Travel Designers An adventure on The Shimla Toy Train
Today we start with an early departure for our ride on the Shimla Toy Train. We depart from the hotel at 6.15 to catch the 7.40 Kalka Shatabdi express train to Kalka. The drive to the train station allows us the opportunity to take in the experience of the Monday morning commute to work and see the children going to school all in full uniform, we even see some children come out of the make shift shacks dressed in their pristine uniforms.
Our guide tells us that school education is free to everyone and assistance with uniform and meals is also available, this is a changing country and these parents obviously have hopes and aspirations for their children.
We arrive at the train station for another experience to remember. From the moment you step out of our air-conditioned coach the heat and the smell hits you, as well as the bag boys who tout for business to carry your bag. There are so many people on the streets here at the train station and it all becomes very hectic.
We have only packed small bags for two nights and left our larger bags with the ground handler in Delhi to store for us, so carrying is easy for us to do. (You can pay an additional fee of £40 per person for your bags to be taken by car, a good option if you prefer to have all your things with you.) That doesn’t stop our local guides from insisting they carry the girl’s bags, they are so polite and courteous.
We literally fight our way into the station and to our platform against a flow of 9 wide coming the other way, there is no politeness now but the survival of the fittest. We make it to the platform with moments to spare and board the train to find our seats. The train is modern and we work out that our fares are roughly £5.50 each one-way which includes our allocated reserved seats and breakfast.
The train journey from Delhi to Dakhal takes 3 and a half hours with the city changing from the many buildings to eventually paddy fields where most of the Basmati rice is grown. You can only look at so many paddy fields and with the air con on high, something the Indian people love, the breakfast totally inedible, I pull out as many pieces of clothing, my pillow (compliments of Virgin Atlantic) and take the opportunity for some more sleep.
We arrive in Kalka to pick up the next part of our journey, a 5 and a half hour train journey on the Toy Train up to Shimla. The contrast of trains is extreme.
The Toy train is basic with hard vinyl covered seats, the floors have been washed down with water but the result left, is an appearance of a dirty wet floor and of course we have no air conditioning. Fortunately, the train is not full so we can spread out and have one bench seat each instead of two per seat.
Lunch is organised for us to take on to the train but it’s not the most appealing or attractive and most of them are thrown out of the window untouched. Yes out of the window, litter is something that you see everywhere and it is understandable why when you see everyone just throw away plastic bottles and paper etc. We are all appalled at this action but are thankfully we don’t have to put up with the smell in the carriage.
Meals on Wheels
It is a wonderful journey up this railway line with the train chugging along through the various towns. The views below are quite stunning of the small villages and the vast valley of trees and fields of corn and tea growing.
We all take as many pictures as we can to capture the moment. Our competition now is to see how many pictures of cows in strange places we can see, which is quite easy as they are sacred, so they wander where they want to, even on the railway line. Whilst the sun is hot the breeze through the train is enough to keep the temperature just right and with the added stops we can get off and stroll up and down the platforms as the train waits for the other train coming down to cross where the track widens.
Toy Train India
The toilets on the Shimla Toy Train are an experience in themselves as they are very basic with just footmarks and a hole that goes straight onto the railway tracks. Not a task you want to try when the train is in motion so the regular stops are a great opportunity for a very quick visit. Just be aware the hole in the floor goes straight on to the tracks below.
As we near the top of the mountain the clouds start to gather and it begins to rain and the temperature drops. Our drivers are already waiting at Shimla Train station to take us to the Radisson Shimla hotel so we throw in our luggage and ourselves and are ready for the next experience in our agenda.
It starts quickly with the hilarity of getting of the Shimla Toy train and out of the train station. Shimla is built on a hillside with very narrow roads, there are 160k people 28k house and I’m sure 56k cars! The streets (only 2 car widths wide) are rammed with cars and bikes parked along them making other cars scrape through small gaps. Driving is definitely something for a local as our driver does 10 point turns just to get around corners! This is some Shimla Toy Train ride!
Eventually, we arrive at the Radisson Shimla hotel and check in to executive deluxe rooms with mountain views. it’s a great 4 star hotel which is built into the hillside with most rooms facing the valley view below and only a few that face into the street. There is an outdoor swimming pool, a spa, restaurant and for our stay complimentary internet access, which is much appreciated so that we can catch up on emails from the office.
We have time for a quick shower and change, then out to one of the Heritage hotels, “The Woodville Palace”. Tonight we learn the art of an excellent brochure and how the reality can be so much different to what the picture is telling you. There is a certain market for this hotel, it’s quirky, quaint or maybe just set in a time warp but the one thing that lets it down is the old musty smell. It hits you as soon as you walk in and gets stronger as you progress through the rooms of the hotel. It’s owned by the Royal Family, some of whom still live in the top floor, hence the attraction for some, but it’s not for everyone.
Our meal is a simple traditional Indian meal with a bowl of spicy tomato soup to start followed by a selection of Indian dishes, I choose chicken Tika and basmati rice with a curry sauce. Eventually, at 11 pm we head back to the hotel and crash into bed.