Park Woods Shoghi Shimla

... Pradesh is divided into 12 districts namely, kangra, hamirpur, mandi, bilaspur, una, chamba, lahul and spiti, sirmaur, kinnaur, kullu, solan and shimla. Roads are the major mode of transport in the hilly terrains of Himachal Pradesh.

The climate of Himachal Pradesh is cool to cold all the year round and is always inviting the tourists to enjoy a stay amidst the hills and mountains in the panoramic state of Himachal Pradesh.

... aggressive - and climbed to the monkey temple. Queued to be blessed by the holy man in the shrine - a saffron dot placed on our foreheads. The holyman paused in doing this only to take a call on his mobile - new India v old India cliche.

Leaving the temple we nearly were nearly caught in the cross fire of a turf war between a troop of monkeys and the local stray dogs. Much baring of teeth, shreaks and barks. It was unclear as to who won.

... rail-tracks.

In Kalka we changed trains for a very different, but very pleasurable, rail experience. The "toy train" up to Shimla. This is something of a colonial relic, a narrow gauge railway that winds its way from the plains into the Himalayan foothills up to 2,150 metres above sea level. Crammed in tiny carriages for 6 hours, through spectacular scenery, an ancient ...

... would be us flying over a ravine into the Kullu valley and the final few seconds of our lives played out in a state of weightlessness that we would never have the chance to appreciate. First pit stop for **** and food. Only minutes after the driver and some others left the bus to stretch their legs in the cold, silent, black night we here a loud screeching and then the ...

... the cheapest accommodation which is 'the apartments' and are apparently awful due to being VERY isolated, near a loud road and full of intimidating monkeys). The drive in is an experience. Crazy Indians taking each other on on blind corners in clapped out cars on mountainous roads without seatbelts. Often in torrential rain. Without windscreen wipers. I am serious. Arriving at another suburb of Shimla away from the town itself we pulled up outside a non ...

... an Indian holiday resort - not particularly exciting but it has amazing views, excellent restaurants and will be a good springboard for us to explore the rest of the region. We've been taking quite a few photos - many of the numerous monkeys that live in Shimla. Hopefully next time I go to an internet cafe I'll remember the computer lead so we can share them with you! Hope all is well. Until next time........

... me. - There's been 1 Bill Bailey and 1 Lolcat moment apiece. - 6 days toothache free - though it's taken a new direction and I've got a raw cheek instead. - 0 Shaun sightings, unsurprisingly. - 0 tropical diseases. - Mum wouldn't have liked the humidity on the train, nor the sheer drops out the window. - Holly: good food abounds!! - Jem: play the lottery and get your ass out here. The train particularly reminded me of our Asia trip. That, and my photo skills are ****.

... mall surrounding Scandal Point is closed to any traffic whatsoever, truly a rare occurence in India. In fact Shimla has to be the quietest and most relaxing place we've been to thus far in India, we even managed to find a coffee shop that made real espresso coffee and a nice cup of English Breakfast. The first decent cuppa's we've had since leaving England in mid May. It was also freaking cold (0 degrees) while we ...

... Have found myself starting to do all the head-wobbling and random hand signals they do over here - I dont really know what they mean though so am probably telling everyone to 'f' off all the time!! Anyway enough of that... I had a nice trip to Mussoorie one day. It was 'Rakhi' - a festival in which sisters tie a bracelet around their brother's wrist and the brother promises to always protect her (how sweet) so I had a day off and went to Mussoorie, a nearby hill station ...

... but surely I was missing the point? It wasn't just once that Peter became exasperated with what he called my "linear, journalist questions". "Look around at these people," he said; "Now these are what you call men, there are no boys in this place. Each one of these has had to fight for survival; who knows what they've been through. They're like those stray dogs; they're just skin and bone, just about surviving on what they're given." But no, I still don't quite get it, and I ...