Sights in Shimla
Shimla offers much to the visitor as well as to it's residents. To all of us who live here through the year it means long walks in the thick deodar forests of Seog, views of the snow covered high Himalayas from Potter's Hill, collecting violets in the spring and raspberries in the summer and absolutely loving the fact that though this is a city it has the incredible charm of a village.
Most of Central Shimla is pedestrianised. It's main promenade, The Mall, stretches from the stunningly beautiful homes in Chhota Shimla to the Vice Regal Lodge near Boileauganj (please pronounce as Baa-loo-ganj). This entire stretch forms the core of Shimla's "Heritage Zone".
Despite the urban sprawl, scattered along this stretch, lie a vast number of crumbling vestiges of the British Raj. The Ridge, a wide-open square with its imposing Gothic Christchurch and the faux-Tudor half-timbered library looks down on the timber market and Lakkar Bazaar to the north and the social hang-out joints and Scandal Point to the south. If you walk down from the Bandstand, now unfortunately called Ashiana and Goofa, to your left are the Municipal Offices, The Town Hall and The Gaiety Theatre. There are lots of little benches strategically placed along this stretch to enable the residents to properly people-watch. Further down the Mall lie the Telegraph Office and the Railway Booking office.
A short though killingly steep walk east of The Ridge will get you to the highest point in Shimla called the Jakhu Temple, dedicated to Hanuman, the monkey god. It has the best views of the snows, as well as of the entire city. Do not carry any food or shiny objects on you. The monkeys are a menace.
To mingle with the locals, take any of the stairs leading down from the Mall into Shimla's Lower and Middle Bazaar. This is an entirely different Shimla to the one on the Mall. Milling with locals and villagers from the surrounding districts haggling over cheap produce to sell at home or just stock up for the severe winter. The wholesale vegetable and meat market are an experience never to be forgotten, especially so in the evening when there isn't space even to stand. The local dhabas or eating houses are packed to the gills with local labour and men on the way back from work stopping of for a hot sweet tea and samosa.
Towards the west on Observatory Hill, beyond the Oberoi Cecil hotel, is the rather vast Scottish baronial mansion formerly known as the Vice Regal Lodge. The building was the summer residence of all the Viceroys until 1947, when India was granted independence. It is now inhabited by the academic foundation called the Indian institute of Advanced Studies.
Day Trips
One of the loveliest walks is the one to the Tara Devi temple from the little Tara Devi village market on the highway. A picnic hamper can be packed for this short hike up the mountain.
About 15 kms from Shimla is the Oberoi hotel's spectacular Wildflower Hall at the top of the ridge above Chharabra. Head out for the strawberry walk through a virgin Cedar forest and come back to the hotel for a yummy high tea. The other option is to attempt a trek to the area's highest peak, Shali Tibba at a height of 10,496 ft. A slightly less strenuous walk is from behind the Church and market in Mashobra down to Sipur village. The track is wide in bits though mostly a rough pugdandi or hill path all the way down.
For Golfers, there's nothing like the golf course in Naldehra, covered in daisies in spring and summer. Kufri, Fagu and Chail are lovely places to visit though definitely not in Shimla peak season i.e. the summer and when it snows.