back to Shimla

So I bid adieu to the remote sections of HP and high-tailed it back to Shimla on an 11 hour direct bus.

We descended to just 800 meters along the Sutlej River, the lowest point I'd been in a long time, but then climbed right back up to 2700 meters, a climb of 6000 feet, through some of the greenest hills I've ever seen. The monsoon had just reached HP, and everything was lush and green and wet. We got caught in a morning downpour, and drove through pea soup fog so thick you couldn't see 10 feet. All of this on a twisting mountain road. At least this was a national highway, and wide enough for two vehicles to pass, unlike most roads in HP. The driver felt the same need as the previous day's driver to put our lives in his hands with every hug of the curve.

But I'm back in Shimla now. It's nice to be somewhere for a second time. The place is still a madhouse of Indian tourists. And this time there are no views because the whole mountain and city are enshrouded in fog. It's kind of nice though - the cedars and pines floating eerily in the mist.

Tomorrow I will descend out of the Himalayas and spend my last 13 days on the plains.