Days 21-22

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We got to Shimla at 6am after a truly horrible overnight bus. We had reserved a room in a hotel that was a top choice in the Lonely Planet book so we couldn't wait to get there and have a few hours sleep. The hotel was up a steep hill and the rickshaw was struggling to get up so we had to walk half the way. The hotel manager was asleep by the door and we woke him up when we knocked. We felt bad for waking him. We wouldn't feel bad in a few hours.

The cafe part of the hotel was lovely and we were excited to see our room. It looked ok when we got in but we soon found out the shower didn't work properly and all the bedsheets were damp. We slept anyway, we were too tired to complain yet. We'd try that later.

After a few hours sleep we had breakfast in the hotel and found out the manager was pretty rude, maybe because we woke him. Although we had warned him beforehand. We went for a walk into town. Shimla is lovely. It felt very British at times, it felt a bit like a seaside town, although it was up in the mountains a long way from the sea. We wandered up to a big Christian Church and found a cinema but all the films were in Hindi. On the way back we noticed a Domino's. And so we had pizza again.

We then walked to the train station to check where we'd have to go in the morning for the toy train to Kalka and headed back to the hotel to relax for a while. We complained about the shower and they man said he'd sort it. He didn't. Then we complained about the sheets and he seemed quite angry and came to look. He said they were fine. I think he was an amphibian, because they weren't. He changed them angrily and the new ones were damp too. We just went to bed. Think we'll be writing Lonely Planet a letter.

The next day we got to the station and got on our train. It looked awful compared to some of the nice ones we'd seen, really basic and cramped. Luckily it only half filled up so there was plenty of room. And although it took 6 hours some of the views were amazing and it was really good fun. It was lovely to sit at the door of the train with our feet hanging off the edge while we went over mountains. It was so green and nice and there were cows and monkeys and pigs everywhere and children waved at us when we went through villages. Apart from a screaming little brat it was a lovely journey.

From Kalka we had a nice meal in the station and then found our train to Delhi for that night. We'd booked chair seats rather than sleeper as it was only a few hours but we'd seen some awful carriages so were worried. The train was amazing though, big comfy seats, air con, and LOADS of free food. They brought 3 seperate meals out on a 4 hour journey. We arrived back at the Smyle Inn after walking from the station in a much happier and more confident mood than we had 3 weeks earlier. Our room at the hotel was lovely again and we went straight to bed after booking our day trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal for the next day.

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