An unplanned visit to Shimla

A trip to Shimla was not something I had planned or was expecting to do. Leaving Agra I got the bus to Delhi from where I hoped to be able to get an overnight bus straightaway up to a different mountain town called Manali. When I arrived in Delhi though I discovered the buses to Manali had already left that night, so I booked a ticket for the following day and set out to find somewhere nearby to sleep. This proved practically impossible and almost drove me to insanity. It was late, I was exhausted, and everywhere I went myself or was directed to, told me no foreign tourists were allowed. In the end I gave up and traveled to a different area where my kind friends from Agra were staying who let me share their room. Apparently they hadn't been able to find anywhere in that part of town with a free room without a lot of searching, so I was especially glad they were there.

So the following day I set off for my bus to Manali. However, I miss judged the amount of time it would take me to reach where the bus left from and so I missed it! There was no way that I wanted to go through the whole performance of trying to find a room again and so a bus to Shimla - on the way to Manali - seemed my best option.

Although particularly cold at night, Shimla was beautiful and I'm very glad I came. It's a little town set high up on a ridge in the middle of mountains. No vehicles are allowed in the town center and it was full of small shops and cafes that reminded me of Europe.