Fairmount Hotel Shimla

Himachal Pradesh is known as Deva Bhoomi the land of the gods. Himachal is situated in the western Himalayas. Himachal Pradesh is a mountainous state elevating about 350 meters (1,148 ft) to 6,000 meters (19,685 ft) above the sea level. Tribes such as the koilis, kinnars and kirats inhabited the region from pre-historic era. Himachal Pradesh was established as a state on April 15, 1948.

Himachal Hill Stations is the favored ...

... papers were signed to end British rule, and split India and Pakistan. As we left we saw something even more jarring on a building that looked like it should be in Scotland - a monkey walking across the ramparts of the lodge.

On the subject of monkeys., Shimla has a lot of monkeys, a lot of very confident monkeys. Its main temple is dedicated to the monkey god, so they have the run of the place. We hired sticks to ward off monkeys - they can ...

Smart ass miser, I checked out at 7 in the morning, that is to pay only for one night, while staying 2 days - how characteristic!
Clear enought that with the modem in the had I couldn't leave it at ...

... the expansive city of Amritsar, trying to locate the infamous Golden Temple, the most important place of worship for the Sikh religion. The vast temple and grounds was packed with friendly pilgrims, who had come from all over India and the world to offer their worship to God. The temple was built with four doors to show every religion or faith is allowed to go in to meditate or just listen to the prayers for peace. It is quite a sight ...

Lots of rain the last 24 hours. Leaving the training centre yesterday it took an hour longer to get back - normaly a 10 minute drive. Think there had been an accident. Felt relieved when we hit gridlock as our bus had not been able to come pick us up so three other students and I ended up in a random car arranged by the training ...

... and one of the woman seemed to be giving some change back t everyone. I found out that they come from different villages. I waited there until past 5pm, the time they had told me something would be going on, but nothing was happening at all, so I left. I hope I didn't miss anything interesting. From there I had to go to Rekong Peo in order to get a permit for the Spiti Valley. Rekong Peo is a big city with a wonderful view of Kinnaur Kailesh ...

... countryside rewards one with some stunning views, whilst at the same time feeling like real exercise. When I finally return home, I'm now pretty determined not to live anywhere flat again! Secondly, there's been another minor hiccup in my route-planning... I want to visit Leh, a high(ish)-altitude town of note in the northern region of Ladakh. Essentially there are three options for getting in and out of Leh. One is the road link with the regions of Jammu ...

... married;) So, Brigitte, thanks again for travelling with you, and although we both have our specific ' instruction manual' i wouldn't have liked to miss this time with you, in the end it was all good mate :) Am wishing you all the best for the rest of your trip, and who knows, we might still bump into each other over here or in Shimla! And here we are, in Vashisht, near Manali. This is another beautiful place in the mountains, at the beginning of the himalaya. Mc ...

... the middle of nowhere for two months! It was especially a shock being without my right-hand Fran after three months of spending literally every hour of every day together (without a single fight I'd like to add!) I suppose I wasnt strictly alone, there were a large number of bugs in my room to keep me company :oS I've become very evil in killing them now though - no mercy! Anyway thank god I'd bought an Indian sim card to keep in touch with the outside world; I ...

... the road is quite wide, though not devoid of the characteristic hair-pin bends that you would find all over Himachal. Dharmvir, looked a very skilful driver, had already accelerated our jeep into high 40s, making us sway in our seats as he maneuvered the vehicle swiftly around the bends. We had already started a conversation with him. My use of the word "conversation" might not be appropriate here, since he was doing all the talking and we were doing the ...