured inside. The fish curry of small mackerel was tangy made out of kokam and coconut milk.

Pomfret Thali

Secondly coming to Pomfret (Paplet as it is locally known) we were somewhat disappointed seeing the pomfret serving size as compared to Surmai. On the lighter note the owners of hotel were perhaps injudiciously biased in favour of Surmai. It was again shallow fried in semolina and served on banana leaf. The taste however made up for its small size. The spicy and juicy textured crust had retained its flavours.

Khekda (Crab) Thali

Thirdly the crab dish was again made up with coconut milk and kokam gravy, but was tangy taste as compared regular mackerel curry which we had with other fish dishes. It was mid-sized crab drenched in the curry. One has to be careful with clothes when handling such shell fishes and crabs. The crab thali was just OK types as compared to fishes. 

Bombil Thali

Fourthly Bombil thali was ordered for our younger fellow who preferred bombil fry over other prized siblings. Again with same standard curry, rasam set up included shallow fried bombil. The semolina coated bombil were crispy and juicy.

Chicken Saguti with Vade

Lastly leaving fish section and coming to chicken was Chicken Saguti dish which was also really well made. Chicken saguti with vade happens to be one of the famous speciality of Malvan. There were two different chicken preparations in the dish; one was Saguti which was more spicy than the other. With judiciously used coconut based masala which was hot, spicy and with crispy vadas, it was one of dish to reckon at in Chaitanya.

After food we washed down our food pipes with Solkadi (drink made from kokum and coconut milk) which was complimentarily served again and again. Solkadi was kind of sour than regular one we have in Mumbai.

In all above dishes, we had ordered for wheat chapatti. However fish and rice bhakri make for an awesome combination. The chapatti was followed by regular rice which we had as per own appetite.

Epilogue : To sum up there are various choices for food enthusiasts in Malvan to drop by, but Hotel Chaitanya is the place a true sea food lover will not want to miss especially for those Maharashtrian sea food and non-vegetarian dishes which are quite affordable too.

Disclaimer: The above restaurant in review was personally visited by Irish Pereira wherein he has paid for the full bill & does not believe in featured / sponsored reviews. The reviewer believes in anonymously visiting a hotel to present an honest account of all the factors to you.

Happy Eating, Keep Exploring!!!!