Delhi and Shimla!!

We arrived in Delhi fine and checked into hotel, which was rather dire to start with (there was no running hot water and the room was just as bad. Either way we pay 2 pound more and go upgraded to a nicer room with hot water and a TV! We spent the day walking around New Delhi, which is the section the British built and probably the better known part of Delhi. Its really nice and well preserved, it constitutes the seat of the Indian government now, so at least it is being used unlike so many of our old buildings! We basically walked everywhere for the whole day, it was hot but not as hot as when we were last in Delhi. Instead of using rickshaws we used the underground system in Delhi, which was an interesting experience. It was quite 'quiet' on the way in, but the endless queuing and tokens and pay here, stand here, stand there, got to us in the end and we were glad to resurface in the end. On the way back however we unfortunately decided to go back in rush hour. I don’t think I have ever been so squashed in my entire life, it was just awful. However squashed you think the London underground gets, then times it by 10, I think I held my breath for the whole journey. Needless to say we were glad to get out of the metro system, but we saved lots of money (train ticket cost 8rs, whereas a rickshaw would have been about 60s).

We left Delhi on the fast train to go 400km north to Kaka, which took 4 hours and then changed quickly to the toy train which took us to Shimla up in the mountains, the old British summer capital city. The toy train went very slowly, we covered 100km in around 4 and a half hours, we could have walked faster! It was so cute though, only 4 seats wide and about 6 carriages! The journey up through the mountains was stunning, the scenery is truly breathtaking! It got gradually colder as well as we retreated further into the mountains, but we arrived here on time into the smallest station ever. The whole of shimla is like nothing else, it looks like a mini English village crossed with Switzerland! The hotel looks like a little wooden cabin, unfortunately without heating as it is very cold here at night! The locals think we are strange, as we are wearing summer clothes with trainers - not the best or warmest of looks! But the hotel supplied us with duvets, so we got warmer last night! All the locals seem adapted to the temperatures, wearing normal Indian clothes perhaps with a bobble hat as well! We have another day here to explore, so we may take a day trip or just continue walking around the little streets! After Shimla, we are off to Dharamsala on a 10 hour bus journey, which is going to have stunning scenery, albeit uncomfortable! Hope you are all well

Lots of Love

Chris and Alex xxx