Himalayas

Dennis had to travel to Northern India, where his partner lives, for business. Since it’s the Diwali season, which is one of the biggest holidays in India, we decided to accompany him. We flew to Ludhiana which is 275 miles from the Chinese border and 90 miles from the Pakistan border.  

As part of the trip, one weekend we drove to the Himalayas. We stayed in Shimla, a small town nestled in the mountains. It was built when the British ruled India as a place for the government to reside when Delhi was too hot. We stayed in a converted government building. It still had the old lighting, carpet, furniture and wall heaters. It was a perfect time to go as it hadn’t snowed yet and crowds were smaller due to the pandemic.

Unfortunately while we were there, the farmers were boycotting a bill written by the government.  They were blocking the rail lines and burning their fields in the valley. The smoke was so bad. The air quality index was over 350 everyday making the scenery not as spectacular as we hoped.

We were able to walk the streets and take a cable car ride to the top of the tallest peak. We hiked over 5 miles and climbed more than 12 flights of stairs throughout the day. Here are some photos:

Hanuman Statue at Jakhoo Temple on Shimla’s highest peak. It is 108 feet high making it taller than the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. 

House/buildings on the mountainside.  Each building has multiple floors. 

Chairs in the hotel from when Shimla was the summertime capital of India. 

Our hotel, the Peterhof

Christ Church (Hanuman statue in the background)

Monkeys. We saw two different varieties. 

Mountain views from the courtyard in front of the hotel. 

Nightviews

https://youtu.be/qlAD93VC2hc

Video of Jakhu Ropeway/Cable car ride to Shimla’s highest peak