Shimla Sightseeing - India
Shimla, at about 7,100', is perhaps the most famous "hill station" in the Himachal. What is a hill station? In the 18th century, Britain ruled India, the "Jewel in its crown." During the extremely hot and dusty summers, the British established hill stations (in the mountains) throughout India to escape the intolerable heat. Shimla
Shimla is set on a ridge and over seven hills, among pine-clad hills with many British Raj colonial buildings still remaining. The British built their homes and office in Tudor, Neo-gothic, Swiss-Bavarian Chalets and Baronial styles. One of them, the Railroad Board Building, was constructed in 1897 of cast-iron and steel to be structurally fire-resistant. ...View image...
We took a small tour of the Viceregal Lodge on top of Observation Hill. Observation Hill is a watershed. The waters on one side pour down to the Bay of Bengal, and the other, towards the Arabian Sea. This Scottish Baronial Lodge was built by Lord Dufferin (1884-1888) as his Viceregal residence. Mules brought the stone from five miles away, the inside was paneled in teak from Burma and it had one of the first boilers to provide electricity in India while everyone else was still using oil lamps. It also had a sprinkler system is case of fire! Huge water tanks on the roof led to pipes inside with openings sealed with wax. If the temperature rose (fire), the wax would melt and water pour down into the Lodge. Pretty clever! ...View image...
There were only a few rooms open to tour through but we found it interesting. After India's independence, the estate became the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies for post-doctorate studies.
It was enjoyable being in a town that was walkable. Around the Mall (as Shimla's main promenade is called), Lakkar Bazaar, ...View image...Lower Bazaar, people-watch, and admire the old buildings which included Christ Church constructed in 1857. There is a fresco inside the church purportedly designed by Mr. Lockwood Kipling, Rudyard Kipling's father. Christ Church is a landmark and services are still held in the chapel.
Another way to reach Shimla is by the small 1903 "toy train" that runs between Kalka and Shimla (narrow-guage). It takes five hours to go 90kms on that train, making many, many stops along the way.
There were also monkeys all over the place, below our hotel...View image....along the road, just sitting around and watching us.
Shimla was an extremely interesting town with its old buildings, mountain-top sprawl, people-watching and...monkeys! There was just one more thing to do here...have a massage...
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