KAAS-VALLEY OF FLOWERS( MAHARASHTRA).

" KAAS VALLEY OF FLOWERS"---(SATARA,MAHARASHTRA).-----UNCESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE...

 UNCESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE OF KAAS-VALLEY OF FLOWERS.

 SHIVSAGAR LAKE VIEW FROM TOP OF THE KAAS MEADOWS....

                          KOYNA DAM VIEW FROM THE KAAS PLATEAU.....................................  

Mostly with the name"Maharashtra",we can relate with cities like Mumbai /Nagpur ...But KAAS- Valley of flowers is located near a small city,SATARA ; Its some 5+hrs drive from Mumbai City via the Expressway.Though ,I had been to Valley of flowers in Uttarakhand & Ladakh region in J&K, but never expected  such a beautiful VOF so close to mumbai. Basically this spot is quite common with bikers ,who travel from either Pune/Navi-mumbai via the ghat road.

RESORTS ACROSS THE AJINKYTARA MOUNTAIN RANGE.

    Kaas-Valley of flowers's blooming period commence assoon as themonsoon ends in this region. It's for a short period of 2-3 weeks,usually by August end; The Kaas -Vof is located ontop of Kaas plateau,which gets covered with colourful small wild flowers...This plateau is located ontop, across the Ajinkytara mountain range.

 VIEW OF MYSTIC KAAS LAKE.....

  THE BLOOMS ON THE KAAS PLATEAU...

BLOOOMS ON THE KAAS VALLEY OF FLOWERS.

Route:     Mumbai- Pune- Satara( take the cut from Shendra(Abhays Indraji Bhonsle Institute of Technology)-leftside from the highway-drive another 35kms to the Kaas plateau across the Ajinkytara range...

   Toll tax on the expressway:      Vashi toll ( 30/-Rs)-Khalapur(99/-Rs)-Talegaon(165/-Rs)-Khedshivpur(70Rs/-)-Anewadi(50Rs/-).

Other places of tourist interest:     Kaas Lake,Bamnoli,Tapola,Shivsagar lake,Koyna Dam,Vasota Fort.

Flowers found:       Smithia bunch, Purple bladderwort,Skyblue karvy,Mal Karvy,Abhali blooming, Tuberous pipewort,Depcadi Montanum,Saffron senecio daisies,Great Cat's ear's, Burmann Sundew. etc.etc.

Place to halt a night : Hotel Nivant Hill Resort on the Ajinkytara range is the most pictureque but need to do booking prior; orelse hotel at Satara city -Hotel Maharaja Regency etc. orelse another option which we found suitable for us,was to drive upto Kolhapur City via the Satara-Kolhapur golden quadrilateral's road & visit the Maha laxmi temple ,kolhapur too ...

Our driving timings for the visit  was - Started from Vashi( navi-mumbai)-6:05am- reached Kaas-(11:30am). Lunch at Hotel Nivant Hill resort(2pm)... Reached Kolhapur-5:30pm via the expressway .

 KAAS VALLEY WITH ITS NEW BLOOM...

 KAAS VOF .......................................

THE ROADS TO THE KAAS VALLEY OF FLOWERS.

      It had been a great experience to visit this serene place which is now declared UNCESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE. & a good recommendation for all Nature lover's to try to visit this untouch,unspoilt beauty,keeping in mind the blooming period as we were abit too early to see the bloom .A great weekend site to visit for Mumbaikar's aswell any way who hates the hussle bussle of Mumbai City Life.

LEH CITY TOUR & THE ZASKAR REGION OF LADAKH.

                             LEH CITY & THE ZASKAR REGION.

 Leh City View From The SHANTI STUPA...........

 SHANTI STUPA,LEH CITY.............

MAGNETIC HILL ,LADAKH........................................

Leh City is the capital of Ladakh & the largest town of the region.Leh located to the north of Indus river at an elevation of 11500ft above sealevel approx. The best time to visit Leh is between june-Sept. Most of the trekking routes are closed by Nov' due to heavy snowfall at the high passes except the Liker-khaltsey trek.The best time for Chadar trek over the frozen river to Zaskar is 'jan- mid march. Besides ,theTsemo Gonpa & the Leh Palace ,the Shanti Stupa is a magnificient structure.Located on a hiltop,gives every visitor a picturesque view of greenery &snowclad mountains.The HALL OF FAME located close to the Leh-Airport has a great collection of documentation & specimen of Kargil War.The houses at Leh are mostly made of mud bricks which r not baked & inside is POP done for finish.Since there's no rain in this region the houses sustains. This region is total barren & the naked mountains stands tall.The silence all around,No pollution-hardly a person seen---- gives a sense of lost in the natures wilderness.

 CONFLUENCE OF INDUS & ZASKAR RIVER..........

 NIMMU VILLAGE in the Zaskar Region.

 The Apricot Bloom.................

 GREEN APPLES at Nimmu village ( Zaskar Region).

THE GOLDEN BUDDHA STATUE AT LIKIR MONESTRY.

 VIEW FROM PATHER SAHIB GURUDWARA...

  The drive to Alchi monestry takes one across the Zaskar region of Ladakh.The drive from leh city follows alongside INDUS RIVER.The ZASKAR RANGE on oneside & the LADAKH RANGE on the otherside of the road,makes one feel as if,driving to some No Man's land.The region is so very arid that the Ladakh range looks like a hip of mud with big rocks mixed indifferent shapes.While the Zaskar range ,to some extent is a snow capped peak. Its total wilderness & in its midst ,located the Indian Army settlements .After the SPITUK & PHEY region,The MAGNETIC HILL gives every visitor lots of excitment to feel the effect of the magnetic field & how cars & other vehicles are pull towards at 20km/hr speed without engine being started....Though people say its,not real ..but my video camera caught its effect Live to make me believe its effect. Next its the INDUS & ZASKAR RIVER CONFLUENCE....This region is mostly visited by Trekkers/Raffters... The Pather Sahib Gurudwara on the way to Alchi & Likir monestry is a great place to visit amidst this wilderness; Alchi Monestry is quite a long drive away. Soon after Pather Sahib comes NIMMU,BARGO cantonment area ,where one can come across Green Apple Orchards & Apricot Farms.Alchi Monestry is more hyped place on tourist circuit.Alchi Monestry stands by Zaskar river; NHPC project has brought some worth to Alchi model village. Likir Monestry is tourist friendly to capture glimpse of Buddhist culture & traditional Thaka paintings..... Now its almost 70km+ way drive back to Leh City ---almost 5+ hrs drive one way.............
 

My Journey across the KHARDUNG'LA PASS (Rendezvous with Ladakh-series-4)

     MY MEMMORABLE JOURNEY ACROSS THE KHARDUNG'LA PASS-LADAKH.

 LEH CITY as we drove towards KHARDUNG'LA PASS.

Its was our 3rd day at Leh City...We were to drive off to NUBRA VALLEY across the KHARDUNG'LA PASS ( World's highest motorable pass)...the thought itself was exciting without the awareness of what awaited us...Started off from the hotel at Leh around 8:30am.Soon after crossing the DALAI LAMA's school LAMDOM at Leh,we took onto theroad for Khardung'la.Slowly as we kept on climbing up &up  the mountains,Leh city was left as a small green patch in betweenthe high range. It was just an unbelieveable experience & cannot be explained in words........My Camera continued clicking & video camerakept on making the journey as an everfresh experience. After a million twist & turns across the mountain range,I felt as if my hands can touch the sky,what a colour change & structured range--No words to frame ,except ,JUST AWESOME.
    Slowly,the oxygen level kept decreasing more & more,& everytime we stopped for a photo opt,both my hands & legs were becomingheavy,only after 1/2 steps apart from our vehicle.Soon our driver showed us a tower across ontop of the high pass,it seems that'sthe highest point/summit at Khardung'la.Just couldn't believe myself that I am driving across the World's highest motorable pass-THE KHARDUNG'LA.

  THE KAROKORAM RANGE ACROSS THE KHARDUNG'LA PASS.

  As we moved on across-Army vehicles,foreign nationals on bikes& a lot many on bycycle drive accompanied us.Now came SOUTH PULLU checkpost;Needed to deposit our Innerline permit & start off again.Though the tower on the Khardung'la summit looked so close by but its not so in reality. We kept climbing until the snow capped peaks appeared. The snow by the road might be almost 8ft &the roads were really very very bad because of the glacier,snows &avalanches of this region.
   Now we were at 18,380ft above sea level.Its Khardung'la's highest point.It was chilling cold,though its mid summer time.We stopped for a while for some great & memmorable moments captured in frame for lifetime.After15/20mins,just had to start on our downward journey across the pass.Oh!God, now its the KAROKORAM RANGE-Amazing! Read about it several times in geography books &now it stands before our eye.What a feeling----;But the downslide is very very risky-besides the bad condition of the road,its almost 7-8ft snow,cleared off from roadway.Quite an accident prone area.After quite a while of driving down,the next stop was NORTH PULLU checkpost for depositing our innerline permit for Nubra region visit.Soon crossed the Khardang village & the Buddhapark of Tsolong by the Karokoram.....Now starts the NUBRA REGION with almost a different landscape altogether....its almost 4hrs that we were on the wheel...........& still an hour+ to reach DESKITvillage in the NUBRA VALLEY. 

PANGONG LAKE -(Rendezvous with Ladakh-series-3)

                                                   PANGONG TSO Across the CHANG'LA PASS.

 CHANGTHANG COLD DESERT WILDLIFE SANCTURY.

THE MARMOTH----At the Changthang Wild Life sanctury.

Pangong Lake  is situated in the upper reaches of the Himalayan range in  the Changthang region of Ladakh at a height of about 13,900ft. above sea level. "Pangong " means long narrow ,enchanted lake in tibetan language. Pangong Tso is about 5 hrs drive from Leh ,across the CHANG'LA PASS ( World's 3rd highest Motorable Pass). Before taking onto the Chang'la pass , the road pass thru' the beautiful countryside of Leh city- including SHEY Village, THIKSHEY Village,STAKNA,CHEMDAY,SERTHI ....The uphill climb to the CHANG'LA PASS begins with ZINGRAL............... Its a total Uphill climb untill the summit of CHANG'LA PASS.

 View of Pangong Lake from the China border side..

 Film Shooting spot of Pangong Lake.

 Picture perfect Pangong Tso.

     Then comes ,TSOLTAK.....DURBUK is 23kms from Tsoltak at an altitude of 14,789 ft above sea level. TANGTSE check post is 4kms from Durbuk ,where innerline permits is checked & a copy is submitted at the checkpost.After Tangtse, the CHANGTHANG COLD DESERT WILD LIFE SANCTURY begins at an altitude of 14,250ft above sea level. Its a region of white sand,meadows , Pashmina sheeps, Yak, Marmoth  strolling across is its virigin habitat...After quite a long drive , one reaches the bridge over the Pagal Nallah cause by glacier fed river...Soon the Pangong lake peeps across the high ranges of the Karokoram.
     The deep blue waters of the Pangong lake steals the heart of all visitors...As one gets down their vehicle,its the camera that starts its job of capturing the changing colours of the Pangong waters with very mins.& secs.Its just amazing to see the surrounding & cannot be expressed or summedup in words.................The china border located on the farend of the lake.Its overwhelming natural beauty...its spectacular to capture every colour changing moments....The pic's will speak for itself.

NUBRA VALLEY- (Rendezvous with ladakh-series-2)

                                                             NUBRA VALLEY

Nubra Valley is about 150kms north of Leh,the capital of ladakh. Its original name was Ldumra-meaning " Valley of Flowers". The Shyok river meets Nubra or Siachan river to form a large valley that separates the ladakh & the Karakoram range. The average altitude of the valley is about 10,000ft above sealevel. The common way to access this valley is to travel across the KHARDUNG'LA Summit( World's highest motorable pass) from leh & takes approx. 5hrs journey ( offcourse ,incase the pass is cleared of traffic/snow/accidents). Non -localsrequires innerline permits to enter Nubra region.
   Around august/july month the whole area is carpetted with wild Lavender flowers...

Deskit Village is the largest village of the region & home to 350yrs old Deskit Gompa,traditional lifestyle & homes gives a feeling of Living museum.

Hunder Village:-

                             Its a gorgeous stretch of Sand dunes. Its the cold desert region & home to the Bactrian Camel safari in India. Sanddunes eclipse the mountain,rock & snowcapped mountain rising majestically against the pastel landscape.