4th-5th February: Monkeys and the toy train in Shimla

4th February

After another tasty breakfast we walked up the hill to Panthagathi bus stop, from where we caught a bus to the Lift and were carried up to the city centre. Our plan for the day was to start with the Jakhoo "monkey temple", on top of one of the seven hills of Shimla (yes, like Rome). From the Ridge you can see the massive orange statue of Hanuman looking down on the city from his hilltop perch. We started walking in what we (i.e., John) thought was the right direction but finally succumbed and asked a passer-by: we were pointed back whence we had come. Thankfully we had not walked too far. The walk up to the temple was steep, but at least this helped to keep us warm in the bitterly cold winter air. We met a young Indian couple on their way down from the temple who warned us against the aggressive monkeys. They told us to hide all of our possessions and beware of monkeys who grab anything in sight and would even try to check our pockets.

We prepared accordingly, but there was actually no sign of monkeys on the steps leading up to the temple complex. Only at the top of the steps did we spot the first macaques, at an altitude of around 2400m. There we saw some of the Indian tourists with large sticks, which could apparently be rented to drive away the monkeys. As we climbed up the last steps from the complex entrance to the statue the monkeys came closer, making an alarming sound on the tin roof over the steps as they jumped down. I was slightly concerned when one came a little closer than I would have liked but he quickly went away when I walked confidently towards him and scowled. Either they had been paralysed by the cold (and many of them were huddled together amidst the snow) or their reputation for cheeky tourist-mugging was exaggerated.

Walking up Jakhoo hill through the snow

The less-than-subtle statue visible through the trees

The statue was even larger than we could have imagined. We were told that "no one knows whether" the statue was built recently or has existed since time immemorial, placed there by one of the gods. Call us unimaginative, but we could take a guess. We had a look around the temple, but did not go inside as prayers were ongoing (nor did we feel like parting with our shoes in the cold). Instead we savoured the magnificent view from the Jakhoo temple over Shimla and the surrounding hills.

Looking very small in comparion with Hanuman

Need we say more?

Perch with a view

Huddled up amidst the snow

View over Shimla from Jakhoo hill

After heading back down to the Ridge we visited the old Gaiety Theatre, built as an amateur theatre club for British officers and their wives. The guide enthusiastically took us through the main auditorium, which recently had been renovated in keeping with the original style (in particular, it featured beautiful golden papier mache friezes). We had told the guide that we just wanted a quick look around; he interpreted this as a requirement to speak at 100mph and run around the building, squeezing in the full tour in half the time. A few tidbits: famous Bollywood actors performed in the 60s and 70s, and famous Bollywood movies were also shot there; Michael Palin had shot his Himalayan Adventures there, and would be coming back this year; there was a large tunnel, linked by air holes to the auditorium, which provided hot air from a fire in the winter and cool air from a window in the summer; the ball-room above the original auditorium had been converted into a very modern multi-purpose media centre, where fashion shows and other events now took place.

View of the stage

Looking down from the balcony

Early air con

British officers and their wives liked to dress up

We had lunch in one of the many franchises of Sagar Ratna, a South Indian restaurant. John had a thali while I enjoyed some rice idlis (as lovely for lunch as for breakfast), which were served with delicious chutneys. After lunch we walked down the road to the Glen, a forest reserve that is considered to be the oldest picnic area in Shimla. We saw a few large houses isolated from the crowds, which must be very comfortable. It was a very pleasant walk in the forest, at least heading down the slope; the way back was slightly harder on our legs. It was great to enjoy the peace and quiet away from the crowds.

John bundled up against the cold mountain air

Gothic architecture in the Indian hills

After panting our way back up the hill, we headed back to the Lift to catch the bus back to the guest house. There we had dinner there with the two other guests and Shivi. We had an animated discussion about horror movies, and Shivi told us that there are crocodiles in parts of the lake in Chandigarh where we had paddled a couple of weeks earlier (this brought shivers down my spine). At least there were quite a lot of people (and geese) paddling on the lake that day, and hopefully the crocodiles would have found a better snack than us.

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5th February

Shivi did not have any other guests checking in to our room immediately after us so he kindly allowed us to stay in the room until we left to catch the train down to Kalka at around 4 pm. This enabled us to have a nice slow start to the day. We had breakfast with Shivi and the two other guests, packed our bags, and went for a little stroll to enjoy the late-morning sunshine. Shivi had told us that people were welcome to (and often did) visit the Tibetan monastery nearby (the one we had passed by the first day), so we decided to head back for a look around.

When we arrived at the monastery the monks were having lunch, so we asked whether it was ok to have a quick look around to avoid disturbing them. What we hadn't realised on our last quick visit was that the temple was still under construction. The main hall was piled with wood-shavings and the columns were covered in fresh, bright red paint. Inside was what we assumed to be a large Buddha statue, but hidden under brown wrapping paper. As we made our way out of the monastery one of the monks came over to say hello. He told us that the building works had been going on for the last few years, and should be completed in the next year or so. The monks themselves did most of the labour, with some help from Nepalese volunteers. The monastery itself had been there since the 1990s (when there was no town nearby, and they could spot leopards in the forest from their window).

Plaque inside the monastery

Temple under construction

Beautifully painted columns

Mandala on the ceiling

Back at the guest house we spent a couple of hours relaxing and catching up on the blog, sustained by toasted sandwiches generously provided by Shivi. At 4pm it was time to bid farewell and hop in a taxi over to Shimla station. The narrow-gauge "toy train" carriages were already waiting at the station, perched on the edge of the hill looking down over the valley. We sat outside on the platform for half an hour, taking in the view and wondering how far the drop would be from the many bridges/viaducts, as the engine arrived and was attached to the carriages. Just as the sun was setting the engine hooted and we started to pull away from the station. The track wound down the hill, through the forest, with a fabulous view of the valley occasionally peeping through the undergrowth. It was particularly fun for John to travel on a length of track where his grandfather had worked as an engineer before the British left India (and he was even able to speak to his grandfather on the phone to tell him about it). After an hour or so it was dark, so we settled down to listen to the Mahabharata on an iPod and enjoy our dinner of rice and dahl.

The luxury toy train down to Kalka

The train station was a mere 2076 metres above sea level

The carriages waiting at the station hanging on the edge of the hill 

The station had a taste of what to expect 

The sun falling behind the hills 

Attendant preparing a pre-dinner snack; dinner was picked up from a station on the way

We arrived at Kalka at around 10 pm, where we boarded the connecting train to Delhi (and all the way across the country to Kolkata, had we wished). We slept fairly well in our 2AC side berths, although John was disturbed by a man across the aisle who burped with exceptional frequency and volume throughout the night.