Our Indian adventure for December took us to the Himalayas - in particular, Shimla, at the foot of the Himalayas. As Max had never seen snow, and Jack only when he was 18months old, snow was our main aim. There are no certainties with these things and by the weather forecasts, we were unlikely to see snow at all, let alone it actually falling from the sky.
Our flight to Chandigarh was quite turbulent which is never good for me, as the nervous passenger, but we arrived safely and our friendly driver Raj (who was my driver in Pushkar) met us and we started out on the winding trip to Shimla. Cricket conversations were short and sweet with Raj, as the Aussies had won the first test while we were on the plane ....
The roads to Shimla were actually quite good but extremely twistie! Max and I both got quite car sick - but what's new?!? As we progressed further up the mountains, the rain closed in and the temperatures dropped and Jack was regretting wearing shorts !! We have acclimatised to the very warm weather in Bangalore, so anything below 15 is not welcomed - and we were now experiencing -4 to 7 degrees...... brrrrrr.
Of course, on arrival at the hotel after a 3.5 hour drive, the boys were desperate, desperate, desperate for, you guessed it, a swim !!! Luckily the pool at the hotel was heated so well that it was like a bath. As you can imagine, we were the only pool visitors throughout our visit.
An early night and when we woke there was no snow and more rain. We were all a bit sad, so we headed back to bed for a lie in. Next second, Max starts yelling, 'Mum there's stuff falling from the sky!' We quickly dressed and raced downstairs hoping that it would keep snowing for a few minutes for us to enjoy the falling snow. We were then blessed with the snow falling for most of the day. Completely unpredicted and so so beautiful.
We managed to wander up (read slip and slide on the ice....) to 'The Mall' which is the central area in Shimla. It was Sunday, so most shops were closed but we managed to find the Indian Coffee House which served lovely hot chocolate - just what we needed. Some more snow fights and we headed back to the hotel for some warmth and good indian food.
As we returned to the hotel, the weight of the snow on the hotel awning was too much and the whole thing collapsed - luckily Mike and I were inside and the boys were outside in the snow...... the following debacle to remove the glass kept us amused for quite some time. And the tools for removing ice and snow - a plastic dustpan, a fire poker and a straw broom....... only in India !
Mike and I spent the afternoon relaxing while the boys learned to be bartenders !! It was quite the scene having the boys behind the bar making us mocktails, and they loved it ! Check out their creations below.
Our next couple of days were planned as being outside, hopefully building snowmen - tune in for the next instalment.
Of course, on arrival at the hotel after a 3.5 hour drive, the boys were desperate, desperate, desperate for, you guessed it, a swim !!! Luckily the pool at the hotel was heated so well that it was like a bath. As you can imagine, we were the only pool visitors throughout our visit.
An early night and when we woke there was no snow and more rain. We were all a bit sad, so we headed back to bed for a lie in. Next second, Max starts yelling, 'Mum there's stuff falling from the sky!' We quickly dressed and raced downstairs hoping that it would keep snowing for a few minutes for us to enjoy the falling snow. We were then blessed with the snow falling for most of the day. Completely unpredicted and so so beautiful.
We managed to wander up (read slip and slide on the ice....) to 'The Mall' which is the central area in Shimla. It was Sunday, so most shops were closed but we managed to find the Indian Coffee House which served lovely hot chocolate - just what we needed. Some more snow fights and we headed back to the hotel for some warmth and good indian food.
As we returned to the hotel, the weight of the snow on the hotel awning was too much and the whole thing collapsed - luckily Mike and I were inside and the boys were outside in the snow...... the following debacle to remove the glass kept us amused for quite some time. And the tools for removing ice and snow - a plastic dustpan, a fire poker and a straw broom....... only in India !
Mike and I spent the afternoon relaxing while the boys learned to be bartenders !! It was quite the scene having the boys behind the bar making us mocktails, and they loved it ! Check out their creations below.
Our next couple of days were planned as being outside, hopefully building snowmen - tune in for the next instalment.
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| Max is always the first to the pool |
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| not a bad place to relax |
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| on our way out into the snow - super excited and anxious at the same time |
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| The pure joy of being in the snow for the first time |
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| snow fight !! |
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| As expected - a cow wandering down the street in the snow |
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| Jack too to the snow fights like a duck to water |
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| Only in India would you see : Snow, a cow, a monkey and a dog in the middle of the main road |
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| loving it ! |
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| right before he hit me with a snowball ! |
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| and we made up |
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| oh my - some of the indian snow outfits were hilarious |
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| yep - sweeping snow with a broom |
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| that plastic dustpan was not helping....... |
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| sensible snow footwear ! |
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| that's how you move snow........ in India ! |
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| the side view from our room |
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| this man was just too cute wandering in the snow |
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| time for a break |
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| The first snowfall resulted in some casualties |
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| so so beautiful |
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| Jack in the Himalayas |
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| so so pretty |
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| hot chocolate |
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| a family shot ! |
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