Our overnight stay in Shimla

A View of Shimla as we were approaching it

Shimla is a hill station and is the capitol city of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Despite the altitude the sun was shining and it was gloriously warm. The approach road skirted around the bottom end of Shimla. From there it is a series of alleyways and very steep rickety stairways to get to the top of it and, apart from the road skirting it, it is traffic free. Lovely when you are walking around but a nightmare when you have a bike and want to find a guest-house. I left Colin with the bike and went off to try and find a place to stay. Most guest-houses are quite pricey so we knew it would be hard to find somewhere near our budget. The first place I went to was ridiculously over-priced but there was a coolie there (slang word used for men who carry luggage for a living) who said he knew where we could get a cheaper place. He wouldn't point it out to me but said he would take me there. Twenty minutes later and up several flights of stairs we arrived at Hotel Amir which was nearer our budget. I was gasping for breath trying to keep up with him. We got the last room available and then I had to go back to get Colin who didn't have a clue where I was. There was no parking at the hotel so we put the bike in a tourist car park for the night. We could have carried our bags by ourselves but, having been shown the hotel by the coolie and the fact that he was still at my side, it was only right to pay him to carry our bags. They carry 4-5 suitcases at a time on their back so when he picked up our bag he laughed at one of his friends and told him how light they were. He found it even funnier when he realised we understood what he had said - probably the easiest money he has ever earned.

Once you have bust a gut  climbing up never ending stairways, through bustling alleyways and local markets you reach the upper and lower Malls. In the 1860's, when India was under British rule, the British established Shimla as a summer retreat so that they could enjoy the fresh, cool air away from the oppressive heat of the Plains. The British influence is still very much in evidence in the Mall as you can see.

It had big wide walkways

Christ Church on the upper Mall is the second oldest church in Northern India.

The Gaiety theatre was built in 1888 to entertain the British elite who went to Shimla for their summer holidays. It was renovated in 2004 and seats just over 300 people. Many well known people have performed on this stage. Before we left Vashisht we watched a Michael Palin series on the Himalayas. In one of the episodes he was on this stage speaking to the audience. When we were looking around the theatre a very very enthusiastic theatre guide approached us and started telling us all about the theatre. He was an elderly very pleasant man so we didn't have the heart to tell him that we just wanted to have a look ourselves. We ended in there for ages because of him.

An Official in the Mall.

This Coffee House is an institution in Shimla. Uniformed waiters serve very good cheap food. Inside is pretty cool looking. Shops in the mall are a mixture of old traditional shops and new designer shops. You'll find Benetton, Tommy Hillfiger etc.

The Monkey God Hanuman has pride of place at Shimla's highest point.

Ladies sitting chatting. The lady in red is wearing a wedding sari.

Monkeys are a real pest in Shimla. They grab at whatever they can steal. They can give you a really nasty bite and, as well as being very painful, can put you at risk of catching rabies.

A sweet shop in the market selling freshly made sweets.

We really enjoyed our day and night in Shimla. Although Colin didn't think much of Shimla when he was there many years ago he really enjoyed it this time.