On Time

We were due to arrive in Shimla at 5am and sure enough we were on time. It was dark outside but a big bus station provided us with breakfast and more tea. We discussed our next stop and spoke to a few local people regarding bus routes. In the end we decided to catch a bus to Narkandar, when it got light.

It didn't take long for the sun to come up revealing the picturesque Shimla hills. We found our bus, paid our money and we were on our way. Unfortunately, we missed a lot of the beautiful scenery as we both fell asleep. The sun was burning through the window and made it just that bit too cozy.
Lots of tight bends later and a lot of uphill we made it to Narkandar, a small hill station at 2700m. We were suprised how busy it was as many buses pass by. There is also a large amount of giant hotels starting to appear. It won't be long before this quaint little hill station is no more.

We were a little early to find a hotel so first we drank tea at the market. We then checked out a few hotels and they were not cheap and not particularly clean either. We checked online and found a place with a review score of -1 out of 5. We tried to read the reviews but there weren't any at all. We decided to try and find it because it was almost half the price of the others.

The description said it was near the market so we asked inside. The lady of the tea stall called a man over. He made a phone call and took us outside and up a rather delapadated path. He was still on the phone as his son appeared in the distance. No English had been spoken so far. The son spoke good English and asked us to follow him up the hill.

We arrived at a quaint little room. Away from the road that was clean, had hot water a TV and a balcony with an outstanding view of the hills and valley below. It was great!
We left our bags and explored. Over the opposite side of the main road the view was the snow capped Himalayas. 
It was time for food again so we headed back to the nice lady in the market.  Everyone was eating samosa with chole.  A man at the stall seemed to say what we wanted so we agreed.  After waiting for everyone else to be served, our food eventually arrived. However, we were served paratha and chole.  We are not sure why, but it tasted good so we ate it and then washed it down with some sweet tea.

Next we decided to explore.  There is not much in Narkandar.  We followed a road with amazing views of the Himalayas and just enjoyed the scenery.  However, the road was all downhill .... Which means going back was all uphill!

After our walk we went back to our accommodation and our balcony was lovely and hot in the afternoon sun so we sat and relaxed for a while.

We had seen one of the only restaurants in town serves thali but only until 6pm so we headed out for an early dinner...by this time the temperature had already dropped dramatically so we wrapped up warm.



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