ASIA INDIA DESTINATIONS RIGHT: Viceregal Lodge, Shimla
FAR RIGHT: The Oberoi
Cecil, Shimla
BELOW: Shimla
SAMPLE PRODUCT
Great Rail Journeys’
India’s Golden Triangle is a
13-day rail holiday with excursions to Delhi, Shimla and Agra, and journeys on the Shatabdi Express and Toy Train, staying in five- star hotels. Prices start at £2,170
for departures until December, including flights, transfers, all
breakfasts and some other meals. Sister brand GRJ Independent can also tailor-make holidays to the region.
greatrail.com/ travelagents
the Toy Train and the region. We’re spellbound by tales of sacred cedar forests and Himalayan snow being fetched to cool the wine of the Mughal kings. The 60-mile trip takes around five hours and we arrive at Shimla station just as dusk falls. Shimla was once known as the summer capital of British India, and is now the capital and largest city of northern Indian state Himachal Pradesh. A twinkling constellation of lights dot mountains that are melting away by the minute into evening shadow. Once we pull in, a neat row of taxis whisks our party away to the grand five-star Oberoi Cecil Hotel. A pianist plays romantic standards
as we enter the hotel’s elegant lounge, conjuring decadent long-ago parties and intrigue. We’re served plate after plate of exquisitely spiced local delights. “If you leave India without gaining
40lbs, you’re not doing it properly,” the manager teases as I tuck into my third portion of chaat – heavenly sweet and sour chili yoghurt, tamarind, crisp pancakes and jewel-coloured pomegranate seeds. That’s nothing to the dawn view
from my room, though. Awoken by an army bugle and the howling of a pack of dogs, I stumble to the window to get my bearings, only to be greeted by the heart-stopping sight of sunrise over the Sivalik mountains. It is as if Kipling and Hans Christian Andersen had conspired to invent a new fairytale landscape. Flamboyantly coloured houses balance on impossibly steep inclines, extravagant forests cascading down the hillsides below.
w PAST LIVES The following days are spent exploring the town and its extraordinary history. Climbing seemingly vertical steps in the heat is a challenge, but a lazy
promenade along the historic Mall makes a worthwhile reward. Known for good food and
bargain-hunting, Shimla is also home to the historic Gaiety Complex Theatre where Baden-Powell and Kipling performed, plus Scandal Point and Christ Church, the second-oldest church in northern India. We weave our way past ladies in
saffron-toned saris and boisterous schoolchildren. Cars are banned from this part of town, which is a welcome respite from the ever-audible horns; smoking is illegal here too. We explore the Viceregal Lodge,
Lord Dufferin’s imposing hilltop mansion built in dour Scottish stone. During the summer months of the Raj, the entire Indian subcontinent was ruled from here, and row upon row of old photos are on display, illustrating India’s complex colonial past. We pay our respects to the monkey god Hanuman at the Jahku Temple.
15 February 2018
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PICTURE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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