Into the Mountains

Today is our last day in Shimla, a summer administrative center for the Indian and, while it still held colonial sway, British governments. Due to the ridiculous heat on the plains, the British established Shimla as the summer capital back in the mid-1800's. Shimla sits at just over 7000 feet and the temperatures are much more tolerable than down in Delhi. We've had a nice time exploring the colonial legacy and soaking in the cooler mountain air.

Tomorrow we take a ten hour bus ride further east into the Kinnaur Valley. Over the next two to three weeks we'll be in a pretty remote region populated by people whose culture is more similar to Tibetan than Indian. For the first week, we'll be following the route of the old Hindustan-Tibet Highway which linked the British Raj with Tibet. We'll turn north into the Spiti Valley where the terrain should start to become much more arid. I don't know what if we'll have a chance to get on-line for awhile so don't worry if you don't see or hear anything.

'Bye for now.