Shimla – Climb every mountains 5-7 April

The start of week 5 of our journey began with a long train ride from Delhi to Shimla. We had to take a 5 hours train ride to Kalka and change to another 5-hour toy train to Shimla. With the frequent late arrival of most of our train rides, we were not confident if the 30mins interval was enough for the train to be late. As many other things have worked out for us daily, we made it! 

The toy train turns out to be a cramped mini train that was compensated by the picturesque views and cool air. As the train snailed past each tunnel (there were 103 to go!) and the air gets fresher, 5 hours did not seem long.

Determined not to be cheated by touts, we decided to head up to the town on our own with our backpacks (afterall, I was once from ODAC, participated in vertical marathon, conquered Mt Korbu with a even heavier backpack!) Alas, I have to say, times are really not the same anymore.. My shoulder began to feel the weight barely 5 minutes of walking and my thighs, ache! After 30 minutes of steep/gradual slopes, we finally got to the main town. We are so not going to trek in Nepal with our backpacks was what I told Jeff. Hehe. Weak! The walk did not end there as it’s another 30 minutes of walking in search of accommodation and steps to get to our final selection.

Shimla is a nice little clean town that British had chosen as their summer capital. Deep in the foothills of the Himalayas set at an altitude of 2159m, the place offers panoramic views of mountains and cool air. Just what we need!

We were very happy to find more nice Chinese food here and Jeff finally had his first dose of diarrhoea and vomit! Things were pretty much in control with our medic kit and lots of honey water.  The bright side of this was that our load had been lightened with the consumption of medicine..haha. (Mum & Dad, he's ok now so dun worry k? Eating well and putting on weight as usual..)

Enjoy our photos of the beautiful mountains..(Tip: You can probably feel it better viewing them with your air-con turned on…cool air….)

Only tunnel number 6?!

 

Spot the little girl enjoying the ride without a world of worries..that’s how life should be, isn’t it?

We love the number 103! YEAH!!!

Enjoying the sun and views from our garden home

That’s what I was looking at…the hills are alive with the sound of music..

View of our accommodation, red building, from below. 

Celebrity at work again!

Never in our life had we paid to use the lift! (paid lift for those who did not/cannot climb up the slopes..)

Silly us took it down and climbed up after that. Training for Nepal was our excuse. hehe

View of Shimla town. See the small slope at the side with railings? We had lots of training walking up and down such slopes and stairs everyday!

One of the lower bazaar streets…catching our breath & posing for pics.. all the streets are on zig zag slopes...

Yummy sweet snack - Possible suspect of Jeff’s diarrhoea (I was sure I ate more though..haha)

One of the main landmark at Shimla town - Christchurch.

View of the other side of the Shimla hills

Major cross junction of Shimla town. The good thing about the streets, no cars! Only pedestrians.

That’s why labour intensive job of carrying humongous things up and down the town..

With the bright sun and cool air, how can one resist not taking a break?

First time we saw clouds in India..

Shimla at dusk..

Their version of chicken cutlet..we had to order another plate of hotdogs to satisfy our cravings..

Love letters for loved ones at home…dun blame us if you din receive it. There's proof of us sending it!