Shimla: Day 1

Apologies if I sounded a bit off yesterday.  With not feeling well and Virgin raising the need for a 'fit to fly' certificate before they would let W fly (which we had no idea how to get) I just felt a bit down.  You'll be pleased to know that today has been much better; I still feel a bit rough but I suspect a good night's sleep tonight will sort that out, and I will be very careful about what I eat for the next few days.  But the best news is that our wonderful guide, Umi, had telephoned ahead to Shimla hospital and bent a few ears, with the upshot being we could call there this evening to get the certificate.  It's now safely in our hands so we shall be going home on Sunday as planned, with nothing more to worry about.  Fingers crossed!

Anyway, today.  It's been a long one, setting off from Dharamshala at 7am and arriving at our hotel in Shimla at 5pm, before our trip to the hospital.  Shimla is around 2300 metres above sea level; to put that in perspective, Machu Picchu is 2430.  As you can imagine, we had some fabulous views across the Himalayan valleys on the trip.  We stopped once for lunch and a couple of times for comfort breaks, before visiting the Viceroy's Summer Palace.  The British Raj used to decamp here for seven to eight months in the summer to escape the heat of Delhi so it was effectively the capital of India for that time.  Lots of fascinating photos including some of Ghandi, Nehru, Sir Stafford Cripps etc, and we saw the table where the Act of Partition was drafted.  My main shot is of the palace but I've added an extra of an Australian lady on the tour stroking a cow that greeted us at lunchtime.

It's now 7.15pm and dinner is at 7.30.  I rather suspect I will be fast asleep by eight!