Trip to Shimla

This was the third holiday we took this year. I don’t remember a year where I had taken so many trips to places I wanted to see. It was thanks to my wife Preeti and my parents who suggested the idea. Our earlier trips were to Arakku valley near Vizag and Allapey in Kerala. However for the distance and the no of days (7 nights) we spent this was the longest trip of the year.
Shimla!! I still remember the days when we I was young, my parents used to talk about snow fall in India and they wished we can go to Shimla someday. It took almost 25 years to realize this dream of seeing Shimla for us.
We took a flight from Hyderabad to Delhi and my parents joined us directly at Delhi from Chennai. My dad unfortunately had a viral infection on one of his eyes. Most of the trip he wore sunglasses and applied drops. It was also the first time we took a trip as a family after 20 months of our marriage.
Delhi
We were received at the Airport and checked into a hotel at Greater Kailash a locality where my father’s chairman lives. Preeti and I decided to venture out into the market of Greater Kailash where supposedly bomb blasts happened few months back. It was amazing to see the shops and shoppers frolicking in the national capital. Preeti was delighted to see so many shops and clothes. Shopping is always a woman’s delightJ. She loves small shops and bargaining with all the shopwallas. She finally managed to buy a brown woolen scarf and Hat that looked very good on her. We must have spent a few hours before returning to our rooms. We got ready to visit Navin uncle’s house with whom my dad has worked for almost 30 years now. Their family was extremely hospitable to us and we ended up having a very heavy dinner. Preeti also got pocket money (She can shop more!!!) from them after getting the blessings of elders in the family.
We went to the Delhi airport next day morning for our flight to Shimla. We were in for a rude shock. Our flight to Shimla was cancelled and all other flights going to Chandigarh were full. The kingfisher airlines staff told there was a technical snag in the flight and they had informed our travel agent of the cancellation. There was inconsistency though on the real reason why it got cancelled. Perhaps they cancelled it for lack of passengers. We ended up taking a cab from Delhi to Chail a small hill station near Shimla. It was an 8 hour drive on cab and we struggled to locate our resort after we reached in Chail.
Chail
Tarika Jungal resort was on a hill top cut off from the rest of Chail. It was beautiful indeed and our room was a round glass room. We felt very cold at night because of the glass and moved to the wooden room where our parents stayed. It was a very enjoyable stay at Chail. Beautiful hills on all sides, a jogging trail and several other amenities for relaxation. Preeti is extremely religious about fitness activities and she made full of the gym and the jogging trail. She also motivated me to go walking with her in the mornings. The only worrying factor there was the no of monkeys in the resort. They were living in the wild ignoring the human encroachment on their territory. We also visited the highest cricket stadium in the world and a palace which is now converted into a hotel. After spending two days in Chail we headed to Shimla.
Shimla
I never realized Shimla was a highly commercialized capital of Himachal Pradesh. Busy roads, heavy traffic were common sights. We checked into Cecil Oberoi, a wonderful hotel with all the amenities required. We loved the ambience inside the hotel and the staffs were very courteous to us. We took it very easy in Shimla and went walking to places of interest close to the hotel. We visited the state museum which has historical collections and artifacts including Gandhi’s letters during the freedom struggle. We went to Viceroyal House which was the home to the officials in the government those days. In fact Shimla was the summer capital of India during the British period. It was a beautiful place surrounded by gardens. My dad and I have a keen interest in history and studying the eventful stories around the Viceroyal house. By the time we reached our hotels my parents were very tired from the uphill walk. We took a cab to visit few other places including temples and parks. The pick of the lot was Mall Road a commercial street in Shimla which has all leading brands. It was simply amazing to see the crowd and dazzling lights on the street. After the usual shopping of salwar, shawls and jackets we came back to the hotel totally exhausted.
Adventure at Kufri
The following day we took the cab to visit Kufri, the most visited tourist spot in Shimla. It took us almost an house to reach Kufri where was the first time in my life I saw snow in Indian soil. For my mom and Preeti it was the very first time they are seeing snow in their lives. It was very entertaining to see their excitement. We went to a Helipad location to see a beautiful view of surrounding hills. The cab driver told us this was the first snow fall of the year and we were very lucky to see it. We got back into the cab and drove to another place which has a horse ride to a hill top. We could see traces of snow throughout the journey. We negotiated with the horse trainers and took 4 white horses to start the ride to the hill top. My mom was very scared as it was her first time on a horse back. There were thousands of horses carrying tourists to and fro. Our horses were very skillful in negotiating the bumps, ups and downs of the hill. It was a little scary though close to the edges. At one point the horses stopped and started grazing on the grass !!!! We finally made it to the top and what a sight it was. It was breathtaking view of snow covered peaks and it started snowing vigorously the moment we reached there. Preeti, my mom and dad were enjoying the snow falling on us. We had some hot tea from a vendor and would have stayed there for 30 minutes before returning back to the base. The horse ride down the hill was even scarier than climbing up. It was fun filled adventure by the end of the ride. It will surely be remembered for a very long time.
The following day at Shimla was spent relaxing. Preeti and I visited mall road again to do more shopping since it was our last day at Shimla. The next day we started to Kalka by the ‘Himalayan Queen’ a toy train that was built over 100 years back. It was equally exciting because the train goes through 92 tunnels through the hills including the longest one almost a KM in length. We reached in 5 hours viewing the lovely valleys of the mountains. Reached Kalka station by evening where we took a cab to reach Chandigarh the most planned city of India.
Chandigarh
I have always heard a lot about Chandigarh being a planned city but after landing there I felt it was not just a planned city but had one with excellent infrastructure, gardens, roads and undoubtedly the best city to live in India. Every other road is a four lane with less of traffic signals. No area is named after politicians and its all called sectors with numbers. Each sector “area” has its own park which is well maintained. All major roads also have a service lane for pedestrians and cyclists. We visited 17th sector a huge market complex having several blocks of buildings built some 40 years ago. It had all the leading brands and had parking space for more than 5000 cars. It reminded me of some city in the west. We visited Rose Garden, Rock Garden and the lake the following day. Rock Garden in particular was too good. The entire garden was made out of re-cycled pots, used ceramics, bangles, cast iron etc. Preeti was in her elements as usual clicking as many photos as possible. It was almost the end of our holiday and we took a connecting flight to Delhi and then back to Hyderabad that night. My parents went to directly to Chennai from Delhi. After a flight cancellation scare we were re-scheduled to take another flight thankfully.

This trip will remain one of the best I have ever taken so far in my life. Not only were the places beautiful we were able to spend quality time with my parents. With global recession affecting all sectors I really don’t know when our trip will be. I hope it will be as eventful and enjoyable as this one. The most regrettable part of any holiday is the agony of going to work again :-)