OH the Russians! Welcome to Shimla
Monday 4th May
We rose early to catch the Shatabi Express from Delhi to Kalka... 'Very good train m'am very good train.' *head wobble*...
Well it was pretty fast anyway, not really comfortable , but it got us to Kalka in just four hours so no complaints about timing... from there we jumped on the Himalayan Queen, the toy train that crawls up through the mountains to Shimla... and crawl it did. As soon as we got on the train Karly was asked to move seats by this Indian family who wanted to sit together, well she obliged being the kind person she is... then saw who she had to sit next to, or perch next to really as there was no room because this Indian lady was massive and took up most of the tiny 2 seater bench seat. Nick didn't fare much better though, he got to sit across from these two delightful Russians... they say Amercians are noisy, well they got nothing on Russians! The Russian girl was wearing an impossibly short mini skirt and a top (or lack thereof) to match, if anyone has been to India they will no how much of a no-no this is! No matter how hot it gets you keep covered! Lucky she had a massive Russian guy with her!
The train journey winding through the hills really was spectactular, however if the seats were slightly less arse numbing it could've been slightly more comfortable.
(Kalka-Shimla Railway)
Well after five hours winding through the hills we arrived in Shimla and straight into the arms of one really clever tout... We had a booking at a perfectly fine hotel but he convinced Nick (NOT Karly) that we just had to move to their hotel because it was soooo much better. 'Only five minutes away madam'.... yeah right! We plodded along uphill for about 20 minutes through Shimla to the 'better' hotel, well this was debateable but it was cheaper :)
(the view from our hotel verandah)
Shimla is just gorgeous! I fell in love with it immediately and keep pointing out to Nick how pretty it is... the conversation usually goes like this:
Karly - 'I love it here'
Nick - 'I know you've told me 50 times'
Karly - 'Even the dogs are cuter- look theres a cute dog!'
Nick - 'I can recognise a cute dog- I don't need you to point it out'
The dogs are like fluffy mountain dogs with curled up tails and much fatter and healthier looking than their cousins on the plains.
And Nick keeps stressing about the monkeys in Shimla, they truly are horrific though and will attack without provocation.....
Nick - 'Karly theres another monkey'
Karly - 'I see it, so?'
Nick - 'But its looking at me!'
(A baby monkey on our verandah, just before it thumped threateningly on our window)
Oh and we had Domino's for dinner! Pepperoni Pizza just like at home and we both grinned all the way through!
Tuesday 5th May
(The Ridge, Shimla)
We had breakfast at the Indian Coffee House, a Shimla institution with cheap dosa's and sweet coffee. We also grabbed a coffee at Barista's which is like a coffee chain just like Starbucks- and their symbol looks suspiciously like GJ's. It was kinda good to be somewhere clean and completely european looking :)
We spent most of the day exploring Shimla's markets, although we didn't actually buy anything... we have totally lost the desire to shop! Its weird, its like when everyone is pestering you... you don't want to buy things anymore.
At about 5pm Karly set off on the 5km walk up to the Viceregal Lodge, and arrived just before closing time and got in for free (trying that again)! It was beutiful and very Regal :) Its not the Indian Institute for Advanced study... no idea what they study though!
(the viceregal lodge)
Overall Shimla has been a lovely experience, its chilly air is so refreshing after all the heat and its cleaner and prettier than other parts of India we've seen (everywhere has been good in its own way of course). There are no cars allowed in the main part of the town and the surrounding markets which cuts out the air and noise pollution that you get in other cities of India.
Next stop: Manali, hippy hangout and adventure sports capital of India!
We rose early to catch the Shatabi Express from Delhi to Kalka... 'Very good train m'am very good train.' *head wobble*...
Well it was pretty fast anyway, not really comfortable , but it got us to Kalka in just four hours so no complaints about timing... from there we jumped on the Himalayan Queen, the toy train that crawls up through the mountains to Shimla... and crawl it did. As soon as we got on the train Karly was asked to move seats by this Indian family who wanted to sit together, well she obliged being the kind person she is... then saw who she had to sit next to, or perch next to really as there was no room because this Indian lady was massive and took up most of the tiny 2 seater bench seat. Nick didn't fare much better though, he got to sit across from these two delightful Russians... they say Amercians are noisy, well they got nothing on Russians! The Russian girl was wearing an impossibly short mini skirt and a top (or lack thereof) to match, if anyone has been to India they will no how much of a no-no this is! No matter how hot it gets you keep covered! Lucky she had a massive Russian guy with her!
The train journey winding through the hills really was spectactular, however if the seats were slightly less arse numbing it could've been slightly more comfortable.
(Kalka-Shimla Railway)Well after five hours winding through the hills we arrived in Shimla and straight into the arms of one really clever tout... We had a booking at a perfectly fine hotel but he convinced Nick (NOT Karly) that we just had to move to their hotel because it was soooo much better. 'Only five minutes away madam'.... yeah right! We plodded along uphill for about 20 minutes through Shimla to the 'better' hotel, well this was debateable but it was cheaper :)
(the view from our hotel verandah)Shimla is just gorgeous! I fell in love with it immediately and keep pointing out to Nick how pretty it is... the conversation usually goes like this:
Karly - 'I love it here'
Nick - 'I know you've told me 50 times'
Karly - 'Even the dogs are cuter- look theres a cute dog!'
Nick - 'I can recognise a cute dog- I don't need you to point it out'
The dogs are like fluffy mountain dogs with curled up tails and much fatter and healthier looking than their cousins on the plains.
And Nick keeps stressing about the monkeys in Shimla, they truly are horrific though and will attack without provocation.....
Nick - 'Karly theres another monkey'
Karly - 'I see it, so?'
Nick - 'But its looking at me!'
(A baby monkey on our verandah, just before it thumped threateningly on our window)Oh and we had Domino's for dinner! Pepperoni Pizza just like at home and we both grinned all the way through!
Tuesday 5th May
(The Ridge, Shimla)We had breakfast at the Indian Coffee House, a Shimla institution with cheap dosa's and sweet coffee. We also grabbed a coffee at Barista's which is like a coffee chain just like Starbucks- and their symbol looks suspiciously like GJ's. It was kinda good to be somewhere clean and completely european looking :)
We spent most of the day exploring Shimla's markets, although we didn't actually buy anything... we have totally lost the desire to shop! Its weird, its like when everyone is pestering you... you don't want to buy things anymore.
At about 5pm Karly set off on the 5km walk up to the Viceregal Lodge, and arrived just before closing time and got in for free (trying that again)! It was beutiful and very Regal :) Its not the Indian Institute for Advanced study... no idea what they study though!
(the viceregal lodge)Overall Shimla has been a lovely experience, its chilly air is so refreshing after all the heat and its cleaner and prettier than other parts of India we've seen (everywhere has been good in its own way of course). There are no cars allowed in the main part of the town and the surrounding markets which cuts out the air and noise pollution that you get in other cities of India.
Next stop: Manali, hippy hangout and adventure sports capital of India!
8 comments:
Hey :)
Thanx for my birthday msg, i did have a great day.
Sounds like you guys are having HEAPS of fun, i've been reading along.......i like this place the best so far ;)
keep safe
love nat xxx
cute dogs... angry monkeys... what more could you want? and of course they were looking at you Nic. They smell fear.
Shimla appears to have a european look about it, based on your pics. Seems very out of place against your stereotypical indian locations.
Deanie...
Greetings Cinis! Your stories are so interesting. You should have taken the prosthetic leg to beat away the monkeys - they must be the same breed as the Japanese ones. *shudder*
FYI - netball injury was a carpet burn! Yes I was sent flying... Put a small hole in my pants too. Lucky it was my knee :-)
Apart from that we are having heaps of rain which is impacting my soccer playing and everyone seems to be away at work so it makes me jealous. But I have some leave in June so I focus on that.. Have fun and be safe. Axx
Heys
Guys r u in russia Liam's confused :(
P.S Im Carly and nick nephew so dont go what r u on about cos im little confused where they r.
C'mon Liam.... I know you are smarter than that! We're in India, but there were some Russian tourists there too.
Poor Amie- carpet burn sux. I didn't know Japan has monkey's... :)
Hi its Renee,
I know liam is not reading properly and he is smater than that.
Sound like your having an awesome time, enjoy yourself
Renee
Heys
Im srry bout where u were it was cos i thought that u=india was like dakar dust and dustier not lovely green grasses and all so yea
BYe heres someything realy random
... Cheese
you guys are just having too much fun, love the photos,,,,ian oxox
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