26th Sept. - 2nd Oct. Shimla (2205 metres - you can get Acute Altitude Sickness from hights of 2500 metres)

Temperature: Comfortable 20 degrees
Hours on train: 12
Power cuts:loads
Monkeys: loads

Train to Kolka arrived on time at exactly 6am, so Carl had to eat his socks, mmm tasty! Still hasn't done it mind.

The toy train from Kolka to Shimla was only slightly smaller than our UK trains, but very small compared to the normal Indian trains. This scenic train journey ascends 2000 metres through hills and 103 tunnels for 93 kms, and takes around 7 hours. As we rose we could feel the Indian heat being replaced with cool mountain air. Not surprising considering we were going higher than we've been skiing in the Alps.

The prices in Shimla we're quite pricey compared to where we've been before, so we looked around for other accommodation than the 660 rupees (approx. 8 pounds a night) we were paying. Unfortunately the cheaper accommodation was miles away from the train station and up very steep hills. At this altitude, and carrying heavy bags on your back, you'd rather pay the extra!

Not sure what it was, but Carl started to feel really ill, in fact he spent a whole day in bed (rushing to the toilet every hour) with a fever. Some how, after all our efforts of being safe with food and water (being vegetarian and eating in what seems like clean establishments, not eating peeled fruit or salad that might have been washed in dirty water, and washing our teeth with mineral water), Carl fell pray to Delhi belly! Or Traveller's Diarrhoea.

After a few days Carl felt better and we went on a few walks to see the sights. As Shimla was a hill station for the British (as it was nice and cool during the Indian summers), there were many Colonial buildings, one being the Vicerory Lodge, which looks quite Scottish on the inside.

We took a long walk (5km - 500 mtrs decent) through the 'Glen' , which is a valley that leads down to the Polo Pavillion. It looked quite Scottish with the Pine Trees, but the monkeys reminded you that you weren't in Scotland (also the sun was shining). The walk back up was knackering, but it's all good training for the Annapurna trek (Nepal).

As we were a little worried about food (and upsetting Carl again) we decided to eat in the Clarke's Hotel. One of the oldest Colonial and poshest around (apart from the Cecil). The meal was a set menu and was served by waiters from a Colonial past, they had the hats with fans, and the big cummberbands. This was the first time we had meat, a chicken leg and a small amount of lamb. It was very tasty and only 550 rupees (6 pounds, 50p) per head.

Shimla was a good place to be ill, if that's possible. It was clean, didn't get any hassle, and had many amenities. It didn't seem like the India we'd visited previously. The cool fresh mountain air was also a nice respite from the heat and humidity of Delhi.

Our next leg of the trip is up to Dharamsala McLeod Ganj, where the Tibetan government's in exile. Our mode of transport was a local bus for a time of 10 hours.