2 Days Shimla Trip with Bestie
It was a long weekend on Republic day when my friend and I suddenly planned this blissful trip to Shimla. More than going to see the snowfall for the first time, I was excited about going on a trip with my friend. Since, I have always thought of going on a solo trip, going for this Shimla trip with just one female friend was like a huge achievement for me.
The first thing that came to the mind after deciding that we are going on Shimla trip is to plan how will we make it happen. So we started looking for the travel options and hotels. As we wanted a budget trip, we looked for all affordable options. Thankfully, we could get everything from the bus tickets to hotel, in our budget. However, it was really difficult and took a whole day due to heavy rush in the city. We wanted to go by Volvo bus, but couldn’t get even after trying for the tickets a week before the trip. So finally we had to travel by HRTC bus.
Beginning of the Journey
We started our journey from ISBT, Kashmiri Gate at 8.30 pm. Our bus journey started at an adventurous note as the driver was driving too rashly. First it was too foggy outside and second the rash driving, all the passengers were just remembering their gods. After tolerating all this for a few hours, finally some passengers complained about it and requested the driver to drive properly. Though it helped us reach 2 hours before the expected time. (Wink)
First Day in Shimla
We reached Shimla New Bus Stand around 5.30 in the morning. We got into local bus to reach Shimla Old Bus Stand. Our hotel was on The Ridge, to reach where we had to walk for complete one hour. It was too cold and dark, which made it really difficult for us to walk. Initially, we both were a bit scared, but with each other’s support and help of local people, we found our hotel.
We first noticed snow on Mall Road and the excitement level got so high that we forgot all our tiredness. On the way to our hotel, we saw decorations and preparations for Republic Day Celebration near the Christ Church.
Reaching Hotel
After walking for around one hour we reached our hotel – Amar Palace. We booked it on Yatra and got an amazing deal. LUCKILY, we got a better room than we expected. And the best thing about the room was the view from the window.
Planned something else and did something else
Our plan after reaching Shimla was to rest for some time and attend the Republic Day celebration on the Ridge, but it was so cold there that we got up at 1.00 pm when everything was over. We took our Breakfast + Lunch in the hotel room and left for Jakhu temple around 2.30 pm. After that we decided to go to the Jakhu Temple. We tried going on feet but gave up and hired a taxi for one side. We reached the temple around 4.00 pm and returned from there around 6 pm.
Snow outside Our Hotel
Visit to the Jakhu Temple
Jakhu Temple is an ancient temple dedicated to Hindu deity Hanuman. It is located at the highest peak of Shimla. The temple has India’s highest statue of Lord Hanuman.
Fight with the monkey
It was really a funny incident when a monkey took away my friend’s spectacles. She was wearing her spectacles and it was like in a snap of fingers her glasses were gone from her face and they were into the monkey’s hands. After that the fight to get them back was really interesting. From abusing the monkey to scaring him and the monkey scaring my friend back was all a sort of entertainment for all the tourists there.
Mall Road and the Ridge
We reached the Ridge around 6.30. We decided to come back on feet to enjoy the breathtaking views. We spent time on mall road, went to the Christ Church and wooden market. The Ridge was looking awesome that day with the colorful lighting and the Flag.
Day 2
Our 2nd day in Shimla started with a trip to Kufri. We booked a cab for two for Rs. 1000. We left for Kufri at 11.00 am (though we planned to leave at 9.00 am) and started our journey to Kufri. Due to high rush, the way to Kufri had a lot of traffic, due to which it took us almost 3 hours to cover 16 kms distance, which usually takes just 1.5 hours.
The views of the way were breathtaking. Trees and roads were covered with snow. Major attractions when going to Kufri are the Mahasu Peak, Indira Tourist Park and Zoo. Our cab driver was very supportive and instead of just wasting time on showing useless places he kept telling us about the major attractions showed us the things as per our preference. We reached Kufri around 3 pm and got our entry tickets for HipHipHurray Nagsons Amusement Park.
HipHipHurray Nagsons Amusement Park – Fun Unlimited
We bought ticket for Rs. 2,000 per head that included rope activities and snow activities. Our tickets also included snow costume and shoes. With activities like Zip Lining, Burma Bridge, Valley Crossing, Net Climbing, Reverse Bungee Jumping and snow sports like skating, hiking and skiing, it was full of fun and complete ‘Paisa Wasool’ place.
Our next plan was to go to the zoo in Kufri, but we couldn’t go as we spent all the time in the Amusement Park.
Back to Shimla from Kufri
We left for Shimla at 6 pm and reached around 9.00 pm (Thanks to the heavy traffic). After reaching Shimla, we did some shopping in Lakkad Bazaar, took our dinner at Sher-e-Punjab and came back to the hotel room at 10.00 pm.
Back to Delhi
We left our hotel room at 6.30 in the morning to board our bus from ISBT Shimla. We reached old bus station at 7.00 am, got into the local bus and reached new bus station at sharp 8.00 am.
All in all, it was an awesome weekend that was not tiring at all. We had already thought that we are going for a relaxing trip not for a scheduled life, which we live every day. So there was no hurry to get up, reach at certain place and come back. We just went with the flow and enjoyed every minute spent in the city called ‘Queen of Hills’.