Northern India travelogue
Trip outline
Ladakh [Page 1] - Manali & Hampta Pass trek [Page 5]
- Chandra Tal [Page 10] - Dharamshala/McLoad [Page 12]
- Pakistan Border, Wagah [Page 13] - Amritzar [Page 14]
- Shimla/Rishikesh/Manali [Page 15] - Nagar to Jari trek [Page 17]
- Rishikesh [Page 22] - Corbett NP [Page 23]
- Nainital [Page 24] - Taj Mahal [Page 25]
- Delhi [Page 26]
Chandigarh
From Amritzar we went to Chandigarh, just a stop on the way to Shimla (which is just a stop on the way to Rishikesh).
Although I have a Greek friend who disagrees, Chandigarh has to be the least exciting Indian city, being designed by a famous
French architect. It's quite orderly, but that is the only good thing you can say about it. There's a garden that is filled with
statues made from junk and scrap that some Indian dude made, which is rather nice, but still - don't stop in Chandigarh if you
don't have to!
Shimla
We took the toy train from Chandigarh to Shimla (actually from Kalka, but that's rather close to Chandigarh). The train journey is
nice, we met some British and Australian friends, and we arrived in Shimla, the old summer capital.
Shimla is a nice, hilly place, very quiet and clean for an Indian city. We spent just two days there, on the way to Rishikesh.
I liked Shimla, but Michal found it boring (well, it was boring, to tell the truth).
The toy train journey was rather pleasant, we had some good views on the way -
Shimla itself it nice, what with the hills and mountains. But watch our for the monkeys! I got attacked by a swarm
of mad-striken, sunglasses-hungry monkeys. I barely survived.
And here are some more nice pictures from Shimla...
Rishikesh
From Shimla we continued on to Rishikesh on the local bus. We arrived, and immediately had lot's of rain.
We didn't like the place too much (I'm not sure why. We just didn't get along). The views are really beautiful to tell the
truth, if it weren't raining all the time...
