Adventuring in the mountains

After our first night in Shimla we decided to sign up for 3 day trip with the trekking company that worked in the hotel we were staying in. I was a little apprehensive about this as the second day involved a full day hike up a mountain... what with my poor old legs being more accustomed to stomping around an office rather than the great outdoors these days. But Alex was really excited to do it, so it was time to suck it up and get on with it =)

In one respect it was an easy decision, as it turns out that staying in a little room with no running water is something of a smelly affair (until we worked out how to make the toilet work using water from buckets) so the thought of moving on wasn't so bad. It was a shame there wasn't more to do in Shimla, as it really is a lovely little place - very quaint in a Alpine meets India kind of way. There were no touts or rickshaws there to hassle us, and there were loads of Indian tourists doing pretty much the same stuff as us.



It was really nice at night too, there were so many villages dotted around the entire area look like it was lit up with fairy lights.



So after one day in Shimla, we woke up early and got in the car. There were two people on our mission with us, our hirsute guide Arif, and a mute driver whose name we never found out. We were all squeezed into a little white car (a maruti suzuki, a really really common car in India it would seem) and set off on the 6 hour trip towards Sarahan.

The roads were classic mountain switchbacks pretty much the entire way. The road from our hotel was so steep the driver had to take a run up, and anyone who dared to step into the road was met with a fierce barrage of beeping. Fortunately as the roads became clearer he calmed down a bit and turned out to be our best driving experience yet.

We stopped at a few good viewing spots on the way, but unfortunately the weather was really cloudy that first day. This was good in some respects as the journey was relatively cool and not half as uncomfortable as the train ride two days earlier. We stopped for lunch on the way but that was about it for entertainment along the way.

Finally we arrived in Sarahan and settled into our little room - it had a lovely view of the mountains but it was still very cloudy so we could see that much. The town itself was tiny, you'd only really go there on an organised tour. That evening our guide took us on a shortish walk around the town, visiting its famous temple (apparently one of the last places in India to abandon human sacrfices as the temple is a monument to the blood thirsty Hindu goddess Kali.)



There was a bit of hill climbing involved in the walk, which gave us a little taste of what was to come the next day - Alex was walking and smiling quite happily but I was already out of breath and lagging behind... bah!

After a big old dinner (I was getting really worried at this stage, kept going on about carb loading like I was about to run a marathon or something...) we had an early night to be ready for the trek the next day.

We set out at 10am and started up the mountain. Sarahan town is at an altitude of about 2000 metres above sea level, and the peak of the hill we were attempting was over 3000, so there was quite a bit to do. The terrain was a lovely mix of rocks, dirt tracks, tree-y bits and lush green slopes - and the weather was pretty much perfect too - a nice breeze and not too much sun. After a while the sounds of the town faded away and we really were in the perfect calm of the mountain.



Our guide explained that there were people living all over the mountains, gypsies from all over the Himalayan areas. Sure enough we joined by some young lads who were on their way back from selling milk to the town in the morning - our guide explained they did the trip down and back up the mountain every single day in order to support their families up in the hills. After a few hours we came to a small encampment, where our guide took us for tea with some of the locals...



Onwards and upwards was the only option, but the going was getting a bit tough for me. Alex was still going strong and was clearly teachers pet - apparently the guide kept saying she could climb Everest if she wanted to =) We had a few bits of picnic lunch with us from the hotel, and we also learned a crazy new way of eating mangoes without a knife... handy.

I'm sad to admit it but I was definitely the weakest link, and before long my constant stopping meant we couldn't reach the peak... we did make it up to about 2800m though and the views were lovely. The clouds came back out around lunchtime and the journey down was a race against time as the rain would mean it would turn into a perilous bum slide down in the mud if we didn't make it! This almost killed me, and my legs really haven't recovered yet... lol. It was really tough going but I'm glad we did it, I'll look back on it with good memories!

By the time we'd got back to the hotel and had some sleep, the rain and clouds had vanished completely. The full view of the snow capped peaks was revealed from our hotel roof :



Small aside - my crazy traveling beard is coming on nicely... =)



We had dinner on the roof of the hotel, and the sunset was amazing...



The last day was back in the car again, with achy legs but happy hearts. We had another overnight stay in Shimla before we had to get the train back to Delhi. The trains back seemed to take a lifetime but we made it back in one piece, back to now familiar Delhi. We've been here three times now so it feels a bit like our base, looking forwards to the nice bars and restaraunts to visit now we are back in civilisation!

3 days to go till our next mission to Hong Kong....and no doubt our next update, definitley looking forwards to a change of cuisine now, char sui buns all the way!

Although theres been ups and downs, overall India has been a terrific experience and we're both glad it was part of the trip. We've got a few days left for sightseeing here, so its time to sign off!