The first came on Sunday, October 9th when the Alliance organized (but sadly did not fund) a trip to the Kaas Plateau of Flowers. Only about a three hour bus ride from Pune, Kaas looks like somewhere out of a movie: a vast stretch of completely flat land covered by an unending carpet of wild flowers and overlooking a massive, lake-filled valley. All the flowers bloom naturally during and just after the heavy rains of the monsoon season, with the type, quantity and pattern of flowers changing daily and sometimes by the hour because of the short lifespan of the flowers and the huge diversity of seeds.
Just outside Kaas (the pictures look a lot cooler right next to each other)
Our guide informed us that there are actually several varieties of flowers that have yet to be found anywhere in the world other than Kaas, including one affectionately called the "Donald Duck" flower (though there were a few flowers that weren't so rare, like the lantana seen in the picture below). The variety of rare and endangered species present in this area, as well as its overwhelming natural beauty and popularity as a tourist destination, have actually drawn the attention of UNESCO - so hopefully in a few years I'll be able to brag not just about seeing an incredible plateau of flowers, but checking another World Heritage site off my list. In all seriousness though, our guide informed us that the World Heritage designation will actually be critical for the area in the years to come, as the ever increasing foot traffic and flower-picking of tourists has started to threaten the delicate wild life and ecosystem.
Lantana- found in the fragile hills of India and in my front yard
The hard to find but fun to say "Donald Duck" plant
Beautiful swaths of wild yellow flowers, not to be confused with a particularly robust invasion of dandelions.
Most of our time on the Plateau was spent frolicking among the flowers (read: being strongly discouraged from leaving the path) but before we left we did get to enjoy a nice lakeside picnic (Indian-style of course: the menu included potato bajhi, giant chipatis and shira, a sweet made of a rice-like grain, sugar, cardamom and plenty of ghee - all served on plates made out of banana leaves!). After eating our fill of the picnic food (including far too much shira in my case) a bunch of us waded just far enough into the water to tickle our ankles, though not without serious contemplation of jumping in fully clothed and taking a quick lap around the lake. While the prospect of a soaking wet three hour bus ride ultimately dissuaded anyone from taking the plunge, few could be too disappointed as we left the Plateau of Flowers, having got to enjoy all the wonderful sights you can see below!
Seeing as you can never have too many vista shots, here are a couple looking at the hill-side and lake-side of Kaas plateau
It's the magic of Kass that makes it seem like you can actually see the flowers blowing in the wind in these pictures. Picture magic is critical for World Heritage status.
Kaas even repped Amherst colors, clearly demonstrating that Mother Nature is pulling for the Lord Jeffs.
The caretakers of Kaas actually dig these square plots so the little purple guys aren't completely overwhelmed by their more prolific yellow and white companions.
We actually saw some pictures where Kaas had about ten times as many flowers. Crazy.
Not sure if it's rare but the "lantern plant" was definitely a highlight
Even the lily pads were beautiful!
Just a quick pond stop.
On our way down to the picnic. Pretty sure views don't get much better than this.
We weren't the only ones who came down for a little lakeside R&R, though we were the only ones that had numerous requests for pictures.
Just to prove that I didn't just take all these pictures from someone else. Thanks for viewing!
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