Our full day in Shimla starts with a short journey to an hotel with a spectacular view of the distant snow-capped Himalayas, in an area called Apple Blossom where orchards are the predominant crop. Covered with netting to keep the parakeets out, they are already starting to blossom this year.
On our return we stop off to meet and greet a yak, and have the inevitable photo shoot, with an onlooker from above.
Next is the Viceroy’s residence. Built between 1884 and 1888 it became the official summer residence of the Viceroy right up to and in including Mountbatten, and inevitably an important location during the negotiations of Independence and Partition. It went on to be the President’s summer residence for a while but was later gifted to the education department for advanced study, allowing PhD level students up to two years to write their dissertations in peace. We take a tour of three rooms including the opulent entrance hall (an understatement) but photography is banned.
We return to the Raddison for lunch then plan to walk up into town, however Narendra has other ideas and our driver appears out of thin air and whisks us up to the central area. Walking around Mall Street, as they are know for their shops, we enjoy the open spaces without incessant traffic and blaring horns, wander past some very impressive buildings and find the Gaiety Theatre, built in 1887.
There’s a tour on offer so of course we have to take this and love the enthusiasm of the young man telling us all about the space. It was much larger with five floors but an earthquake rendered the top two unusable and they were removed. Happily the house, although terribly run down, survived and a recent government grant has enabled a full restoration.
We continue to wander around the area, visit the local church, and then return for a lazy couple of hours before dinner.
