Day 6: Delhi to Shimla by train via Kalka

Delhi to Kalka 7.20am - 11.45am Shatabdi Express
Navigating the touts at the railway station today was a piece of cake now that we know their game. Train left on time. We got a free bottle of water, newspapers and rail magazine. The newspapers were handy for checking out the cricket scores and oh yes, the cricket scores. I also found out that Lee Chong Wei was in the country because he was playing the badminton India Open final that day.

We kept getting fed by the uniformed train attendants, which was a pleasant surprise. To start with, a snack of crackers and a tea kit to make chai. Followed by elevenses of bread and potato cutlets and another tea kit to make chai.

Breakfast on Shatabdi Express

Indian Railway Tea Kit

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Kalka to Shimla 12.10pm-5.20pm Himalayan Queen Toy Train

Trains at Kalka

We had less than half an hour to catch our connecting train. Unlike Delhi, there were no electronic signboards to see which platform our train was on. We did spot a huge sign saying 'Train to Shimla' and another foreign tourist confirmed it was the right platform. Outside our carriage was a computer printout of seats and passenger names and we saw our names.
As we squeezed onboard the train with our what felt like massive backpacks, I started to register how this train is effectively half the width of the comfy train we just got off. I stuffed my backpack under our seat and Karin got hers on the overhead shelf. We squeezed ourselves onto these 2 seats facing 2 other passengers. The 2 passengers sitting across from us were also foreign tourists,
Beka from America and Tony from Australia. There were also several Indian families in our carriage. Each carriage can hold 30 seated passengers and had 2 toilets each, which was handy as I just got a tummy bug that morning.
The train started an hour late because it had to wait for the delayed Himalayan Express to catch up with us. As the train went through the first of the 103 tunnels, people started screaming into the tunnel for the echo. Beka said they will continue to do this at every tunnel.
It was interesting to speak to other people who had been travelling around India for a while. Beka had been in Sri Lanka for 3 weeks and Rajastan another 3. Tony had been in India 5 months last year and intend to travel for 4 months this year. As a comparative old hand at this, his advice was to 'take it slow'. Tony said he was a teacher in London 10 years ago and we chatted English weather, football and telly.
About an hour into the train journey, the air started getting noticeably fresher. We were still going through towns and villages but we were climbing. Bridge by bridge, tunnel by tunnel. The vegetation changes as we start to see cactuses and pine trees. We also begin to see valleys and hills. We stopped at 9 stations on the way, where you could hop off for a short while, stretched your legs and get a chai. Our neighbours offered us snacks which looked yummy but I couldn't try because of my dodgy tummy. Beka made sure we didn't look rude by trying almost everything they offered :-). The view as we neared Shimla was magnificent mountains view. It was one of those journeys that I wished wouldn't end.

Our toy train, the Himalayan Queen

Chai break at one of the small hillside train stations on the way to Shimla

View on the way to Shimla

 As we got closer to the top, the Indian tourists, ie the well-prepared ones, started putting on their jumpers, jackets, hats and scarves. One boy had on a pair of colourful, checked, flat ear muffs. One of the ladies next to us started laughing and couldn't stop for the next 5 minutes. It was so contagious. We figured out it was due to the ear muffs because she started off again the next time the boy walked past. She started off again one last time and this time she didn't even see him. Her husband only had to indicate that ear muffs boy had stood up and was coming. I guess you had to be there to see it.

Our carriage neighbours

It was nearly 7pm and dark by the time we reached Shimla. Tony was travelling on further north to apples-growing land. Beka, who had decided to join us at YMCA, and I hired a porter to carry our bags to YMCA. Karin carried her own 7kg backpack. The air was thinner, the road sloped all the way up to town and we had to climb some steep steps to YMCA. I was out of breath from the 2km walk carrying my small backpack. I guess not having eaten all day didn't help. It was the best Rs 100 we each spent on the porter.
The room at YMCA was very basic and freezing cold. It reminded me of when we went to Taishan in China in the winter- someone broke a hot water flask (was it Nic or Charley?) and the water froze. We wore what we could to bed and pretended we were camping in the outdoors, telling stories with a flashlight.