After a sleepless night for Colin and a good kip for me we set off for Shimla at 9am - we're definately not the get on the road for 6am type. It wasn't too far a distance so we hoped to get there in a few hours so that we could spend the day exploring it. Colin had been there many years ago in the middle of winter and hadn't been very impressed with it but I have never been and really wanted to see it.
We were only on the main highway for a few kms and then we turned onto a lesser road. It was initially really busy with loads of trucks and constant hairpin bends. Colin was constantly on the horn as is the norm here. Any time you approach a bend - which is constantly in the mountain roads - you are expected to beep your horn to let on-coming traffic know that you are approaching as they are usually coming round on your side of the road. This gives time for you, or them, to swerve to avoid collision. Also, if you are over-taking - which is often as the lorries are very slow to climb the hills - you beep to let the lorry know you want to overtake. The driver then beeps his horn to let you know it is safe to overtake as he can see the road in front and what's coming toward him and you can't.Your life in now his hands as you start to overtake. If a vehicle suddenly appears coming towards him he will stick his hand out of the window and tell you to slow down and get back, hopefully. If the coast is clear and you pass the lorry, you againbeep your horn to say thank you and when you're safely past he beeps his horn back to say OK. It is really unbelievable how many times you beep your horn in a journey doing that and that doesn't include beeping at people wandering on the road and any animal that wants to run out in front of you - dogs, pigs, monkeys, cows etc.
After a while the road became much quieter and the road surface smooth. The weather was glorious and Colin took it slow so he was able to enjoy the breath-taking scenery rather than having to have his eyes on stalks watching the road. We stopped for a bite of lunch and took this photo of the mountains down below us as we were heading to the higher mountains in front of us to reach Shimla at an altitude of 2400m.
We were only on the main highway for a few kms and then we turned onto a lesser road. It was initially really busy with loads of trucks and constant hairpin bends. Colin was constantly on the horn as is the norm here. Any time you approach a bend - which is constantly in the mountain roads - you are expected to beep your horn to let on-coming traffic know that you are approaching as they are usually coming round on your side of the road. This gives time for you, or them, to swerve to avoid collision. Also, if you are over-taking - which is often as the lorries are very slow to climb the hills - you beep to let the lorry know you want to overtake. The driver then beeps his horn to let you know it is safe to overtake as he can see the road in front and what's coming toward him and you can't.Your life in now his hands as you start to overtake. If a vehicle suddenly appears coming towards him he will stick his hand out of the window and tell you to slow down and get back, hopefully. If the coast is clear and you pass the lorry, you againbeep your horn to say thank you and when you're safely past he beeps his horn back to say OK. It is really unbelievable how many times you beep your horn in a journey doing that and that doesn't include beeping at people wandering on the road and any animal that wants to run out in front of you - dogs, pigs, monkeys, cows etc.
After a while the road became much quieter and the road surface smooth. The weather was glorious and Colin took it slow so he was able to enjoy the breath-taking scenery rather than having to have his eyes on stalks watching the road. We stopped for a bite of lunch and took this photo of the mountains down below us as we were heading to the higher mountains in front of us to reach Shimla at an altitude of 2400m.
A wee pit stop to try and un-numb the backsides. The bike was going well and we reached Shimla in 4 hours.
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