Shimla - Day 4 Indian holiday

This blip was taken about 8:30 this morning as His Lordship and I managed a short walk from our hotel to catch some of the early morning bustle of workers and school children starting their day.
The roads are narrow up here, with no pavements and so cars and pedestrians juggle for space, not to mention the dogs and monkeys dodging the traffic.
The sun was up but it was cool, although I could still wear a short sleeve Tshirt.
The temperature drops quickly in the evening and cardigans and jackets are needed then.

From then on we had a full day of sightseeing.
Firstly the Sankat Monchat Hindu Temple. I hadn't realised that Hinduism is not considered a religion, but a way of life conducting one's life. This seems to me to be an excellent thing to aspire to, although the million gods worshipped seems slightly excessive, even if they are off shoots of the three main ones.

Them on to Viceregal Lodge which was once the summer home of every Viceroy of India until independence. It is now an further education centre with research facilities. It's an enormous stone edifice with a commanding view over the hills, and HL and I were delighted to hear that it was built in the old Scottish baronial style.
We were also rather pleased to learn, surrounded as we are, by our fellow English tourers, that Shimla itself was discovered by two Scottish brothers when it was just a huddle of 30 houses in the hills.

With all this culture under our belts, it was time to add lunch at Clarkes Hotel to the mix , followed by a visit to the Gaiety Theatre, built needless to say for the British and Europeans during the time of the Raj. Then, non Europeans were not allowed on the street in which the theatre is situated, so presumably were never inside.

And so to a leisurely walk back to the hotel along the main shopping street, with the sun slipping away and the temperature dropping, leaving the blue distant Himalayas with their caps of fresh winter snow, just visible against a glowing red sky.
Absolutely perfect.