India Day 2: Delhi - Shimla (OJG)
Today we woke up nice and early to catch the 7:40 train to Kalka. Our hotel was fairly close to the New Delhi Train Station, and as such no auto-rickshaws wanted our pitiful fares. 
Instead, we climbed aboard a couple of cycle-rickshaws. Fortunately, rush hour had not yet kicked in, and the traffic was not too hectic, close calls were still in healthy supply however.
At the station we got aboard our reserved Chair Class seats and headed north out of the city. The service on the train was very impressive, especially considering this was not even first class. A carriage porter handed out the following items for each passenger over the course of the journey: Newspapers; Water Bottle and Cup; Small Tray with Biscuits and Tea Making Kit; Personal Flask with hot Water; Vegetarian or Non Vegetarian (egg) hot meals; more Tea Making Kits; more Personal Flasks with hot Water; more Water Bottles.
It was more akin to being on a plane than a train. Of course, things being the way they are, a military man with a machine gun also came through the carriage checking all the baggage had owners, and a sniffer dog made sure there was nothing untoward in them.
The views from the train window were very interesting. In Delhi, we saw an awful lot of buildings at all stages of disrepair. We also saw several slums.
As we left Delhi, the scenery got more green and luscious. Along the journey we passed through towns of various size. But even going through the countryside, I don't think there was a single moment when we did not see at least one person visible from the window. Often a lot more.
The funniest part of the train journey had to be my discovery of the Emergency Flush Button in the toilets. Why one would need to emergency flush is a topic that kept us amused for quite a while. Of course, like most things to do with plumbing in India, it did not work, so it is just as well that specific emergency did not arise!
From Kalka, we took a taxi up to Shimla, which is also spelt Simla. The taxi journey, our first of many, was quite hard work, but I will go more into that scenario on my next blog entry. Suffice to say at the moment, that the journey had a mix of windy roads, dogs, trucks, buses, roaming cows, steep hills, monkeys, people in the street, and ... did I mention roaming cows?! More on that in two days.
Shimla is a large town that sits on the side of a mountain at 2,100m. Our taxi driver dropped us off at the lower part of Shimla, and we had to take two public lifts up, one after another, to get to the main area. To give another peculiarity of Shimla, the street junctions are not a case of right or left, but instead up or down. Regardless of all that, the town is very pretty and from afar could easily be mistaken for a Swiss village in the alps. Minus the yodeling of course.
Instead, we climbed aboard a couple of cycle-rickshaws. Fortunately, rush hour had not yet kicked in, and the traffic was not too hectic, close calls were still in healthy supply however.
At the station we got aboard our reserved Chair Class seats and headed north out of the city. The service on the train was very impressive, especially considering this was not even first class. A carriage porter handed out the following items for each passenger over the course of the journey: Newspapers; Water Bottle and Cup; Small Tray with Biscuits and Tea Making Kit; Personal Flask with hot Water; Vegetarian or Non Vegetarian (egg) hot meals; more Tea Making Kits; more Personal Flasks with hot Water; more Water Bottles.
It was more akin to being on a plane than a train. Of course, things being the way they are, a military man with a machine gun also came through the carriage checking all the baggage had owners, and a sniffer dog made sure there was nothing untoward in them.The views from the train window were very interesting. In Delhi, we saw an awful lot of buildings at all stages of disrepair. We also saw several slums.
As we left Delhi, the scenery got more green and luscious. Along the journey we passed through towns of various size. But even going through the countryside, I don't think there was a single moment when we did not see at least one person visible from the window. Often a lot more.
The funniest part of the train journey had to be my discovery of the Emergency Flush Button in the toilets. Why one would need to emergency flush is a topic that kept us amused for quite a while. Of course, like most things to do with plumbing in India, it did not work, so it is just as well that specific emergency did not arise!
From Kalka, we took a taxi up to Shimla, which is also spelt Simla. The taxi journey, our first of many, was quite hard work, but I will go more into that scenario on my next blog entry. Suffice to say at the moment, that the journey had a mix of windy roads, dogs, trucks, buses, roaming cows, steep hills, monkeys, people in the street, and ... did I mention roaming cows?! More on that in two days.
Shimla is a large town that sits on the side of a mountain at 2,100m. Our taxi driver dropped us off at the lower part of Shimla, and we had to take two public lifts up, one after another, to get to the main area. To give another peculiarity of Shimla, the street junctions are not a case of right or left, but instead up or down. Regardless of all that, the town is very pretty and from afar could easily be mistaken for a Swiss village in the alps. Minus the yodeling of course.
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