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We were a small group of three and this was our first trip to the extreme north of India. Even before reaching the foothills of the Himalayas we could see the dense growth of coniferous trees crowding on either side of the winding road. The snow capped Himalayas were peeking through the tall oak and pine trees.

The Queen of Hill Stations

In the heydays of the British Raj in India, Shimla was their summer capital, lovingly called ‘The Queen of hill stations’. All Government and administrative machinery would move from Delhi to Shimla in the blistering summer months and stay in huge palatial bungalows. The famous book Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominic Lapierre describes in humourous detail the teary adieu given by the British housewives to these lavish bungalows after India became independent. Even now we could see glimpses of the colonial past in the British style architecture of many buildings and houses.

Shimla is comparable to London in terms of its climatic conditions. The temperature in summer rises up to 25°c while it dips to 0-10°c during the winter.

We reached the place at 1.30 in the afternoon and found the positioning of the city pretty intriguing. It seemed to be hanging on the sides of a mountain! Narrow roads and pavements ran along the sides of the mountain and tunnels interconnected different parts of the city. Traffic snarls and parking problems were quite common. We passed by a large number of vehicles which were waiting for the traffic signal.

At the Mall Road

' All the buildings in Mall Road had a definite European style and we felt as if we had landed in Switzerland 'Our plan was to head to the snow covered Kufri after taking a room in Shimla. But unfortunately a snowstorm of the previous day had completely blocked the roads. So the Kufri plan was postponed till the next day and we headed to see the famous Mall road, the main shopping area in Shimla.

Mall road is located at the highest point in Shimla and visitors are taken in a lift up the mountain to reach there. This was the first time that any of us had seen a lift that was partly encased in the mountain. There were two lifts, one will get you halfway up the mountain and then you have to walk a little bit to reach the other lift which will take you to up to the Mall Road. It was constructed by the Otis Company and cost Rs 7/- for a ride. Vehicles are not permitted here and we parked the Tavera in a parking lot down the mountain.

All the buildings in Mall Road had a definite European style and we felt as if we had landed in Switzerland. There were many shops, bars, tourist offices, ATMs and boutiques here. High up the right side of the Mall Road there was a church built in the Gothic style. This is the second oldest church in north India. It was built in 1846. The Gaiety Theatre built during the colonial days is also located here.

The road was full of young couples walking hand in hand. There was nothing surprising about this as Shimla has the reputation of being the honeymoon capital of India. Those who are single would probably want to jump off the cliffs seeing the cosy couples…we joked. It quickly became dark and the temperature dropped below zero. We had a nice cold ice cream and went back to the hotel. (What a nice way to warm up!!).

Away to Kufri’s Snow covered Peaks

We started to Kufri at nine in the morning. Earlier we had heard from the hotel that the roads were now clear of snow. After about 10 kms we began to encounter slushy pavements, snow covered trees and sleet dripping from rooftops and vehicles. Everywhere there was snow, snow and more snow.

Kufri stands at an altitude of 8600 ft and is nicknamed, ‘the winter sports capital’. Skiing is the most popular sport here and offers a fantastic view of the snow covered Himalayas. We rode to Kufri-top, the snow capped skiing spot, on horseback. This was the only form of transportation to reach there and the ride cost about Rs 250. We bargained steadily and reduced the cost to Rs 150. We balanced shakily on the horseback and went about 9kms to finally reach Kufritop. The horse had kept slipping on the uneven frozen ground. We felt pity for it but this was just the day to day routine for the poor animal.

' Other attractions of Shimla are Jakhu hills which lie at an altitude of 8000 ft, Shimla State Museum, Summer Hill and Mashobara, which is a picnic spot 'The hills of Kufri were swathed in snow. We saw some people waiting near large snow sculptures. The sculptures were almost transparent and striking. You have to pay Rs 10 to stand near the sculptures and take snaps. On the other side Skiing was going on in full swing and there were a lot of ski instructors there. But all of this paled in comparison to the enchanting sight of the lush tree tops shimmering with snow.

We had planned to see the golf course which was 22 km away from Kufri. But the golf course between the dense fir trees was completely blanketed with snow. We were not able to go to Chail either which was about 45 km away. Chail was the summer capital of the Patiala kings. The world’s highest cricket pitch is located here.

Other attractions of Shimla are Jakhu hills which lie at an altitude of 8000 ft, Shimla State Museum, Summer Hill and Mashobara, which is a picnic spot. Shopaholics can buy handcrafted shoes, handicrafts, Tibetan jewellery etc which are available here in plenty.

The Elusive Toy Train

Our next plan was to go to Solan by train. The train in Shimla is the famous toy train, something very similar to that of Ooty (A scenic Hill station in the Nilgiri hills). The train goes up to the Kalka station which is 96 km away from Shimla. A ride in this train between the snowy mountains and coniferous woods is said to be quite remarkable. We planned to get down at the Solan station which is 40 kms before Kalka. This route which is called Kimla – Solan route was completed in 1903 and has 107 tunnels and 700 bridges. It has dangerous slopes that tilt at a 48 degree angle. The longest tunnel in this route is the Barog tunnel which is 3760 ft long.

In 1946, Mahatma Gandhi had travelled by this train to Shimla. He had come to meet Lord Wavell for discussing Indian independence. A second class ticket on this train would cost Rs 40. We hurried to Shimla railway station and found to our utter dismay that there was no train that day. They said that the train journey was only for the tourist season. We lost the chance for a memorable journey but the prospect of travelling to Manali cheered us up. We were ready to conquer the next hill station in the Himalayas.

Nicholas Roerich was Right!

We had heard a lot about the enchanting Manali, the birthplace of the Maharishi (sage) Manu who is supposed to have written the ancient code of laws called ‘Manusmrithi’. A honeymooner’s paradise, Manali is 260 km away from Shimla and Rohtang is another 51 km from Manali.

‘The high pinnacle of spirituality… a guiding light, reminding the mission of human beings in the journey of life,’ this was how the world famous artist Nicholas Roerich viewed the Himalayas. The brilliant artist painted over 7000 paintings in his lifetime and many of them feature the spiritual and physical beauty of the Himalayas. The paintings of Roerich prove that the Himachal Tourism Board’s catchphrase is not wrong; that Kulu and Manali have everything that a tourist could possibly want.

The Kulu valley is in the foothills of the Himalayas, 520 km away from Delhi. This paradise for travellers was earlier a part of the state of Punjab. In 1966 it was made a district of Himachal Pradesh.

We had decided to make Manali, 40 km from Kulu and 260 kms away from Shimla, our base camp. There were old Hindi songs blasting out non-stop from our van. Our cassette collection was meagre and we quickly got bored of hearing the same songs again and again. We switched off the stereo and decided to sing on our own.

Manali at Last!

For dinner we stopped at one of the local dhabas (small roadside hotels that serve typical north Indian fare). The waiter gave a long list of Punjabi dishes but we settled for the simple Dal (Lentil) and Roti (flat bread) dinner. We wolfed down the food more due to hunger than taste. After that we got back in the car and passed Bilaspur and Mandi through NH 21 and it was five in the morning when we finally reached Manali. We checked into our hotel room and buried ourselves in the warm blankets. The chill was beginning to get to us.

We woke up after some time and saw the fantastic view of the blue mountain peaks covered with snow. It was an incredible sight; seen only in photos or on TV. This panoramic view cured us of our fatigue and sluggishness and we quickly got ready for the exciting day ahead of us. We were going to Rohtang pass which was about 51 kms from Manali. The area is also known as Brigutung and the highest peak here stands at 4934 m. It receives heavy snowfall in the months of December and January. So we had planned to get there before it starts. If you arrive here before this time then climbing the whole hill is the only way to touch snow. Continued....

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