[girlieonwheels]

First the bad part:
Leaving delhi on 14th Aug was a struggle. We got stuck in traffic for more than 3 hours, but it could not lower our spirits. We inched through the long stretch in-between trucks and buses. I could see desperate people like us waiting to hit the high way. I guess it was the wrong time to leave noida – 2.30 p.m, by the time we reached border it was 5.30, and it was dark and raining heavily and road was bad – but not too bad I would say.

We reached chandigarh around 8PM and again got stuck at Kalka for another hour. We reached Shimla late in the night around 1AM and then again spent 1 hour locating the hotel. I would accept that I was damn scared inside my heart since we were travelling as a couple, but I didn’t let it show on my face.
Believe me you cannot ever trust India and Indian police, and I know getting stuck on the road late in the night as a couple is like inviting trouble.
I am glad we didn’t have to stop anywhere (my guy drives quite fast & safe ).

Our earlier plan was to leave delhi early in the morning which could not be materialized. But we paid a heavy price for it, and I vowed not to ever interfere in the road-plans made by experienced men.


Now the good part:
The last few days were just perfect to be on a beautiful hill side, just look at the pictures below to get a feel of the weather at Shimla.





Though we saw regular showers during the whole day but there were times of beautiful sun-shines and clear skies also.

The whole of Shimla was full of people from NCR, I was busy counting the cars there. Every second car was from Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad. I guess they all had a good time there.

While we were in Shimla we experienced heavy traffic on the Shimla and Kufri road. Though we went up to Kufri but it was raining very heavily and nothing much could be done there – except enjoying the nice hill drive in a rainy and foggy weather.
It was awesome.

Ignore the road in the picture above; just see the clouds and the weather. Such bad roads cannot discourage true travel lovers.

Now the land slides:
See the pictures below and now I am sure you can justify the bad traffic in Shimla.


And


And


Roads were slippery

But the drive was worth it. Below is the picture of the day:
This is for the beauty that made it possible


Now my personal tips:

• The walk on the mall road is worth it. It’s romantic and nice. Keep at least 4 hours for this walk and take it easy.
• The walk up to the Jakhu temple is also nice. Go slow and don’t rush through it. Be careful because there’ll be many monkeys watching you keeping a track of things in your hands. Keep eatable inside your bag.
• Keep sometime for yourself to spend at Jakhu temple. It’s beautiful up there.
• Baljee’s sweet shop on the mall road is famous for its chana-bhatura. Trust me its worth the indulgence. And if you follow it with a jaleebi, the over all experience is simply divine.

Now especially for the ladies:

• On the way to kufri, there’s a small handicraft shop. It had a nice collection of stoll's. The ones that I picked were between Rs 200- 250. They are not warm but I found them trendy.
• The mall road is expensive and the things that you get there are not too great.
• There’s a Tibetan shop on the mall road, its small so you’ll have to find it (it’s towards the lift) if you like to pick traditional Tibetan stuff (I like their incense’s).
• Best souvenir to buy for your friends and family is the Himachal Pradesh local wine. It’s going to be difficult to carry those fragile bottles but it’s really nice. (Buy only from government outlets).
• I have heard mixed comments about the chicken and meat pickle that’s quite famous locally. Some say they mix eagle and crow meat in chicken so I preferred to stay away from it. Others find it really delicious.

Thats all for this time..

[snaronikar]

Fantastic pics and travelogue.

[quote]and I vowed not to ever interfere in the road-plans made by experienced men[quote]
How true you are. and thanks for tips. Would come in handy during my visit to that place in near future.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Venturing out of Noida at 2.30 pm for Shimla on the same day in the height of monsoon is indeed asking for trouble! You have to be very very lucky to make it safe and sound. I would have gone to Chail instead of Kufri in monsoon. There is absolutely nothing to see in Kufri except snow in winter.

[RuffRyder]

Amazing pics and Traveloge @ girlieonwheels...reminds me of the time that me and my gf used to go all the way from Chandigarh to Simla on a old Kine (kinetic honda)hmmm..brings back fond memories...thanx for the writeup again..cheers:

[abhinav.gupta88]

Thanks for the writeup dude
Hows the road otherwise if its not raining.
(me and my friends are also going to shimla in september.)

[RuffRyder]

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

Thanks for the writeup dude
Hows the road otherwise if its not raining.
(me and my friends are also going to shimla in september.)

eerr..girlieonwheels is not a dude @ abhinav.gupta88

[mjothi]

Nice pictures. The routes are really bad. Land slide!!!

And thanks for the tips.

Chicken pickle with eagle and crow meat? Oh my god.

OT: Our Chennai mates know about crow biriyani (Courtesy: Actor Vivek), but crow pickle is` something new

[snaronikar]

Originally Posted by mjothi

OT: Our Chennai mates know about crow biriyani (Courtesy: Actor Vivek), but crow pickle is` something new

Hey MJ: Have you tasted this.

[tsk1979]

The Chicken Achaar is not crow achaar, unless himachal has muscular crows with thick legs.
But it every time on our trips, but due to monsoon did not purchase the pickle.
Its pretty delicious.
As for starting at 2:30pm from Noida, its the worst time.
Either start early morning, or best, start at night, reach kalka around 4am, and breeze through the mountain roads.

[anujmishra]

Nice travelogue and excellent pics though.

I must say you were lucky that you were not stranded on roads due to land slides.

@Sudipto-S-Team: There is no wrong is selecting Shimla as weekend destination during monsoon. It all about enthusiasm and nothing else. Above all count is the enjoyment that one gets during travel than sightseeing. At least, I enjoy travel during monsoon mostly for travel and green surroundings. It is really soothing.

[girlieonwheels]

Thank you all for your replies and encouragement for my 1st travel log. I assume that it was not that bad.

[Regarding the chicken pickle]
Actually I got this feedback from someone who once tasted this pickle and found the leg piece to be very thin, so this person analyzed it more and realized it’s either a crow or an eagle but not chicken for sure.
I didn’t try it, as I have heard some horror tales about strange things that happen to you after you eat crow meat. (Some people say crows are magical animals and can cause magic on people who eat them – I was scared so didn’t try it)

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Anuj
I didn't mean to say monsoon is a bad time to go to Shimla or see the mountains. Sorry if my English, though grammatically perfectly correct, was unclear. Clouds and mists have a charm of their own and having lived in eastern Himalaya for three years I know that perfectly well.
If you read my post carefully, what I wanted to say (in essentially very simple English) is starting from Noida for Shimla at 2.30 pm is dangerous, because even when the weather is good it would involve night driving. In monsoon it is even more dangerous. That's all I meant.

[snaronikar]

Originally Posted by girlieonwheels

I have heard some horror tales about strange things that happen to you after you eat crow meat. (Some people say crows are magical animals and can cause magic on people who eat them – I was scared so didn’t try it)

AFAIK, crows are always related to some black magic elements (my opinion). But, the dogs and other animals do eat crows.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Two completely irrelevant pieces of information on the subject of crows A. In Bengali we have a saying: crows don't eat crows' meat !! B. There is a tribe in Bengal called Kagmara who eat crow's meat.

[ramkya1]

Hai,

That was a nice 1st travalogue. Good pictures and write up too, tnx for sharing, keep them coming.

The rains on the hills always have surprises; pleasant and unpleasant ones. Guess the surprise is what makes it exciting and worth doing. I've always loved to ride on the rain.

Happy driving,

--Ramky

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