Shimla

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I had another 10 hours bus ride in front of me. I was getting a bit sick of them by now since I had 3 in the last few days already. I was planning to catch the 8AM bus but I underestimated the distance to the bus station. People had told me it was from one to three km from the hotel and I found out that they were all overoptimistic, it was more like double that and it was uphill all the time. I managed to make it by 7:59 while mumbling stuff like "It's like if they put Kathmandu's bus station on Everest Camp III, goddamn idiots". In the end, all was well and I even managed to secure a seat next to someone I hoped wouldn't vomit on me this time.

Once again the bus was overly packed and from the beginning to the end, the aisles was full of people standing and we had to ignore lots of people waiting for the bus as we were too full (and when you're too full in India, it's true). The weather was grey and rainy so that we couldn't really see the landscape around us as visibility was very low. I arrived in Simla shortly before sunset, the ride had been mostly uneventful, I tried conversing with my neighboors but because of the language barrier we couldn't say much so I spent most of the time looking at the number of kilometer remaing until Shimla decrease. Toward the end, a woman that had been standing told me to get out of my seat. I was hesitant at first but when I looked at her face I realized she was just about to vomit so I jumped out and about half a second after I moved she threw up. I managed to avoid getting splashed on this time, hopefully.

I was toying with the idea to take an overnight bus right away for Delhi but I figured a bit of time off the bus to recover wouldn't be too bad plus I should at least spend a day to visit the old summer capital of the british. When the brits ruled India, they governed from big cities on the plain (capital was Calcutta for most of the colonial period but became Delhi at the end). However the british had trouble with summer heat so every year they'd pack everything and ship it to Simla by train so for a few month that's where the government was. Of course the families (and servants) followed the bureaucrats and quickly Simla became the place to see and to be seen in aristocrat India. Nowaday, the city is the capital of the state Himachal Pradesh and a favorite place among honeymooner.

My first impression of the city wasn't good however: 5 people tried to screw me within an hour. First I wanted to buy toilet paper as I was out and the guy tried to sell it to me for twice the real price, then the first hotel I chosed the guy told me he didn't have the room I had but had another more expansive but when I started leaving he suddenly "remembered" he had one of the cheap room in the end but I was pissed off at him so I left anyway, on the way to another hotel a little beggar tried to put his hand down my pockets but I grabbed him before he managed to steal anything, I tried to buy samosas but the guy was trying to sell them to me for 10Rs a piece (2-3 times the real price) and finally at the second hotel they said the same thing as the first but their price was lower so I tried to take it but bargain it down; the guy said he didn't have the power to bargain but when I proceeded to walk away he agreed to my price. Needless to say I wasn't in a great mood after this. It's usual india, but in the mountains people had been more honest and laidback so it was a rude re-awakening to indian travel reality.

I walked around the bazaars on the way to upper Simla. Lots of shops selling everyday stuff like food, vegetables, electronics, clothes, underwear etc but it was a bit too packed to be enjoyable. I got lost in the maze for a long while before I finally reached Scandal Point and the Mall, which is a broader street (but where circulation is forbidden) with shops still housed in colonial era building. This is where the government buildings were back in the day. Before I reached the road I was seriously wondering how on hell anyone would want to go to Shimla for a honeymoon (and to be honest I still do wonder) but the Mall does have a kind of charm. I wandered around for a while before settling in a cafe where I had a long friendly conversation with the owner when I mentioned that it was the first time someone hadn't tried to rip me off in Shimla. He seemed deeply affected by my comment because he said usually everyone likes Shimla and everyone is more laid back here and that this kind of stuff doesn't happen often. He tried to do everything to make me like the city better and his food, good coffee and jokes indeed brigthened me up.

I had another stroll along the Ridge/the Mall and then down in the bazaar which was now past peak hour so a bit more enjoyable to walk around. LP says the only thing to do in Shimla at night is to walk in the street to see and to be seen (translation:nothing to do) so after I was done with that I just retreated to my hotel to do some laundry and sleep.

The next day I woke up an hour and a half before sunrise full of projects. I was going to see Jakhu Temple, the monkey temple a good hour walk from my hotel. I prepared myself but when I went outside I realized this wasn't gonna happen: it was raining torentially. The rain slowed down during the day but never actually died, it was rainy, grey and cold. That's the risk you take when you go in the mountain in mid-October I guess. I tried to go back to sleep but by 7AM I had to get out, only to find out that pretty much nothing opens in Shimla before 9AM so I walked around for 2 hours, playing with stray dogs, exploring the less touristy areas past the Ridge (near Lakkar Bazaar) and pissing off monkeys (which roam freely in the city).

I finally found a place that did breakfast: Indian Coffee House. If there is one thing that probably didn't change since colonial time it's that place. It seemed that no one has told the waiters that India is now independant, they still wear cummerbunds like good british servants. I tipped him substantially for the fairly normal omelette since the guy has to face the humiliation of his costume every day of his life. Though job.

I tried to get an overnight bus with a travel agent that seemed pissed off that I was disturbing him from his game of Tetris. He looked away from his screen just long enough to make a phone call (or pretend to make one) and tell me the bus wasn't leaving and I'd have to try at the main bus station.

So I went there and managed to fight my way into the counter and escape with a ticket for a bus leaving at 20:00. The rain was ruining pretty much all my plans of exploring Shimla so I spent the day on an internet cafe writting the blog or in a cafe reading my book. I ate lunch at a chinese restaurant and made the mistake of ordering a complicated dish (sweet and sour chicken). Lesson learned: stick to vegetable chow mein in chinese restaurant in india. Funnily, no one tried to rip me off after the first hour or so in Shimla. Maybe I looked tired and thus an easy prey at first or I was just unlucky we shall never know.

I got on my bus at 8PM. It was all indian so I was afraid to have to spend another 10 hours without talking but my neighbour spoke good english and was talkative. He seemed to know everything about visa regulation of every developed country; his bother was in america and he was trying to immigrate also. He told me a lot about all different types of visa and how hard/easy it is to enter all the countries that are worth entering (according to him). Apparently Canada is one of the easiest one as long as you're educated (he was). And once you were in it was easy to bring the rest of your family. But this ease of entering meant that the indians in canada are worse off on average than the ones in the US (who have to be extremely qualified and have a company backing to get in, for example his brother was a computer engineer whose company paid for his visa (worth 100 000US$) because they wanted him to come work in California badly). It was an interesting conversation, seeing immigrant through the eye of the person who wishes to immigrate. I swear to god 5 different people (all women) threw up during the trip, but thankfully this time none of them was close to me. I have no clue why it just happens in India, it's the first time I've had people throw up on buses for this trip and it seems to be happening all the time now.

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Photos

Shimla
The city

Monkey
In Shimla. He didn't like me taking pictures. I guess he thought I was rude for not asking.

Shimla's monkey
There are 3 in the picture. Find them. Oh and the garbage looks nice eh? And that's one of the cleanest city in India, it's a honeymoon destination. Romantic indeed.

Comments

[Adriana]

I don't know how you stood the vomiting!! I would have been in hell-you're a trooper Vincent!!!