Giddy up, Shimla!

Giddy Up Kufri! 

I returned to the apartment on Friday at 4am IST and had a few hours to eat dinner, pack up my room, and get ready for a week-long road trip. We said good bye to the apartment and the others as we scrambled to get everything together by 6am. After a few days of nervous email exchanges and phone calls to our travel agency, we were happy when our diver called and said he was running a little behind. Since we weren't ready yet, we didn't mind the few extra minutes to prep—we were just glad to hear he was on his way.

K-Singh greeted us in the parking lot of Essel towers, put our over-packed bags in his car and invited us to hop in for the ride. Our little Tata Indigo is just the right size for a road trip in India and we started to spread out for the long trip ahead. We were excited to find seat belts in the backseat and K. Singh was a calculated driver. I know I have mentioned my feelings towards driving in India many times before, but it really does impress me. Our driver takes travelers on these mountain roads several times a year and drives for 8-10 hours at a time with hardly a break. K Singh was not the slowest on the road and not the fastest—and he passed with caution. We were pleased.

Since we were still not adjusted to the time, we curled up and passed out in the backseat. The car went from highway speeds on open roads, to barely a crawl when “diversions” took us onto the market avenues. People, cows and stalled cars were minor obstacles in the way as we began to climb the mountain terrain into the Himelayean hills.

We finally reached Shimla at 4:00pm IST and weaved our way past the hotels, busy stalls and car repair stands. Everything was built on the cliff ledge of the road and was impressively engineered on the edge. Not quite sure I would trust my car on one of the cliff side parking lots. There was some slight confusion when we realized our hotel was actually on the outskirts of the city—but based on the description of Shimla from Matt, Piyush and Sudeep—that was a good thing. We honked as we whipped through the wooded mountain roads and finally found the Marigold Resort and Cottages.

Walking the gardens at Marigold.

We were greeted warmly by half of the hotel staff and escorted to our cottage room—along a patio overlooking the valley. It was a perfect escape and the best part was that it was extremely quiet—no honking sounds! The hotel was...cute. It looked like there had been a recent attempt to upgrade the rooms but some slight finishing touches missed the mark. We were extremely pleased to be out of the car and have an amazing view. We showered in the wonderfully hot rain shower and felt refreshed for the evening. We took a walk around the property and enjoyed the beautiful gardens and fresh mountain air.

After a game of ??? with the concierge, we decided to go to dinner—a buffet of Indian food. Alex was introduced to buttered nan and became instantly obsessed. We chowed down on spicy dal, paneer and rice before filling to the brim and making our way back to the cottage where we passed out.

K-Singh and me enjoying the view.

Sunday morning we awoke to explore Shimla. K. Singh drove us to Kufri, where the man in the parking lot persuaded us to pay Rs760 for a horse ride to the top, an extra ride to the highest peak of Fugu and a return trip to the lot. Since we weren't given much choice, we saddled up for an exciting ride. Hundreds of horses were crowding the road, waiting to bring people to the top of the mountain. We slowly made our way through the mud and rocky pathway to the top of Kufri—where there was literally an amusement park in the Himeleyas. We avoided the go-kart track and instead explored the top of the mountain and the temple.

There were hundreds of tourists, but unlike other places I have been during my trip, Alex and I were the only ones that were not Indian. We got a taste of what it was like to be a celebrity as we could feel the stares on our backs as we passed by and watched as people tried to sneakily take our pictures. We were even asked to be in “snaps” with people or hold their baby for a picture.

Top of Kufri

We hopped back on the horse and left the crowded trails from the parking lot for a 1.5 hour trail ride through the tiered gardens to the highest peak in the area. We slowly made our way past a small village and admired the farms overlooking the scenic mountains. We finally reached Fagu and climbed to the top just as it began to rain. Luckily, it was over in just a few minutes and we made our way back down the mountain, all the way to K. Singh patiently waiting for us to return.

We again carved our way along the steep mountain roads to the main area of Shimla. K-Singh dropped us off at the highest place that cars can go. From here we waited in line to board a series of lifts that would take us to Scandal Square and the main area in town. We were on a mission to visit the Jahku temple before it was too dark to drive home, and this required us to move quickly up the mountain path that lead us there. Per the advice of Javed and the tour books, we rented sticks for Rs20 and made our way into monkey territory to visit the money temple. Many of the little guys were hanging out along the trail and we made sure to use our sticks as warnings, walk quickly and avoid eye contact. For the most part, they were lazily relaxing along the way, keeping an eye out for anyone that might have food that could be snatched.

The monkey god.

I finally made my way to the top as Alex encouraged me to get it in gear and we were standing at the base of a towering orange statue of the monkey god and several little buddies running around. We watched as one unsuspecting tourist had his glasses snatched from his face. The monkey thief chewed on them for a little while before realizing they were not that exciting and tossing them across the square. I decided to keep my eyes peels, my camera close an my walking stick ready.

We were happy to make our way back down the mountain and sipped on a cold Pepsi as we strolled through the Shimla Mall Street. After a long day, we were ready to meet back with K.Singh and make the drive back to the Marigold. Just as we entered the cottage, the thunder began and the pitter patter of evening rain helped us relax from our long day.

We woke up early this morning and ordered an American breakfast of toast a porridge to the room. K. Singh wanted to get on the road early and we soon realized that Shimla had quite a bit of traffic on a Monday morning. Finally, we made it out of the town, but weren't really moving much faster as we twisted along the mountain roads next to other tourists and painted trucks. It took 10 hours before we saw the snow capped mountains and entered the Manali hill station. We were psyched to pull up to the Manu Allaya resort, sitting serenely above the hustle of lower Manali and offering a gorgeous view of the mountain top.

We enjoyed a gin and tonic cocktail before a delicious buffet dinner. Alex was ecstatic to see make-your-own pasta on the menu and was thrilled to have something non-Indian. I was just excited to eat some grilled chicken. We found out they have Internet—though an extremely slow connection—so I decided to update the blog before I forget anything.

We have a big 2 days in Manali ahead of us then back to the States! More pics here.