Day 111. Chandigarh - Shimla

There had been heavy rain overnight and it wasn’t looking too good for us as we packed the bike and headed across town. It seemed to take forever to leave Chandigarh behind with lots of traffic and I seemed to be the first person to arrive at the many sets of red lights. 

 After a stop for gas we did finally leave behind the built up area and through the quite thick mist we could just make out a line of hills in the distance. 

Thankfully other than a bit of drizzle and heavy spots, the rain held off. We began a very long and slow climb into the hills, it was just one continuous line of slips and roadworks, the road was very wet and slippery. 

As we climbed the traffic got heavier and heavier until it was just a procession, at least for us as the maniacs continued to pass, just because they could, no real point to it.

The air became cool and it was a very pleasant drive through these hills dotted with picturesque villages perched on the hillsides. These are the places that locals come to to escape the heat of the flat lands and I can see why.  

We only had to travel about 120km today but it took about 4 hours, so very slow.

We arrived in the picturesque town of Shimla, a very busy holiday destination which was very popular with the British as evidenced by some of the architecture. 

Our hotel like so many others is perched on the side of a cliff and the view from our balcony is breathtaking, it’s just a shame these atmospheric conditions make the really long views to the Himalayas impossible to see.

We went for a long walk along “The Mall” which is a shop lined promenade with hundreds of other holidaymakers, we have even seen a few westerners!

The shops range from tacky street stalls to some fairly high end clothing and jewellery stores. 

We said hi to statues of Ghandi and Indira Ghandi and mingled with the selfie takers.  

Four cars perched here. 

We made enquiries about the road ahead as it can be treacherous at this time of year, but the man in the tourist office said it was good with only a few slips, we will see, we are also reading other reports which are making us rethink our plans.....stay tuned. 

All in all a very pleasant day.

View from the hotel tonight.