Day 6 (Sonepat-Shimla)

Day 6 (Sonepat-Shimla)

Click the pictures to see it in more detail

Gears up, we woke up in the morning knowing we will be at Shimla by the end of the day. Wake up, pack up and we are ready to go.

First stop, we just had to get breakfast to the famous Gulshan Dhaba. Just nearby from our stay.

From this day onwards until the day I reach back to Delhi, I was a full vegetarian. Except for few meals I had omelets as my source of protein.

Gulshan Dhaba

The Best Butter on a prantha with a very delicious thick lassi

Then we head along the highway towards Shimla across Haryana. I had never seen this many Gurudwaras and turbans in my life. All I had seen was few of my Sikh friends in Malaysia which I can count with my fingers and one Gurudwara in Johor Bahru. Along the way we met The Bikers Cafe NH22. 

Some random big shot guy with body guards accompanying him behind me while I took this picture

The Bikers cafe organizes rides to the mountains from June until September. You can zoom into this picture to know a rough idea and what clubs are organizing it.

COzy interior

Click this picture if you want to go for a bike tour to the Himalayas

Avoided the city of Chandigarh, Capital of Haryana. After that the scenery of the mountain starts following the Himalayan Expressway.

Punjab

It was hazy on that day

In Hindi, that writes Shimla

Good looking McD over there

Haze or clouds, I don't know

Our honeymoon suite. Haha

It was a short ride from Sonepat to Shimla. But we encountered a problem, Himachal Pradesh is one of the two states in India that I know the pillion must also wear a helmet.
If you are not in India, helmet is not mandatory for motorcyclist except in the cities but then only the rider needs it not the pillion. I stay in the outskirts of Mangalore city so I seldom use a helmet except if I’m going to the city.

Got a warning from the traffic police once we entered the city. He was also surprised two KA(Karnataka) plate numbers were there in Shimla. He told get a helmet and we were good to go.

Its cold in Shimla. It was colder at night. I can’t stand it so I just confined myself to the safety of the hotel room. We were just to tired to walk around in the higher levels of the city. Shops closed early here. Who would not, its cold outside.

Started at 8 a.m. Arrived at Shimla around 4.30 p.m. If you are using a car from Delhi. It will take 6-8 hours.

In Shimla, its time for Suhas to depart because he has exams in Manipal. Darshan met up with us at the hotel after roaming around with his brother back in Agra and Delhi. So we were still four of us.

Meet Shrikanth's friends here. They are locals in Shimla. Akshita and Amit.

We had almost one week on the road. Deprived of sleep and energy. Eating food(although it was veg) and this honeymoon suite for the four of us with its circle bed and similar sized mirror at the ceiling(I know its weird right), finally we had a good rest.

Himachal Pradesh is one of the highly educated population in India. Beautiful and clean environment. I mean cleaner than most parts of India. At least they throw trash accordingly and not to mother nature. Follow traffic rules unlike most parts of India again. Easy for a foreigner like me because they speak english.

And the scenery is beautiful. But the best is still to come. The road to Manali from Shimla is up at my list as the most beautiful route I had seen.