Shimla: The Queen of Hill Stations

I finally got time to write a bit of all that’s been happening over the past few days. I visited Shimla in the last week of december for christmas with my family and it was aaawwwesome!!! I loved every bit of the trip. The train journey from here to delhi and then again from delhi to kalka was real fun. From kalka, we took a bus to shimla and the journey was scary to me. The roads were so narrow and twisted up that I started to feel a bit dizzy and sick. The cold began to creep in on the way to Shimla itself and in Shimal it was just freezing. I think the temperatures were really low and I shivered even under the blankets. But the scenic beauty of the himalayan ranges and the snow made the whole trip worth inspite of all the cold and the winding roads.

We were staying right next to ‘The Mall’ in a guest house. Shopping and eating at The Mall was real fun. ‘The Ridge’ is right next to The Mall from where one can get the best view of the Himalayan Ranges. We also visited ‘Kufri’ where there was a lot of snow and skiing. It was the first time I saw snow so it was an overwhelming feeling of seeing the snow and feeling it. The snow feels really soft and it’s very cold before and after it snows. 

We also visited the ‘Jakhoo’ temple. Its an old hanuman temple, a really nice temple with lots and lots of monkeys. Infact shimla is full of monkeys. There are monkeys everywhere like streetdogs. I had monkeys climb up on me and ckeck my jacket for something to eat. That was one monkey experience. Another one snatched a bag full of oranges from my mom…… so lots and lots of monkey experiences we had. There were streetdogs too, and they were the most healthiest and good-looking streetdogs that I have ever seen anywhere in India!

Shopping was good fun too! I bought loads of wooden and woolen stuff which is what most hill stations are famous for. And people too were extremely friendly and very helpful. On the whole, it was a very enjoyable trip and a memorable one too with all the traveling… eating … freezing … hiking … snowing … eating … trekking …. and shopping!