Shivering In Shimla..
Trip Start
May 02, 2006
1
70
113
Trip End
Mar 02, 2007
Shimla,
India
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Set among cool pine clad hills with plenty of crumbling colonial charm, Shimla is considered by many as the best example of the numerous hill stations dotted about Northern India. Christ Church and the mock Tudor buildings give a real taste of ye olde England, with the dirty monkeys scampering around reminding you that you're still in good old India.
One of the nicest things about Shimla was that the 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
01 Shimla Skyline..
.It was also freaking cold (0 degrees) while we were there, something we weren't prepared for and neither would it seem was our hotel. This place was one of those hotels that looks great at first glance but as soon as you scratch the surface a little bit it all comes crumbling down. The bed was rock hard and they only provided us with one thin polyester blanket. This led us into sneaking around the hotel late at night stealing blankets and pillows from vacant rooms. It also had a serious mould problem, the roof was literally covered in mould and I had visions that the mould would start growing on the back of my throat if we stayed there too long. We've seen mould in rooms before and generally it's not a problem but this was out of control.
We just hung about in Shimla relaxing and didn't see or do anything of interest. In fact the only thing of interest we did was catch the Shimla toy train back down the hill on our way to Delhi. The tiny railway passes through 103 tunnels in 93 kilometres as it snakes it down to Kalka where we picked up our connection to Delhi (The Himilayan Queen). Certainly one of the more scenic trips we're likely to do and certainly worth doing if you ever have the chance. A very nice way to spend the day.
And that's Shimla.
Next Pod - Jaipur, India.
Love,
Nath and Kat.
