Shimla India

Off on the Toy Train up the mountains to Shimla from Kalka for some fresh cool air after our very hot & sweaty India tour.  It took us 6 hours to reach our destination of Shimla.  The train track was built by the British government during the British Raj as they used Shimla as their base for 8 months of the year to escape from the heat.  The Toy Train is a 2ft 6in narrow gauge railway.  It was built in 1896, has 102 tunnels & 864 bridges.  In 2008 it became a UNESCO World Herritage site.

Engineer Colonel Borog dug the longest tunnel by digging from both sides, unfortunately his measurements were slightly off & the tunnel did not meet in the middle.  He was subsequently fined 1rupee.  The shame of this mistake drove him to commit suicide within the unfinished tunnel.  The views on the way up were beautiful & you could feel the temperature drop as we ascended.

                                          

           

        

         Us Brits did a great job on these bridges.

  We didn't know this but these are private trains you can hire for the journey up to Shimla.

     

    The local police dressed in their Sunday best.  Must have been expecting someone important.

       Checked in to the beautiful Oberoi Hotel.   

    Josh had some cooking lessons with the chef.  

   

 Time for some down time!

                     

We took a stroll up to the Viceregal Lodge which was the formal offices of the Indian Viceroy.  It was built in the 1880's using a Scottish Baronial style.  Felt like being in a castle back home.  The lodge hosted the 1947 Partition discussions which lead to the modern day India & Pakistan.  It is now a private school. 

                                

     

                   

                                 

           

            

            

                       

     The white family proving to be popular once more.  They we're queuing up at one point! 

           

Cars & trucks are banned from most of the town canter so if you need something moving you hire a Shimla porter.  There were many of these porters, quite a number of them of the older generation but all carrying extremely large heavy loads.  

      

Obviously no seats left in the passenger carriage. This would not be a comfortable 6 hour journey!

          

It really was a spectacular view from Shimla and pleasant Scottish summer temperature was a great relief. The air was so fresh and it even rained for an hour!