Sunday, July 25, 2010

Honeymoon Inn Shimla

Don’t be disappointed when I say that this post is more about Shimla than my honeymoon. Shimla is too beautiful to deserve a post in each blog. We visited Shimla in second week of July and it was a very sudden plan. My friend booked a hotel “Honeymoon Inn” for me and this is one of the best hotels in Shimla to stay. This is having all the luxuries and comfort, very quite and far from rush and noise. This is situated right in The Mall and is at some height. You need to walk to reach there but once you are there, you can get a panoramic view of Shimla as well as the hills around. Well furnished, courteous staff and delicious food makes your money worthfull. Shimla is cold, even in July. We spent the first day just for rest.

Only in evening we went to roam on famous Mall Road. We started our second day with a morning walk on the Mall road again. This is having all good shops, governmental buildings and full of tourists roaming around.

On second day, we visited Viceregal Lodge and Kufri. Viceregal lodge was built by English for Viceroy and is a splendid example of British architecture. This is well surrounded by gardens and lawns. Guide informed us about the historical significance of the building. From there we started for Kufri. We went through Green Valley which is having great natural scenery, a good spot for photography. We had a shot in local attire here.

We reached Kufri in one hour, left the cab and have horse ride to reach at peak as there was no road for vehicles ahead. This was the first time I ever had a horse riding so I was little bit uneasy but after few minutes it was alright. We got disappointed after reaching at the peak point. There was a temple and a fun park there, nothing of any interest. Nearby Indira park and zoo are also not of any worth. We felt the Kufri trip as waste of the time only. From kufri we headed towards Jakhoo temple. This temple is situated at one of the highest peak and drive to this is very steep and breathtaking. After a visit to temple, we got back to our hotel.

We started for Tattapani on third day.

In between, we stopped at Naldehra and had horse ride again to go up to the peak. Once again it was waste of time and money as it doesn’t have anything different. Yeah you will get a view of one of the oldest golf course of India. We reached Tattapani after two hour of drive. This drive is again breathtaking and with great natural scenery. Tattapani is 60km far from Shimla and situated on the bank of Satluj. This is one of the best places to visit around Shimla. This place is hot in comparison of Shimla but the water is very very cold. River is having huge flow and you can hear its sound very clearly. This is excellent place to have some good shots. From there we started for Shimla railway station to catch the toy train “Shivalic Delux”.

The station is one of the old and marvelous structures. The narrow gauge railway line among Himalayan peaks with small bogey of train creates some excitement. The journey to Kalka is damn good. We heard and read about this train experiences a number of times and it is worth of that praise. This line is having very sharp turns, goes with a huge number of tunnels and old style of stations. This is one of the best examples of excellent engineering and a trip of Shimla without this train experience can not be planned. So if you are planning for Shimla, stay in a good hotel, travel in train and enjoy the great Himalayan landscape around.