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Published: July 16th 2006
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After five long days of feeding our growing TV addiction we braved the road to Shimla. The distance was further than we had ever tried and we were harbouring some doubts as to whether she would make it. Fortunately the doubts were unfounded and she performed remarkably well, she did seize a few (4) times. Yet she also started and made it up a hill without even being turned on!! Chris’ magic touch…
We arrived in Shimla and discovered that this pretty hill station was just beginning its annual Shimla Festival. We found a room at vastly inflated prices and settled in for a night of watching ‘The Triangle’ (a mini series that had been advertised relentlessly and which we felt compelled to watch!). Having to move hotels the next day we decided to settle here for a week or so and relax. The bike was going to take a while to fix and the festival atmosphere lent the place a really nice vibe. Everyone was so relaxed and happy there was very little hassle as everyone there was a tourist.
We found a decent hotel and set about trying to get the bike there! A pedestrianised zone meant
that driving there was a 20 km round journey with only vague head nods and indiscernible limb gesticulation to guide us… half a day later we arrived at the hotel, ordered some grub and turned on the telly. The first night there our booking was confused and we we’re put up in a ‘deluxe’ suite… after Katie got right up on her high horse and made a scene (picture Chris in the background nodding at the harassed desk clerk)… The first sunset was spectacular and the troupe of monkeys that passed by our room a little scary… The first we knew of them was a monkey paw tentatively reaching through the bars as we reclined on the bed (watching telly!!)… Shimla was full of monkeys and we had our own monkey family friends… They spent every morning stretching on our balcony nursing their young and flashing their nuts!
The next few days we spent exploring the town, as during the day the telly only shows repeats or prison dramas, no thanks! Shimla is actually a beautiful little town; the bazaar is on three rickety, winding levels and has so much diversity and colour with an atmosphere of the India
the road up
imagine us staggerring up here at 2 am after a skinfull, 45 deegree slopes and the ever present threat of monkey shite!! we love. People were laughing, joking and prices were fair, we got to know a number of the shop keepers and discovered the nicest sweets we have had in India (cream chocolate). However, we were still not able to wean ourselves of off our new and terrible addiction and we would always be back in for the 9 o’clock film! What were we becoming? We didn’t own a television at home and we were not watching anything of quality?? After discussing the hypocrisy of our new found love we resolved to go out on the forth night there. The festival was in full swing and the discordant strains of goat strangling could be heard echoing of the mountains. We saw distant lights and followed them to a bar! The design was so western in its approach we settled in for a night on the beer… Meeting the owner and getting free beer only encouraged us. We spent the night dancing to the most eclectic and unaccomplished djing technique we have ever heard… The genius of mixing Queen with Sean Paul and Britney took our breath away and we danced our little socks off before being escorted off the premises. Only
SURAJ
the amazing tailor... joking, what actually happened was we were then given a midnight guided tour of the building, gate crashed a film in the cinema and had our last beer on the balcony over looking the town and festivities…The night was lovely and stumbling back at two in the morning we were happy, drunk and asleep before our head hit the pillows… regrettably the next day was spent bleary eyed, sick of stomach lamenting our decision to ever leave our new and most faithful friend… reaching for the remote we made our apologies and watched day time TV until the 9 o’clock film… ahhh!!
In the middle bazaar we discovered a tailor who not only made Chris some trousers but became a firm friend… his work was so good and cheap and his company was such a pleasure we became regulars in his shop, taking chai and eating the all manner of delicious goodies… We started to become really good friends with both Suraj (the gents tailor) and Anil (the ladies dress maker) to the point where we would laugh at Anils' laziness and the constant stream of Indian women demanding the sari they ordered a week/2 weeks/ a month ago!
Suraj had such a languid way we at first took him for a complete stoner. Only after some chats did we find out he was tee-total and one of the most humble and giving people we have met here… We took to making clothes and spent hours choosing fabrics and designing various tops for Katie!! Time started to run out and Suraj deliberately missed his bus home on our last night so we could share a last chai and say goodbye…
All our clothes were successful and the creative aspect drew us out from our room and consequently, we spent more time marveling at the festivities… A Hare Krishna in a roller skating competition, a Miss Moose Pageant where the most attractive girls lost, Karaoke Goat Strangling, Army displays and the like… The town was a maze of tiny shop fronted streets on steep hills… We became recognizable and went for a drink with some of the stall holders… The hills were really step and on deciding to visit the Hanuman temple were confronted with no less than a billion steps… Katie tried desperately to plead the case for returning to ice-cream, sweets even a beer but Chris was
determined… He strode on taking two steps at a time as he passed the wheezing, overweight grandmas and there fat grand children… Katie struggled to keep up AND look glamorous… By the time we reached the top Chris was breathing healthily and Katie was sweaty, red faced and clinging on to the barrier… In front of the temple were a number of wizened old Indian men offering the loan of a stick for 5 rupees, “Why do we need a stick?” enquired Chris, “to spank the monkeys” came the reply! We didn’t take one. As it happened the monkeys were all well behaved and none needed a spanking…
There were surprisingly few westerners in Shimla and our greatest friendships were with Suraj, Anil and the stoned owner of our hotel… We became so settled that it was hard to make the decision to leave. However, the cost of Shimla was starting to eat a big hole in our wallet and the time to leave was ebbing ever closer… Finally, after a week Poulet had a new block and piston and we decided that the time had come to head out of the mountains ad into the monsoon… Packing up
we headed off early and as ever marveled at the tranquility of India before anyone is really awake… Having a new piston and block meant we had to take things easy… Luckily the road was quiet and painless and after getting 50 km under our belt we stopped and had our last mountain breakfast… the dhabba was run by a lovely family and our food was excellent… It was a lovely morning to be heading off into new adventures and having decided to head for Chandigarh, which we had been warned previously is India’s equivalent of Milton Keynes and told that the temperatures there were far from the mild and pleasant 30 degrees of Shimla and nearer 40, we hoped boded well…
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