cool at last

We are in the hill station (mountain resort town) of Shimla. It was built by the British, so it has a very European feel, and served as their summer capital while they ruled the sub-continent. We totally understand why the British would want to flee the summer heat after several weeks of scorching 100+F weather down on the low plains. At over 2000 m above sea level, the tempertures are extremely pleasant here. The entire city is full of Indian honeymooners and families enjoying a break from the sweltering heat plus beautiful views in every direction, including glimpses of the not so distant Himalayas. Janet found us some sweet rooms in the old YMCA (built in 1920). Our room has windows with amazing views looking out over the valley. The first thing we noticed was no ceiling fan and several blankets on the bed (we still have not even used sheets, in the always hot lowlands). We hiked to the hilltop temple dedicated to Hanuman (the Hindu monkey god), all the while keeping vigilant with our monkey sticks for any actual monkeys, which are known to aggressively steal food or sunglasses from visitors. We enjoyed not sweating and the delicious taste of non-polluted air and the presence of vegitation. The entire city is built on a steep incline, so its a hike just walking around, but its a very pleasant way to pass the time since motor vehicles are banned from most of the major streets. We also sampled some local delicacies, including momos (Tibetan dumplings) and Janet's favorite coconut flavored peanut brittle (my dad is still craving pizza, so we might have to visit the local domino's). Getting here, like most travel in India, turned out to be quite an ordeal. We took a 1:30pm bus from Jaipur to Delhi, thinking we would have plenty of time to connect with the 9:25pm Shimla bus, but since it took over three hours just to cross the capital city in some truly horrendous traffic, we just missed our overnight bus. Luckily, at the same moment, a super luxury AC bus covering the same route (which we had tried to book on-line but was totally full) was just pulling out. I accosted the driver on the exit ramp and he told us that they coincidentally had three cancelations, so they took us aboard. I think my dad and Janet really enjoyed the taste of luxury after weeks of ordinary class buses.