British Holiday Town

Trip Start Sep 30, 2005

Trip End Sep 01, 2006

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Flag of India Shimla, India
Sunday, October 30, 2005

After a day spent doing very little in Manali, we caught the early bus to Shimla. this bus was a deluxe bus, so fewer stops, and no jumping on the roof, although you have to pay security money for your bags to go into the hold. 'deluxe' is not the word that i would use to describe this bus, as appears to also come from the 50's and makes public transport in England look amazing, but i would say the journey was noticeably better. our agent did however tell us we were in the middle, but we appeared to be at the back, this is only a problem, because of just how bouncy the roads are, and all of our bums were saw by the end, and i (Danny), managed to bounce so high that i hit my head on the roof, and i'm a short arse. the bus takes you through the kullu valley, following the river which becomes bigger as you progress, and then winds up through the mountains for 3 or 4 hours, panoramic scenery, and not bad company.

shimla, was what the British used as there summer capital (away from the heat of Calcutta) for a 100 years, and the whole of the raj used to move hear in the summer, and the mall road would be strictly 'no natives', unless you were a rickshaw rider, or royalty. walking down the mall now, there are some very distinctively Victorian buildings, and Christian churches, but all wealthy Indians, as this is a popular tourist destination. the roads, and the streets are noticeably cleaner, and there are no spitting signs, and no smoking allowed on the mall, and no cars, and no horns near by.

Brits abroad

very posh.

anyway, arrived by bus, as you get out, you are mobbed by porters (no rickshaws), and the place is very steep. they are cheap, but they also double as touts, so they get commission and you get charged more for your hotel. so we barged through with our bags, getting directions from police, or stalls, tourist info, but they followed us all the way to the hotel (30mins up steep hills), insisting they didn't want anything, i belive that Jamey even told them to 'f@#* off'. it can be very disconcerting to have 4 or 5 people, pretending not to be walking with you, but actually surrounding you on all sides, in the dark, in a strange place, with big heavy bags on, tired, and not completely sure where the YMCA is. we did make it, horah, and even if the rooms we had booked in the YMCA had been rubbish, we would have stayed there anyway, to spite them out side. i think, its, the control factor, and not being bullied into things, and you get better all the time.

last night, watched the hammers lose (crap), and saw in the news about the bombing in Delhi, we were staying in that market place, not long ago, but we're okay! (in case you were worried) the worlds a scary place, and unfortunatly you can't get away from it.

today, went up a very steep hill, to a disappointing monkey temple, monkeys so used to getting fed, that they start to take liberties. Walked to museum, nothing to spectacular, and then walked up to the viceroy lodge, which was very impressive colonial building, as you can see from the photos. it was here that, the independence of India, and Pakistan was drawn out. over all a good day, but tomorrow are on the move again.

thanks for the e-mails, keep em coming, we try to reply to them all, but we are working on limited technology, and on some of these computers even writing these travel logs can take a long time. the last one crashed about 10 times, before we lost our rags.

hope your all well, and i hope that Christmas music is really annoying already! especially in homebase!