High in the Himalayas - the hill station of Nainital

Sunset in Nainital
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I feel cool in Nainital today - not cold, but definitely cool. The Indians are shivering and they stroll the Mall in cardigans and jumpers while I strolled around with shorts and a T-shirt....getting strange stares from all and sundry..

But we are high up in the Himalayas here. I'll say that again - I cant believe it myself The Himalayas. The mountains themselves cant be seen due to the rain moving in from the south. The monsoon has followed us up here. But the climb up in Sureshs' car was spectacular not to mention a little terrifying. It was raining as we left Delhi and as we travelled north the roads were whipped by lashing rain. The ubiquitous village bicycle did not look a very apetising prospect caught in the monsoon.

I also had a very British moment - sitting drinking sweet milky tea dunking my biscuits with the rian splattering down outside? How British is that?

The yacht club at twilight
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Suresh as per usual intimidated anything smaller then him with his horn and took special delight in forcing tongas and camelcarts off the road. We reached Ghaziabad but the weather was beginning to slow us down and hit Bareilly at 1.00pm. The topography was beginning to change as we neared the mountains, not just fields but forests increased as we headed north. As we started to climb more monkeys could be seen at the side of the road. More appeared all the time from the forest, little human faces staring up expectantly from the roadside.

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We stopped at a roadside dhaba for tea and biscuits. Before getting back in the car I looked across the verdant valleys to the High Himalayas. Although no snowtipped peaks were spotted due to the cloud cover. If the foothills where we were not looked that good - what would the high Himalaya look like? I also had a very British moment - sitting drinking sweet milky tea dunking my biscuits with the rian splattering down outside? How British is that?

The last eight miles up to Nainital were terrifying. We were so high up clouds formed in the valleys below us. Suresh would beep his horn as he headed around corners but would also overtake cars on the twisting bends. I would squeeze myself into my seat in terror. My eyes trying to avoid everywhere but looking how close we were to the edge of the road. And those yellow buffers were there for a reason - people did go over the edge of the road.

Soon the first bungalows of Nainital came into view hidden in fern filled forests. Nainital itself was grouped around a beautiful lake with faded Raj era bungalows stretching up its mountainous sides. Discovered in 1841 it was used as a retreat from the heat of the plains in the build up to the monsoon by the wives and officers of the British Raj. There is even a yacht club on Naini Lake started by the Victorians.

Unfortunately for us everything was full. We finally got a room at Hotel Ashok which was a basic hotel run by a couple of tough looking mountain-men. To cheer us both up I took him out to dinner and we strolled the Mall. The atmosphere is very jolly and the lake itself is covered in evening mist. There is a festival atmosphere with balloon, book and record sellars. There was even a fire-eater at the far end of Naini Lake.

From here I caught one of my favourite sunsets ever. From the yacht club I had a view of the entire length of the lake. As the sun sank behind the mountains the sky turned grey then bright yellow and as it finally sank below the horizon the bungalows, boats and crowds were coated in a luminous blue.