all aboard the himalayan queen

eating breakfast outside delhi station at 4am, we were very excited to be heading from the indian plains to the indian himalaya!

Fi still not sure we are at correct station (like in mumbai).. get onto chair carriage and kick back, sleep 4 more hours.. passengers think we are dead again.. train leaves on time as usual, past all the slums to new delhi station, where we where found playing on the tracks a few hours before.

wake up some hours later gazing at sugar cane fields and the cloud filled horizon, occaisionally glimpsing some of the foothills.. wahey@! and the scarecrows in the fields with turbans and moto cycle helmets on to ward off the eagles and large birds..

at the train head where we swap trains from broad gauge to narrow gauge we have a few chais in clay pots.. then get tkts inspected by some lovely sikhs, now the pace of life has immediately calmed down, not out of the clutches of capital city.

the train ride to shimla was very scenic as you can imagine, 103 tunnels, rice terraces into pine forrests and lots of villages and very english train stations.. with blue paint, slate roofs and flower pots, in a station named "summerhill".

arriving in shimla, the british summer hill station in the 1950-60's, we are greeted not only by rain, but by porters who look like the lving dead, in their long brown woolen gowns... once checked into hotel we soon set about buying a blanket, gloves and hats.. its freezing!

the following day in shimla, we find cyder made locally in the hills, we also visit the monkey temple where before entering we have to hire monkey sticks to ward off the cheeky devils.. we witness one monkey stealing spectacles from an indian lady, to be tempted very quickly by a peanut vendor once the lady has paid for the peanuts which are swapped for the glasses!

a great introduction to the mountains after a few days walking locally, and aclimatising to the altitude of 2205M.

jim