Two Trains to Shimla

Indian trains.

A colourful character.

The 'toy train'.

Scenic views on route.

A mountain city, not a place for a bicycle.

All over the world there are terraced fields.

The sardine can.

Shimla rain station.

Wednesday, March 14^th.

I slept well but woke up early. I was awake at 5 and we had to meet in the lobby by 6:30. Denise had sent me a note saying that my Mastercard had been declined, I knew my balance was okay, so I called the BMO helpline using Skype and after 5 minutes of pushing buttons and entering numbers I finally was told that operators were busy and that the current wait time was 40 to 60 minutes! What kind of service is that? I waited and did the packing and showering I needed to do, but I still had no answer by the time I had to leave.

It started out a bit weird, as one of the four taxis that had arrived to take us to the train station wouldn’t start and all the drivers were trying to jump start it up and down the street, finally success. The drive was about fifteen minutes before we arrived at the train station. There were dozens of homeless people sleeping in the entrance of the station. We grabbed our gear and trekked into the station and to the platform. It arrived on time and we boarded. The train was quite comfortable and we drove for five hours, first through the city and the slums surrounding it and then through the rural areas of flat bread basket plains where there were lots of farms growing crops to feed the millions of the city. They served us a pretty basic breakfast on board as we drove across the state of Punjab to Kalka, where we changed trains and boarded the World Heritage listed ‘toy train’. The British built this line in the late 1800’s to reach up into the foothills of the Himalayas where they located their summer capital to escape the heat of Delhi. It is called this because it rides on a narrower track and is a smaller train. Unfortunately, the train was cramped and uncomfortable with nowhere to stow all our bags, so they had to be piled up outside the door of one of the washrooms. It was a long, tiring five-hour drive. There was no air con so all the windows were open and as we drove through a hundred tunnels it was really noisy. Plus, there were lots of people talking. I wound up with a tension headache that just made the trip that much more delightful. The only good thing was that the views out the window were quite nice and reminded me of Nepal.

When we finally arrived in Shimla, the capital of the North India state of Himachal Pradesh we were met by a very chaotic scene as the station is located on a fairly narrow piece of land and there were lots of cars and taxis lined up to pick the passengers. They were lined up on both sides of the narrow road. When Prerna located our two 4x4 taxis we loaded all our stuff on the rooves and piled in for the short ride to the hotel. It is amazing how the drivers are able to negotiate the narrow spaces and the busy traffic. Shimla has a population of 170000 and is at an elevation of 2276 metres (7400ft). Not sure where they take that measurement from as the whole city is built on a steep slope. It is a famous honeymoon destination for Indian couples. It lies at the outer Himalayas which are called the ‘Shivalk’ which means tresses of Shiva, one of the most important gods.

We checked in, right at sunset, to the lovely Silverine Hotel which has a commanding view of the hill and the valley below. Although there are three men travelling solo, including me, we all have single rooms. Not sure why that is, unless they both paid single supplement and then I too get my own room. Not complaining that’s for sure. Shortly after, at 7:30, the group met up in the dining room for a great buffet dinner. I ate with Mark and Eve, an American couple from San Francisco, who are about my age. Like most people I meet on these trips they are seasoned travellers and we talked about India, Madagascar and the general state of the world. Then still with an achy head I lay myself down to sleep.