Last summer my friends and I finally decided to execute our plan to go to Shimla and Manali. All of us were tired of the daily and monotonous lifestyle and finally decided to chug work for a few days and take a break. We made the best decision ever! We had heard so many stories about the beauty and adventure of these two places from others, and we were super excited to finally being able to see all of it on our own.
We took a train called Paschim Express from Bandra Terminus and reached Kalka, the nearest station to Shimla. Train is one of the efficient mode of transportation today, even it is easy to track it when you want to know where your train is. We boarded the train at 11 PM and reached Kalka at around 4 PM the next day. It took us 3 hours to reach Shimla from Kalka by cab. We were tempted to take the toy train from Kalka to reach Shimla but decided against it since it takes around 12 hours by toy train.
Shimla and Manali are two heavenly places located in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Shimla’s scenic location, the snow clad mountains and hills and hills everywhere attract a large number of tourists from all over the world. Along with that, the beautiful structures made during the colonial period are another captivating thing to look for in Shimla. Grand old buildings, iron lamp posts, everything gives out a different feel to the trip. We visited the famous Ridge, Mall Road, Kufri, tried the Toy train ride to Kalka, Theog, Scandal Point in Mall road, Mashobra, Chail, went for skiing in Kufri, visited Lakkar Bazaar, Naldehra and Green Valley. All of us were thrilled enough to be in Shimla, as is quite evident from all the places we visited in a span of two days!
From Shimla, we left early for Manali. The journey is approximately 250 kms. It took about 10 hours to reach Manali from Shimla. On our way, we could see the beautiful Sundernagar lake, Pandoh Dam and the famous Vaishnodevi Temple.
Manali is one of the topmost holiday destinations in India. From backpackers to honeymooners and groups of friends and family, you get to see all sorts of groups in Manali, no matter when you are there. There are a number of skiing and trekking spots here, which makes it even more thrilling to visit Manali. Yes, we tried everything! From old architectural buildings and temples in Old Manali to fancy cafes, restaurants and shopping spots in Mall road, Manali has a charm of its own. We got a lot of souvenirs for our families from Mall road. The view of snow clad trees and mountains are to die for. It is not just a travel destination for people from India, but it also attracts tourists from every nook and corner of the world.
On the 5th and last day of our trip, we all felt pretty sad that all of the adventure and thrill had finally come to an end. It was time to get back to our lives. Although the trip ended, we still talk about all the fun we had and reminisce the good times!