Shimla 20th January 2013

We left to visit the Vice Regal Lodge at 10.00am and arrived to find we had a 300 yard walk up a hill to the entrance.  This would not normally have been a problem; however it was 300 yards of compacted snow and ice.  We and most of our travelling companions, having been told to travel light, had unsuitable footwear, which made it a bloody nightmare! However the lodge was very impressive with stunning views of the surrounding mountains.  As it is now a working college, there are few rooms open to the public however the interior was impressive none the less.  Following a slippery descent with our feet getting wetter and wetter, we boarded cars to take us to the Sankat Monchat temple. 

We passed on the opportunity to go inside the temple as this would have required us to remove our shoes and socks and walk barefoot in the snow.  Sno- way!  From there it was another car journey along slippery roads in very heavy traffic, how the vehicles found room to pass is a mystery known only to the skilled Indian drivers, they are amazing.  On disembarking from the cars to find a lift to take us from the lower to the upper town, we had to cross an area of sheet ice crowded with people and cars, it was a miracle we didn’t fall.  At the upper level, despite having been told the roads would have been cleared, they were just as treacherous and we slid our way to a late lunch at the Oberoi Clarkes hotel.

Given the state of the roads and our feet, we decided to return to the hotel after lunch by taxi rather than risk the late afternoon walking tour.  Hurray they have fixed the heating so we should get a good night’s sleep!  Hopefully our shoes will have dried out by tomorrow!