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Sherv arrived the night before and because we did not get in contact he found a hotel in Carter st down below The Mall. We had a couple of beers, Sherv, Daniel and myself. Just chewed the fat but we were all a bit tired and as Shimla is dead by 10:30 we called it a day.
The next morning. I got up and headed down to meet Sherv at the t the lift. The height between the two roads is about 50m and fairly steep so they have a lift that costs 8 rupees. Anyway I met Sherv we checked out the hotel. It was very indian including the shower, i.e. a tap a bucket and a jug. It was dark and dingy but clean enough, also Sherv had not got bitten so no bugs. It was cheap 550. So I decided for one night I'd slum it.
The next objective was to buy our bus tickets to Dharamsala. There was one deluxe bus that left at 21:30 from the official tourist office. Not convinced we went to a tour operator who confirmed that 21:30 was the bus. He also said that the passes were closed so we would not get much trekking. He suggested some other areas which looked cool but meant we would need to hire a driver. So we bought our tickets for Sunday and headed up to the hanuman temple.
On our way we were intercepted by Jamel who worked in a tour agency and started trying to sell us a tour. He convinced us to have a chai in his shop and very soon had sold us a trip to Hatu Peak 3900m. He wanted 1400 rupees per person, we managed to get him down to 1100 rupees. I felt proud of myself I managed to haggle with an Indian and feel I had got a reasonable price. Maybe I am getting the hang if it.
Deal concluded we walked to the temple. It was full of monkeys like all of Simla but it is on the top of the ridge that overlooks Simla so the views can be impressive. Unfortunately when we got there it was too misty and we couldn't see the mountains in the distance which I previously had seen the other day. Slightly disappointed we headed back to the hotel and I slept as the previous night I hadn't got much sleep, meanwhile Sherv explored the town. Not that there seemed much to see. Honestly, I was not impressed with Shimla it is nice enough but reminded me of an English market town, which of course it was modeled on.
We then met up with my fellow Koenig students for dinner where I said my goodbyes and had a couple of beers with them. Nothing really rocking but that was Simla. Again another early night beckoned.
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