Hey there, it’s me Jerry Garrett, and today I’m going to be writing about my recent experience, which was a trip to Shimla. From our church, there was a youth trip, and we were going to Shimla. After planning this trip for so long, it was finally happening. At first we had planned to stay for one day, but later the plan changed. Soon, the day of the trip arrived. I woke up at 3:30 because I had to bring sandwiches for everybody. I got up, made the sandwiches, and by around 4:45, I was ready after taking a bath. However, because of some last minute things like packing, getting the wires, and filling water, we ended up leaving at 5:15, which meant we would be late.
We left our house at around 5:15 and reached the pickup destination by 5:30. The original plan was to leave by 5:30, but that was too early, so the bus and the driver were only going to arrive around 6. We waited for about 15 minutes before the bus arrived. We went inside, kept all the bags in, took one group photo, and left for Shimla.
Shimla was about four hours away. We started by talking and singing some songs. About an hour into the journey, we saw one of the most breathtaking sunrises I have ever seen. Here are some of the good photos that I got from the sunrise.
We kept taking short breaks because many people felt nauseous. Normally, this would have increased the travel time, but surprisingly, it still took the same amount of time as expected. Instead of stopping somewhere near Shimla, we decided to go directly to Kufri and have breakfast there. We reached Kufri at around 10:30. We walked to a nearby place where we could sit and had our breakfast. I brought out the sandwiches that I had made, everybody had one, and we also had boiled eggs. We were even accompanied by some new friends, which were monkeys.
After breakfast, we started walking, looking for a place where we could see snow properly and play in it as well. We found a spot that required a short trek, not too far from the road. It was a good place for photos, and you could clearly see the snow and play with it.
We spent quite some time there, taking photos of each other. We could not really play with the snow at that spot because it was mostly dirty and part of a walking path. Still, that was our first proper interaction with snow. Later, we decided to get some tea. By then, about 45 minutes had passed since breakfast, and it was around 11, so we continued walking until we found a tea seller making tea right on the snow. We all ordered tea, but since it was going to take some time, we decided to make a snowman.
The snow there was very hard, so it was difficult to make a proper snowball or snowman. We found two large chunks of snow and tried to stack one on top of the other. The snow chunk was extremely heavy, so all the boys teamed up and managed to lift it onto the other one. It did not look exactly like a snowman, but it was close enough. We found some sticks nearby and placed them to make it look like it had hands.
Sadly, we had nothing to use for a nose. We took a photo and gave up on improving it further. After that, the boys decided to hike a little higher up the mountain to get a better view and better snow. Climbing up was not easy. Even with snow boots, I kept losing my grip, but eventually I made it to the top. It was worth it because the snow there was much softer, and you could actually form proper snowballs. So we did what anyone would do in that situation. We had a snowball fight. The only issue was that the snow was too soft to stay in shape, but we still managed to have fun.
Soon, everyone else started calling us down, so we made our way back. Going down was much easier. We slipped a little, but as long as our legs were deep in the snow, we did not lose balance. In some steep areas, we used nearby trees for support. Once we reached down, we had our tea, which took about five minutes, and began walking back. Originally, we planned to explore more of Kufri, but since we had already seen and played in the snow, we decided to head back. On the way, we saw a restaurant with a bathroom and took a short break.
While waiting, we spotted some deer, or at least they looked like deer to me, and I took a few photos.
After that, we returned to our traveller and started our journey to Mall Road. It was about a one hour ride from Kufri to Shimla, more specifically to Mall Road.
I do not really remember much of what happened on the bus during that time because I slept until we reached Mall Road. It felt like we arrived in the blink of an eye. We reached the lift for Mall Road, took it up, and arrived at Mall Road. We walked for about 15 minutes looking for a place to have lunch and finally found a Punjabi restaurant that seemed good enough. I did not expect much, but the food actually tasted really good. We ordered Kadai Chicken, which in my opinion was the best dish, Palak Paneer, and Dal Tadka, along with roti and rice. Overall, it was a great place for lunch.
After lunch, we decided to explore Mall Road. Our first stop was the famous Church. It was very pretty.
We arrived slightly early, so we waited outside for around 10 minutes before they opened the doors. Once inside, we read the signs and sat quietly for a few minutes. I took photos wherever it was allowed.
After about five minutes, we stepped out and spent around 30 minutes taking more photos, especially of the view.
When we were done, we joined the others and began the main activity that everyone comes for, shopping.
Shopping took the most time. I did not mind because I was mostly walking around. We browsed through shops selling keychains, bags, and items made of oak wood, which is special in Shimla. In the end, we bought a bag made of oak wood, or at least it seemed like it was, as a gift for my mom. Some shops were quite expensive, so we searched until we found one that sold it for a lower price. After that, we continued browsing, hoping to find something nice for my father.
Later, we went deeper into the market searching for a keychain clock. Most places either did not have it or were charging too much, around 350 to 400 rupees. Eventually, we found a shop selling it at a reasonable price and bought it. After getting the keychain, we returned to the others who were shopping for clothes. We found a good shop and bought a sweater for my father.
While the others continued browsing for clothes, the boys went back to the lift area. By that time, I also witnessed the sunset.
We waited there for quite some time until everyone arrived. By then, it was time for snacks. Most people wanted momos, so we searched for a place that had non veg Thukpa as well. Even after looking for around 30 minutes, we could not find any place that served non veg Thukpa. Either they had veg Thukpa or non veg momos but no Thukpa. In the end, we decided to just have momos, so we went back to the same Punjabi restaurant and ordered momos there.
We also had soup, which was veg, but it tasted good. By that time, it was getting late. It was already 8:00, and the journey back would take three to four hours. If we wanted to reach before midnight, we had to leave immediately. So we took the lift down, walked to the bus, got comfortable, and started our journey back to Panchkula.
On the way back, we did not do much. We played songs on the speaker, and most of us slept because we were tired. We stopped once for a short break. Many of us avoided tea since it made us feel nauseous. I had some warm water instead. After getting back on the bus, I slept again, and before it felt like much time had passed, we had reached Panchkula. And that was my experience of the Shimla trip.
That’s it for this post! See you all next time!
