Delhi to Mashobra - Part 2

When we travel with our daughter, the people we meet in different places become as important as the places themselves. So, as I continue to describe our sightseeing experience in Delhi, let me tell you that we spent time with two different families there and enjoyed our time together. We restricted our sight seeing as we took time to talk and chat with our friends and watch the kids play together.The day after we landed in Delhi we had to take an early morning train to go to Shimla. It was a five hour journey to a place called Kalka in Haryana. We had to then travel by road to the Whispering Pines resort at Mashobra in Himachal Pradesh.

The train left Delhi station at 7.15 am so we left a sleepy Gurgaon on Sunday morning at 6am. The Delhi railway station needs help. We reached the station well before our train arrived and had to search for a place to sit and wait for the train. There weren't any attractive book stalls or food stalls like we have in Chennai Central, it looked pretty much like a dusty station in the middle of North India. Anyway, we found our train and comfortably seated ourselves. It was a Shatabdi so we were well fed and could catch up on our lost sleep. At Kalka we took a cab to Mashobra. That was the tough part. It was already 1 pm or something and we had to have lunch on the way uphill. Anyway, the road was not as winding as we expected and our stomachs held up until we reached the resort. The driver kept the car windows rolled down and the cool crisp mountain air helped us feel better. We were glad to see the Whispering Pines at last around 4.30 or 5pm.

We relaxed in the hotel with a cup of tea and some biscuits. There was a light shower and we actually spotted a rainbow right outside our room. The room had an excellent view and kept us gazing at the window. We started the next morning at a more relaxed pace and got ready for a trek to the nearby forest reserve. We had a talkative guide with us who claimed that he knew a lot about the flora and fauna of the area. The interesting part of the trek was that we could see the President's Retreat at Mashobra. It was built by the British for the Viceroy when he wanted to move away from the crowded parts of Shimla. It was nestled between the majestic Deodhar pine trees and had a beautiful view of the  snow capped mountains.

Mashobra is a suburb of Shimla developed by the British when they found Shimla to be too congested. The roads and water pipes laid by them in 1850s are still standing strong. My association with Mashobra was from Ruskin Bond's books. But when we asked about Ruskin Bond, no one at the resort knew anything about him. The famous Rudyard Kipling also has spent quite some time living and writing in Shimla. It would have been nice if the places associated with their writing was preserved and shown to tourists. This kind of literary tourism is very interesting and is missing in India. If you take Pondicherry, very few people would know that you can go and see Bharathiyar's house there. I guess the more recent association like the shooting of Life of Pi would also disappear from people's memory.

Anyway, carrying on from where I left earlier, we spent another 3 days sightseeing. We travelled to Naldera and Chail and saw the golf course, the cricket ground, the Chail palace built by Raja of Patiala. We also visited Kufri and took on a trecherous horse ride to reach the view point. We were more worried (atleast I was) about falling off the horse than about the view at the top of the hill. We had the unique experience of the hotsprings at Tattapani. It was nature's wonder and magic right at our feet. We took a raft on the river Sutlej and reached Tattapani. It was a 6km rafting trip and was worth it. All through our journey the snow capped mountains were to be seen in the background. It was really an awesome sight. We did manage to touch and play with snow during our trek in Mashobra and horse ride in Kufri.

We came back to Shimla after staying in Mashobra for two days. Shimla, capital of Himachal Pradesh was 12km away from Mashobra. We stayed in a different hotel right near the centre of the town, close to the Mall Road. The roads in Shimla are winding and narrow and built by the British. It seems that in those days most people rode horses. The two or three automobiles were meant for the Viceroy, Governor and the doctor. So even now there is lot of vehicle restriction. The Mall road can be best seen on foot. In the evening when the shops were lit up, people of all ages were seen strolling or shopping or just sitting on the benches enjoying the scenery. The Kali Bari temple was a good 5km walk uphill from our hotel and we had a tough time convincing our daughter that she could do it. We stopped to click photos, walked into a few interesting Tibetan shops, and ate ice cream at the Ridge.

It was very nice to see the old British buildings being well maintained and they matched the scenery. It could easily have been the best 'mall' experience we had in India. Shimla is still congested and crowded with houses and shops standing close to each other. But I think sensible policies, like restricting growth in the heart of the city, restricting traffic and using energy efficient vehicles will help in retaining the charm of the city. After 3 days we headed back to Delhi to spend another day there before going back to Chennai.