Another day, another adventure!
We had to catch a train at 7.30 a.m. from the main
railway station in Delhi, which meant a very early
start. The Kuoni rep picked us up at 6.15 from the
hotel and we arrived at the station in good time.
The journey from Delhi to
Kalka took three and a half hours. The food was somewhat
disappointing after the Palace on Wheels
and we won't discuss the state of the toilets. We both decided
that we'd eat and drink nothing!
At Kalka, we went from the comparative luxury
of the express train onto the Himalayan Queen for the five
and a half hour journey to Shimla
There was no food provided on the train. Luckily,
we had the forethought to ask for a packed lunch at the hotel.
Unfortunately, they only provided one somewhat small packed
lunch, which wasn't really enough to keep us going for the
whole day, but it was something at least.
The journey, although uncomfortable,
did at least offer some lovely scenery.
Julian and Marjaana were
also on the train. We thought we'd meet a few others from
the Palace on Wheels, but we were wrong.
Poor Geoff had never completely
recovered from his earlier illness and as the journey progressed,
he suffered more. By the time we arrived, he had quite severe
stomach pains and just wanted to go to bed!
After witnessing an amazing sunset, we finally arrived
in Shimla, where we were met by the local Kuoni representative
and taken to the Radisson hotel.
Geoff went straight to bed whilst Bruce went to seek
some medical advice for him. With the help of the hotel
staff and a telephone conversation with a local doctor,
a prescription for Buscopan was issued and the pills
were delivered to the hotel. It seemed to do the trick,
because Geoff had a good night.
