Day 8: Walks in Shimla

This was my favourite day of the trip so far. We began by buying some walking sticks for scaring away the monkeys on the way to Jakhoo temple, a temple dedicated to the Hindu monkey god Hanuman. You cannot miss seeing the massive red monkey god statue from Shimla. We could have rented the sticks for cheaper higher up on the path.
The way up is a steep 1.5 km climb from a height of 2,205m to 2,455m above sea level. There was a helpful chart at the bottom telling us how fit we are depending on how old and how quickly we get to the top. Beka came up with a more fun measure by counting how many people passed us on the way up. I think the final net tally was less than 40 as we made a final burst pass the monkeys.

Physical fitness chart to Jakhoo Temple

On the way up, we saw snow-capped mountains which were part of the Himalayan range. There was a plateau where a group of boys were playing cricket. We also saw a pack of wild dogs and what looked like their lair. The pine trees were straight and tall, and looked like pictures I've seen of Northern American national parks.

Boys playing cricket on a plateau

Snow-capped Himalayan mountains in the distance

We sat at the hill-top cafe soaking in the atmosphere and chatting. Beka tried some free temple food. Karin saw a monkey grab a man's shoe and ran away with it!

Hanuman statue's feet

Hanuman statue and me

The weather turned quite quickly, and we made our way down at a faster pace than the way up. The way down in the rain was not that treacherous because there were rain shelters along the way and steps along the side of the road most of the way.

We took a lunch break at Baljees and spent time at an internet cafe (with loo roll and clean toilet!) while waiting for the rain to stop. The internet cafe was also frequented by teenage boys in their school uniforms playing PC games before they head home.

Self-explanatory

In the afternoon, we went for a 4.5km walk to the viceregal lodge, now known as the Institute of Advanced Studies, and described as a Harry Potter-ish building. The road was mostly pedestrianised, with only special vehicles permitted to drive along it. It is a rich area with some nice buildings and the 5 star oberoi hotel, and an army presence. It was a tree-shaded and peaceful walk, and reminds me of walks on Hong Kong Island. The harry potter building was unfortunately closed when we got there but the mostly flat walk was still enjoyable.

Walk to Viceregal Lodge

Walk to Viceregal Lodge

Harry Potter-esque building, not Viceregal Lodge

We walked a total of 12km and grew quite fond of our walking sticks. We treated ourselves to a
Dominos pizza dinner, which was a popular hangout with the younger crowd.

 One of the highlights of Shimla for Karin and I was hanging out with Beka. She was fun, feisty and funny. Beka, if you are reading this, hope we've convinced you to give Harry Potter a go, and the Korean drama series is called Jewel in the Palace.