Shimla: Monkeys and Colonial Architecture

In the morning we walked up to the highest point of the ridge, to a small temple dedicated to Humayan, the monkey god. A steep climb. Of course there were many, many monkeys about. K’s legs got pawed a bit by one which freaked her out a bit. It’s strange seeing people ‘paying their respects’ to what seem to be such primitive temple idols.

After breakfast at a pseudo-fast food place (delicious masala dosa pancake with curried veges) we took a taxi to the old Vice Regal Lodge, a huge English monstrosity built by Lord Dufferin which is now the Indian Institute for Advanced Study and is apparently set up for only 35 students. Crazy. Then we walked back into Shimla by a different route. We know our way around pretty well now; walked around some different streets.

Oh yes, we also booked our ticket to Mandi for tomorrow. The bus station was absolute chaos; we were accosted by beggars; madness. We were glad to get away from there.