Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Shimla is at an elevation of 1950m plus. It was the summer retreat for the British from March to October when they fled the mosquitoes and 40+ degree temperatures of the plains. Viceregal lodge - the former home of successive British Viceroys of India - is here which was completed in 1888. Although Shimla was the base of British government during the summer months it was more reknowned as a party town for the British elite escaping the stuffiness of Queen Victoria's court. The town boasted a theatre, many restaurants and ballrooms, churches, its own so-called 'toy train' providing access from the plains and even its own racecourse in the valley below. The mall - the name given to the main stretch of road, home to most of the town's landmarks was the main promenade for the coaches and hand-pulled rickshaws of the white rich - there was a colour bar on this area right up until the first world war. I had not researched the town before I arrived so when we were dragging our bags 1.5kms up a hill road to the mall to find somehwere to eat, I was expecting to find an air-conditioned shopping mall - Paul soon set me straight. After a struggle up the steep mall road we stopped for lunch at a place called Devico's. Devico's was the name of one of the well known 'places to be' at the end of the 19th century; although I wasn't convinced that it was quite the same place. Our homestay manager, Shivi, had agreed to pay our taxi, so we headed via a lift down to a lower road to the pre-paid taxi stand. The homestay is 10kms (6m) from the mall through winding hill roads. I thought we were paying quite a bit for our place Rps2250 (£26.50) but when I arrived I realised what we were paying for. A huge apartment, bathroom, reception room, kitchenette and bedroom with a huge verandah and spotlessly clean. The Aapo Aap Homestay has won a TripAdvisor award this year for 60 consecutive 5 star reviews and it is easy to see why. Apart from the rooms being spacious with fantastic valley views, our hosts are so thoughtful, helpful and generous. We have been offered lifts into town, a free mobile phone, a backpack, a celebration dinner for our anniversary, a torch, advice on travel and transportation and the use of their walking guidebook. Anyway we can't speak highly enough of the place. We were greeted at the door by the owner of the stunning house Shamsher and his wife and son Shivi and shown around the place. With Paul feeling exhausted after the journey we spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying our views. Breakfast the next day was a feast and in true Indian style our hosts were determined for us to not go hungry - we had potato and onion parathas freshly made (a new one brought out ever two minutes), fruit, toast and cornflakes - we drew the line at the eggs option. After a sleep to recover from breakfast we took a walk round by the homestay to a nearby settlement to get different views of the valley. Paul was still not right and feeling a bit weak so we didn't stay out too long. Our apartment was just the job for relaxing. On Friday we took a local bus into Shimla and walked around 6kms from the Mall road to Viceregal lodge. The lodge as you will see from the photos is like a Scottish castle set in beautiful gardens and surrounded by tall pine trees. Since 1965 the place has been home to the Indian Institute for Advanced studies, so only a couple of rooms have been preserved. Leaving Paul resting on a bench outside I took the tour. We were shown the library - formerly the ballroom and dining area. The original chandeliers were still hanging so it was easy to imagine the former glory days. We were told that the lodge was designed and built to seemlessly hide the electric cables servicing the building and a clever sprinkler system in case of fire. We were next shown the former morning room of the Viceroy, which would later be used as a conference room for several major historic talks - 1945 and 1947 conferences (attended by Gandhi) to discuss both the Independence of India and the partition, the signing of the partition agreement and talks in the early 1970s between India and Pakistan. We were also shown another room holding the table upon which the Shimla agreement was signed. This room and table was used in the filming of Gandhi. Paul was craving pizza so we dined in style at Dominos on the mall. On Saturday it was our 6th anniversary so turning down the kind offer from our hosts we decided to lunch at Wildflower Hall - former residence of Lord Kitchener who was at the time the Commander in Chief of the Indian army. The original building has been redeveloped beyond recognition and is now a worldclass spa hotel. Wildflower is at an elev. of (8250ft/ over 2500m) and has views across to the Himalayas. We were treated like royalty and sat out on the terrace. Paul took some photos of the views and then we sat down to a treat. I had smoked chicken salad to start and Paul had a caesar salad wih bacon, even the bread basket was a treat. Although the vodka was pretty expensive I thought the occasion warranted it - it was perfect! After a short while it started to rain so we moved inside. For our mains I had Thai green vegetable curry with a serious amount of cream in it and Paul had a vegetable lasagne which was a bit big for his diminished appetite. There was souffle on the menu, but he couldn't manage it! I finished off with some coffee, which was brought with homemade biscuits one enormous hazlenut biscuit and one chocolate one which was soft and gooey in the centre. We were about to rest our heads on the table with exhaustion when the waiter brought out a surprise anniversay cake. We posed for a photo (see album) and asked for it to be boxed for us which they obliged. We brought it back to the homestay for the family and staff. Sunday was a rest with Paul still being ill afer over two weeks. Paul took some photos of the supermoon and we had a great value traditional Indian feast with our hosts, ...
Paul was feeling better on Monday so we got the bus to the mall and walked up a steep, stepped path to the Monkey Temple on Jakhoo Hill. The route is known for monkey attacks - Shivi had warned us that they steal bags, cameras, specs and pretty much anything they can get their hands on. To counteract this you can hire sticks at the foot of the hill to threated them with. The mother and babies are no trouble but the males can be very aggressive. Ahead of us on the path a woman had her beautiful red dupatta (long scarf) stolen. Paul tried with the use of his stick to get the monkey to drop it but no - it was soon ripped to shreds. At the top of the hill was a temple and the biggest orange statue. I had seen it from a distance but hadn't realised it was actually an enormous 'planet of the apes' style monkey god. I half expected to see Charlton Heston - I am so irreverent! Paul took some photos of this crazy vision and snapped some monkeys at play. Then it was back down to the mall for our respective lunches at Dominos / Devicos - I couldn't take another pizza! The next day Paul was bad again so after taking advice we bought some anti-biotics over the counter (I wish we had known we could do that earlier!) Rps98 for 20. Another day of resting at the homestay and another meal with our hosts. Today, With the anti-biotics doing their work Paul was recovering and we headed to the mall again for you guessed it a Dominos pizza lunch! We then took a a personal tour of the Gaeity Theatre which has recently been restored to most of its former glory - apparently Michael Palin is going to return to Shimla to film there. We will miss our little Britain, but with Paul recovering we are moving on towards the Tibetan border, closer and closer to the Himalayas.
- comments