A walk around Shimla

I slept surprisingly well despite the sub-zero temperature - well, I did have a one-bar heater, didn't I? 😂 l think it was just because I was so tired from yesterday and the day before.

I had a coffee and some biscuits for breakfast. There wasn't a kettle in my room when I arrived, but there was one in the hotel description on booking.com, so I insisted on being given one! I then ventured out to make the most of my one day in Shimla. As I was leaving the hotel, I told the guy I'd be leaving a day early. I told him I was getting a taxi to Rishikesh. He offered to do it for the same price, but with a pickup directly from the hotel, saving me the hike to the police checkpoint. I knew this meant that I'd be going in a private car rather than an official taxi, but I decided to go with it. The guy definitely cheered up, knowing that he'll be making some extra money out of me. So, I leave at 7.30am tomorrow!

Today, Shimla is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It all began in 1864, when Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. The climatic conditions attracted the British to establish the city in the dense forests of the Himalayas. The presence of many bachelors and unattached men, as well as the many women passing the hot weather there, gave Shimla a reputation for adultery. As Rudyard Kipling said in a letter, it was a place of "frivolity, gossip, and intrigue". Now, Shimla is home to several Tudor and neo-Gothic buildings dating from the colonial era, as well as multiple temples and churches. These, and the natural environment around the city, make Shimla a must-see destination for tourists. Owing to its steep terrain, Shimla hosts the mountain biking race MTB Himalaya, which started in 2005 and is regarded as the biggest event of its kind in South Asia. The city also has the largest natural ice skating rink in South Asia. Apart from being a tourism centre, Shimla is also an educational hub with several colleges and research institutions.

I went first to visit Gorton Castle, a magnificent grey-stone, neo-Gothic structure built in 1904 and designed by Sir Swinton Jacob. Originally, it was used as the imperial secretariat for the British government. Now, it is the Accountant General's office for Himachal Pradesh. While it is a major landmark, the interior is not open to tourists as it is a functional government office. I looked around the outside, and then continued my walk to Shimla station, which is at one end of the Kalka–Shimla Railway line built by the British, and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Even though I wasn't going on a train, it was good to see the station and to watch a couple of trains setting off on the route. I didn't feel like I was missing much. There was no real atmosphere, and the trains were being pulled by diesel engines, not steam. It certainly didn't have the romance of the Nilgiri Hills Railway that Mark and I rode when we were last in India.Read more