Beautiful Kullu Valley

Monday, Aug. 27, 2007--Manali to Shimla

Manali is at the top the Kullu Valley, a valley known for its apple trees. For days I have seen people coming into Manali on the trails from the countryside with baskets of apples they have picked, and I have seen places where they pack the apples in boxes for shipment. I have not been out in the orchards, though. Well, my bus trip today has taken me through the valley and lots of orchards.

I got up at 4:15. I was at the bus by 5:20. I got to put my bag inside. I was glad, because there is always the chance of showers here in the mountains, and I didn't want my bag to get wet. We departed right on time at 6:00. I was the only tourist on the bus at that time, although another tourist joined us about half-way down to Shimla.

In terms of traveling, it was a horrible trip. The road was much like the one from Leh. It twisted and wound through the mountains. There were places where there had been landslides and even several places where there had been boulder slides. There were some spots where the sides were loose and had to be skirted so that WE wouldn't be a part of a landslide. It was a one-lane road most of the way with two-way traffic, although there were a few spots where it was two-lane with a stripe down the middle!!

The valley was beautiful. The apple trees were just loaded with ripe apples. We passed many places where they were being sorted and boxed. There were at least four kinds of apples being shipped out of the valley.

We stopped for lunch at a simple place where I had two chipatis and a serving of dal (lentils in their own sauce). It was delicious.

I had several seatmates during the trip. They were mostly decent people. One really squeezed me tight against the window wall of the bus. I have a sore shoulder from that. But the others were friendly and considerate. We arrived after 9 1/2 gruelling hours on that road. I am glad that I don't have to take another bus trip for a while, especially one under such conditions.

Shimla is different from other cities I have visited. It doesn't even seem like an Indian city when on the main street called The Mall. Everything is so clean and organized. Even off the mall where the shops are obviously Indian, it is nicer than most cities in India because all the major shopping streets are pedestrian walkways. Shimla was built to serve as the summer capital of India under British rule. The entire government moved here from Calcutta and Delhi for the summer months. The departments all had offices here and operated from here. Anyone who has read or seen the TV version of The Jewel in the Crown will remember when they moved to here for the summer months. Therefore, there are huge colonial buildings scattered over the city where the government offices were located.

Shimla is actually built on the ridge of the top of a mountain. Unlike most other hill stations, it cascades down the mountainside on either side rather than taking up a valley. It's not bad to walk through it, however, since the ridge is fairly flat for its distance. The shops on The Mall are all rather fancy and are mostly for the tourists. The shops on the two parallel streets down either side of the ridge are more "Indian" and serve the local population. There are striking views from a big meeting point at the top of the ridge that is a large open area with horseback riding and lots of seats for people to wander around and then sit and visit with friends.

Shimla is also different in that it is more expensive than most places in India. The prices are like those of the big cities. I had trouble finding a hotel at a decent price when compared with the quality of the room. All the rooms were priced about 100-300 more rupees per night than similar accommodations elsewhere. I also had problems with touts who would not leave me alone. They get commissions for bringing tourists to specific hotels. They want to walk along with you to try to claim a commission no matter where you go. At one point, I complained to the military and then paused so long that I got rid of the first problem tout. I went to a hotel I had selected then, and it just didn't seem as nice as I thought it should for the price they quoted. Later, after check out another place on my own and two more places that new touts who had attached themselves to me wanted me to see nearby, I realized that my first hotel was the best for the price. I had a time shaking the touts, though. Finally, I returned and even got a discount at the first place making it more reasonable.

The hotel is a historic one which has served since the days Shimla was the summer capital. It has exposed beams holding up the ceiling with a large lobby and a large dining room. The rooms are okay. It was the carpet (which is a little worn and dirty) which turned me off the room at first. But it is freshly painted. Has curtains and a chair covered in a nice brochade. It has good lighting. The bath has its own hot water heater. There is cable TV with three movie channels (but strangely no BBC or CNN). It's a good place for the price, I think, and I know it is far better for the price than most places I saw. Oh, yes, I have a view of a wonderful old colonial government building when I look from my bed and a view across to the mountains when I stand at the window.

For dinner, I went to a local place. I was tired from all the walking up and down the hills to find a room. I ate their "special" thali plate which had mixed vegetables, dal, beans with paneer cheese, rice, and chipatis. It was tasty and rather spicy.

Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2007--Shimla

I was cold during the night. It is colder here than it was in Manali. My bed has a big blanket covering two twin beds that are placed together. Guess I will pull the blanket loose tonight and fold it over double to keep me warm.

I have relaxed most of the day. I went out looking for a place to get a haircut, a place where I might get my shoulder bag strap repaired, an Internet place, etc. First, I stopped at the train station and bought my ticket to take me from here to Delhi on Saturday. There is a wonderful, narrow-gauge train from here to Kalka that takes several hours. Then I will switch to a normal train to continue to New Delhi Station which is only about 4 blocks from my hotel where I will stay my last two nights.

I ate lunch at a Tibetan restaurant. I had their "special" chicken thupka--the noodle soup I have had before. This was was full of lots of chicken and vegetables along with the noodles and was nice and spicy. Ummm.

Back at the room, I watched a couple of movies on TV. I wonder how many bad movies have been made by Kurt Russell and Patrick Swayze? I never see movies by them at home, but it seems they are in at least 20% of the films shown on cable TV! Well, having 3 movie channels, I managed to avoid them this afternoon.

I went back out to the only cyber cafe I could find and was greatly disappointed with it. The keyboard was warped and the space bar didn't work much of the time. I decided not to even update the blog while there. I would have been too frustrated trying to type so much under those conditions.

Instead, I went out to dinner at a Chinese place. I ordered chicken fried rice with spicy garlic sauce. It turned out not to be nearly as good as it had sounded to me. But it was okay. I ate it all, and it was a big portion.

I can feel that my knee has been stressed from walking in the hills, especially probably from all the walking with my bags yesterday. I tore the meniscus last year and had problems with it. So far, I haven't really had problems this year. And still, this stress is nothing compared to the problems before. I'm lucky I have traveled so much this time without it bothering me more than it has.