Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

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  Shimla, India
Thursday, September 29, 2005

The journey here was fabulous. On Tuesday we travelled on the narrow guage railway line from Kalka. 5 hours of stunning countryside - the foothills were lush. Our first sight of the station was of about 20 men crouched as if at the starting line of a race. As the train stopped they jumped up and we realised that they were porters touting for business. Although our bags are heavy we didn't want a porter because they charge your hotel commission which is added to the bill. These porters weren't giving up though and there was one particularly creepy one in a distinctive purple shirt who followed us all the way to our chosen hotel.
It wasn't a fantastic choice - and we swtiched the next day to the excellent hotel White.
The High Street is very distinctive - mock Tudor like a Surrey market town. Definitely not what you'd expect in the middle of India but quite refreshing all the same. There's a great restuarant in the bandstand and the views out to the Himalayas are very striking. Tank tops are all the rage with the men as well and there are lots of cheeky monkeys everywhere. The people walking round the streets seem pretty happy. I also bought a bar of Dairy Milk from an old fashioned sweet shop and it was heavenly.
We're not allowed to handwash our clothes at the hotel so we took them to a dry cleaners. It was certainly an experience collecting my laundry - my huge Bridget Jones style knickers were folded on the top and I'm sure that more than one of the assorted men standing by the counter was sniggering. Oh well I've got to wash them somehow!
Heh heh heh. Speak to you all soon! Jo

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Himalayan Foothills

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View of Himalayas

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