Ramblings in India
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Introduction
India has great beauty and can be hugely frustrating. It has complex and highly developed cultures and it is often miserably hot. There is a huge amount that tourists love to visit and the Indians seem to make travel much more difficult than it needs to be.
A succession of plains I don't think I've ever seen hills beyond hills beyond hills to the extent of these at Simla airport in the foothills of the Himalayas. My family and I visited India in 1989. We saw a little of New Delhi, Simla, Kulu Valley, Jaipur, and Mt Abu; a tiny part of the great, facsinating country.
This page was created in December 2002, modified 2004/01/08.
Simla
Simla train This little train travels along a winding narrow gauge railway through over one hundred tunnels up the Himalayan foothills to Simla.
Only one compartment of the last carriage contained Westerners. There was an English couple as well as our family; yet if this railway was transplanted to a Western country it would be packed.
A view from the Simla train
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The track that the train has just passed over can be seen lower down the hill. The train zig-zags its way up through the mountains.
Simla (Shimla to the Indians) used to be the summer capital under the Raj. At 2000m above sea level it is comfortably cool.
Simla
Simla Built around the side of a hill is well wooded country Simla is attractive in some ways...
A building in Simla
A building in Simla 
Jackoo Hill overlooked Simla. On it was a little temple and around the temple were monkeys. My son was interested in the monkeys and the local man was interested in watching what the white sahib boy was doing.
White tourist children were not often seen in India. Considering the difficulties and upset tummies that we encountered, that is not surprising.
Monkeys on a Simla roof
Monkeys on a Simla roof These monkeys were photographed out of the window of our room in the Simla YMCA. They were cheekey enough to come into the room looking for food if a window was left open.
View of Simla
View of Simla If I remember correctly, the octagonal building was a Chinese resaurant, and quite a good one.
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Kulu Valley
Low clouds on hillside The Kulu Valley is also called the Valley of the Gods. If you visit it you understand why.
On a hill, Manali
On a hill, Manali With a local guide, my family and I climbed a hill; this was the view.
Some of the mountains not far from the Kulu Valley are up to 6000m high.
Kulu Valley at Manali
Kulu Valley at Manali We walked down the valley and climbed a hill to find a holyman who lived in a cave. This was
the view part way up the hillside.
I don't remember what my daughter was doing with the rock.
Kulu
Kulu We were travelling by bus through the town of Kulu when we were stopped by a traffic jam. This car had a flat tyre and everyone had to wait while it was fixed.
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Rohtang Pass
Road to Rohtang Pass The mountains in the Kulu area are on a very different scale to anything in Australia; on a different scale to most other mountains anywhere in the world.
This road connected Manali, at 2000m, to the Rohtang Pass, at 4000m.
You will have to click on the photo to see the switch-back road clearly.
Rohtang Pass
Rohtang Pass On the 3978m Rohtang Pass. The wind was chilly, and the
air must have been thin, we did not experience any difficulty breathing; even when we climbed further up the hill side. (We had to climb up to at least 4000m, to be able to say that we had been there!)
Jaipur
Jaipur astronomical observatory Typically of India, here is a pre-telescope astronomical observatory of great historical interest, perhaps the best example in the world, with badly run-down buildings adjacent.
India, of course, has huge financial difficulties, but there seemed to be a great potential for tourism going to waiste.
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Index
On this page...Jaipur_Ph | Kulu Valley_Ph | Rohtang Pass_Ph | Simla_Ph | Top
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