Hill trains and Shimla

We reached the summer capital of India,Shimla...it was a train journey that took us up hill.The uphill beauty couldnt be captured as the train was overcrowded and we literally had to stand throughout the journey.

Shimla is busier than it was in earlier days,with the International brands having their shops on the Mall Road,its become busier than a normal market.

We just wanted to stroll down the mall road,sit on the side benches in the mall road,some good food in some restaurant ,and some books from Minerva book house,these were the only things in mind when we thought of Shimla..

unending sky...

Shimla roads

railway bungalows

in the midst of the mall road..

Retiring bay...

Town hall,where children from some school were seated together

clock tower and church adjoining

lovley white windows

A store where u find old prints and maps,,

shops and shops everywhere

A bench where we sat hours

Lovely shop..we ate our lunch here

Biriyani,rice and Dal

Apple cake and chocolate cake

orange wall and pigeons and old house

In the honey hut,chcolate shake with honey,yummy

wow,cone icecream... 

Down hill and hill train...have tried to capture the various moods of the toy train journey..

The Historic  Barog station

Hope you all enjoyed the ride with me ,choooo....................

and on goes our travel like the train....

Fasten your seatbelts and travel with me ...

look forward to another journey...

Trip to the Solan Valley

Travelling to hill stations and visiting new places other than the usual ones are one of our favourites. Travelling has been a way of life after our marriage. Discovering and learning and the exposure by means of travel is something you just cannot get in books...

We have been to Shimla a lot of times, the last time we went to the hills, we thought of staying at Solan and discovering the place. A trip to feel the the quaint blue railway stations, to take a long walk through the rail tunnels, to see the Barog railway station and a ride in the hill train to Shimla was all we wanted. Solan, we found to be a busy hill station with lots of fruit markets. There was a good connectivity of buses to all places from Solan. We made sure we went to see the orchards near the Horticultural University enroute Rajagiri and Barog and Shimla.

See Solan through my camera eyes....

Bougainvilleas outside our windows in the small hotel,Solan

Quaint corridors in the small hotel

something about the small passages in the small hotels

Lovely light and patterns

our room

my little one stretching among the rails,solan railway station

Father and daughter taking a walk among the tunnels,I am behind them...

the tunnel

Rails so close,i kept my ear close to them,just for fun..

place to stand, if by chance the train passes by, lots of people walking along the tracks..

feet fetish

this flower was found all over the horticultural University

Blue bells

pink or violet

feet fetish...

Wait for more in the next part...Shimla and hill trains to come your way.

Images by Lakshmi Arvind