Since my haridwar rishikesh trip in early January , I was excited to do another trip to the Himalayas.
Actually I had thought of doing a trip every month but couldn't go through with it in February.
As it was our final semester, number of classes were negligible. we had a lot of free time.
so i talked to my friend rishabh and we decided to travel before Holi as he was not planning to go home on Holi.
Out of the blue, I suggested Shimla and the plan was on.
We instantly booked 2S seats in kalka mail from delhi to kalka on 18 March 10 pm.
The day came and we left for Shimla.
We were greeted by Indian railways overwhelming Service when we got to know that there is no 2S coach on kalka mail and we'd have to travel in the luggage compartment.
The luggage compartment was functioning like a general coach but thankfully the passenger gave us our booked seats.
We breathed in a sigh of relief and the journey started.
One thing I noticed on this journey was every railway station had free unlimited wifi.i was truly impressed with this aspect of indian railways.indian railways is really transforming itself for the better.
toy Tain experience
->sit on the right side towards Shimla in the direction of the train.
->there is an 8:20 passenger from Shimla as well as kalka which is not listed online.
We reached kalka 5:30 am and went to the ticket counter for the toy train tickets which were 50 per person.quite cheap for a 5 hour ride. No???
But alas!!! There are three toy train's from kalka to Shimla between 3:30 am to 6:20 am but all general coaches were completely filled with people.
We were stranded here coz the next train was at 12 pm however we again breathed a sigh of relief when we were told by fellow passengers that there is another passenger which departs at 8:20 am.this train is not shown on the internet but it is there.
We took our seats when the train was pulled in at the platform.
I knew that right side in the direction of train when you leave for Shimla offers the best views of the valleys.
After a long wait the toy train whistled at last and off we went towards Shimla.
The first few kilometers were pretty discouraging as all we saw was an industrial area in the middle of the mountains,but after dharmpur Himachal station, panoramic views started rolling in.
I was amazed to see such natural beauty, Homes high on the mountain tops.
Mountains laden with trees.
The air was chilling and fresh.i was hooked only in the first hour of the journey.
We were in the third coach from the engine.the first coach was an open trolly containing two 1000 liter water tanks.
I saw some people on that container shouting in joy.they were having the best experience of this ride.
On the next stop we also hoped onto the open coach.
It multiplied the fun a 1000 times.it was the best seat on the train although there was no seat.we could see in all direction.we were feeling the cold breeze of the mountains.we passed under many tunnels. it was surreal.
We were having a better experience than the first class passengers.
We were so lucky to be riding the toy train this way.
It was the best experience on the whole tour.i mean how many people get to ride the toy train in an coach without roof.
Alas! Our rendezvous with nature on this open coach ended on the next station when the driver told us to go back to our coaches as it was not safe in the open coach.
The next part of our journey was spent on our seats.
This ride has some of the most beautiful valleys Himalayas have to offer. Each station here is better than the next.you will see some of the most tiny railway stations.
We saw the first glimpse of Shimla on the horizon 4 station before the final stop.the train took us round and round on the mountains with the best views of Shimla.
We reached Shimla at 2 pm.
Coming out of the station we started looking for a budget hotel which we found near Kali badi temple with tarrif 500 per night.
I have lived my life in the plains so it was a tiring task for me to climb up to our hotel.each road in Shimla has a slope. You won't find plain flat roads here.
We were a bit tired so went straight into our beds.
At 5 pm we got out to explore Shimla. Kali badi temple was just 100 mtr away from our hotel.
We didn't go in but went straight to the scandel point, the ridge and Christ Church.
All three of these places are adjacent to each other
The ridge was like a community place to get together.tourist and locals both walk around here taking photos. it is such a beautiful place to just stroll around and hang out with friends. we spent an hour there just wandering around and clicking pictures. The cold breeze was flowing and making the atmosphere joyful and lively.
From the ridge we went straight to the lakar Bazar which is a market connected to the ridge we had our dinner at a small shop.matar paneer and nan.
After dinner we again strolled around.
You will see a lot of boiled egg sellers on lakar Bazar.people here eat lots of eggs, probably because of the cold weather.
We crossed the ridge and went to the mall road.this road puts cannught place in Delhi to shame.you will every brands showroom here.
it was a pleasant experience walking here.
Same like eggs a lot of momoz sellers are here.we ate some Momo's from a shop.they were one of the best Momo's I have eaten .his red sauce was good but green chutney was awesome.
We then came back and slept like a hibernating bear.
Next day we decided to hike to jakhoo temple but before that we had breakfast at a local shop.aloo ke parathe were 20/piece.quite cheap breakfast.
We went to the ridge from there hiked up the jakhoo Hill in the streets of shimla.this hike has a very high upward slope. Upon reaching the jakhoo temple we witnessed the Lord Hanuman statue. it was huge.this hill also gives the best views of Shimla city.
We also had a close encounter with monkeys up there.
We got down the jakhoo Hill through a narrow trail in the forest.this forest is beautiful, laden with trees and gives a great hiking experience.
It was already afternoon.
We came down in the lower ram Bazar and had some steamy momoz and aloo tikki.
Through taking to some locals we got to know that we can get to kufri using locals buses which leave from lakkar Bazar bus stand.buses leaving to theog go through kufri.
We caught a bus.
It was the local way of travelling.all the passengers in the bus were locals.
The ticket was 25/person.
It took around 30 minutes to kufri.
We witnessed snow from the windows.
it was captivating.the snow looked like white foam spilled over on the mountains.
The weather was cold and it seemed as it would rain.we even saw lightning hitting the mountains.
We decided to climb the kufri Hill top.
the whole trail on the mountain was covered in 1 feet of snow.we had no boots hence our socks were drenched.
Halfway on the hill we lost the way but somehow managed to got up by climbing a steep trail. it was adventurous and frightening at the same time.
As soon as we reached up the hill we saw kufri zoo and stairs shaped farm fields covered in snow. we again had some aloo paratha at a shop and started coming down the road.
Suddenly the snow started falling.we were overwhelmed with joy.we were lucky.i mean you don't see snow fall in March end.
After coming down the hill top we decide to walk towards Shimla on NH5 as the weather was pleasant and it was snow falling everywhere.
We walked for 2 kilometer till dharabra.and then took the bus to shimla.we had our dinner at lakar Bazar and went to sleep.
Next day was Holi.
We woke up at 8am.
In Shimla Holi is played very graceful and respectful to other people.thre was no throwing water or balloons on each other.as water is scarce and very cold.people plauly dry Holi with gulal.we visited the ridge and saw tourist and locals playing Holi.
We had the Himalayan queen waiting for us at 10:40am.we bid our goodbyes to Shimla and left.
We witnessed people playing holi from the toy train.people at Solan came up to station to play Holi with passengers.it was an awesome experience.we sat on the door the whole journey.
I saw innumerable valleys and mountains on this journey.i was impressed with the locals and the city itself.people are honest and welcoming.this city will remain as the most visited touristic destination for Delhites for long. https://www.instagram.com/raghav.supertramp?r=nametag
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originally published on raghavsupertramp blog