Standard Shimla Stint.. Day1..

This blog is about a trip...
 to the the snow clad mountains where your eyes will bling..
 to the awesome river where there is hot water spring..
 to the beautiful places where the birds just sing..
 to the golf course where people take swing..
 and finally to the temple, where faith will bring..
 ting ting titing..

With all the help from bcmt, here is what the itinerary looked like at the start of the trip..

Day 1 
 Flight from Mumbai – Chandigarh (7am – 10.45am)
 Chandigarh – Kandaghat – Chail – Kufri – Mashobra (145kms)
 Chail : Chail Palace complex and Cricket Ground

Day 2
 Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla
 Hotel Peterhoff
 Jakhu Temple
 Ridge and Mall road on return (Indian Coffee House, Trishul Bakery for Momos and Chocolate Walnut Pastries)

Day 3
 Naldehra Golf Course
 Tattapani
 Craignano
 Helipad before Kufri for some awesome views 
 Kufri : Mahasu Peak, Zoo and an Indira Park
 Evening at Mall road

Day 4
 Tara Devi Temple
 Departure to Chandigarh via Shimla or Kufri/Ch

But whats the journey which goes as planned...

Day 1 :
Mumbai - Chandigarh - Mashobra..



Our AirIndia flight welcomed us at 7am in the morning from Mumbai.. A sumptuous breakfast was served which helped calm the hunger god..
We reached Delhi on time and waited on the tarmac for the next lot of tourists to fill the plane..



Reached Chd on time and the first thing that struck us was the chill in the weather..
Our journey started from Chd at around 11am..



We stopped at the Gianni's dhaba for a quick bite of Aloo Parantha.. I loved it thoroughly.. We also had a quick walk to get some blood flowing in our legs.. but we just could not withstand the chilling wind.. 



The weather was getting unpredictable.. We kept driving for quite a distance, but I finally told Kewalji to stop at a turn from where the scene was looking to good to let go..


The weather Gods did not like our arrival..




But it was all clear at Mashobra..


We reached Mashobra at around 3.30pm..
We were put up at the Whispering Pines of Club Mahindra.. 
View from the hotel lobby..


We were not lucky to get this view from our room..


the hotel corridor..


the room..




And the first bird of the trip... 


The rest of the evening was spent at the hotel. And that is where I got the first glimpse of the snow-clad mountains.. 
It was the first time I saw such a beautiful scene.. and was I mesmerized..












I thanked my stars we were not out on that evening.. there was a real bad thunderstorm that greeted us..


a really bad attempt to capture the lightning 


We decided to skip Chail on the first day..
Chail would have been a 30km detour from the normal route..so not to make things hectic we pushed it to some other day..