Delhi to Shimla 19th January 2013

Arose at 5am and were taken to Delhi station, total chaos!!  Thousands of people, some sleeping on the platform, others cooking their breakfast and the rest seemingly milling about while coolies wove their way between them with luggage on their heads.   In addition there were dogs scavenging between the railtracks which would be enough to paralyse the rail network in the UK, whilst outside there were ox carts, rickshaws, all vying with trucks, taxis, delivery vans etc for space, it was a real spectacle. 

We boarded the Shatabati Express carrying our large breakfast boxes emblazoned with the Taj Palace Hotel’s logo, no conspicuous show of wealth there then, and took our seats for the 4.5 hour journey to Kalka.  Unfortunately for half the journey there was thick mist so besides regular glimpses of slums, there was not much to see.  No sooner had we started our journey, than the tea wallahs came round with tea & coffee, red Bakelite cups and matching thermos flasks of hot water served with Marie biscuits.  They then served the complimentary breakfast which we had been advised to avoid, but which looked & smelt far more appetizing than the contents of our breakfast boxes!

The mist finally cleared and we were able to watch the North Indian farmland and villages pass by with sadly more slums.  The wealth gap was really brought home to us even as we started our travels through India.  Unfortunately the train was 1.5 hours late arriving in Kalka but luckily? the Toy Train had waited for us.  Picked up another big box containing our packed lunch which not only was less inspiring than the breakfast but was so large, it would hardly fit into the available storage spaces on the Toy Train.  How to describe the Toy Train?  Well it is small, VERY small and incredibly uncomfortable, the bench seats are plastic covered and barely big enough for 2 little uns with upright backs so you can never get comfortable.  The windows which were open for most of the journey until it got too cold, did not actually close properly and therefore did not keep out the cold.   But at least the journey was only 5.5 hours long!!  This was counteracted however by stunning scenery as we travelled up into the mid Himalayas to Shimla.  

We arrived in Shimla after dark where the night before, depending on which report you read, they had had between 5” and 5’ of snow.  Looking at some of the cars, it was about a foot.  Fortunately the Oberoi Cecil Hotel was close to the station and we were greeted with cups of hot chocolate and hot towels, Carol felt very emotional, so did John when he found out that the beer was only £4 a pint!  Beautiful hotel, lovely room but sadly the heating was on the blink so the room never got above 17 degrees all night.  It had been quite a day!  

We are hoping to post some pictures however having problems attaching them to the blog for some reason, will keep trying.