So my time here in Shimla draws towards a close, and it becomes painfully evident that I've still got a load of photos to upload. Best get on to that post-haste ! Here's a couple from the collection:
The typical forms of wildlife you see in Shimla are – as I've indicated before – a couple of species of monkey, and all manner of dogs. I've only seen 3 cats since arriving, although cats are more sneaky than dogs, and there's loads of foliage here for them to hide in. The other thing you see are cows. I tried to grab a snap of this one foraging with its head in a bin, but their ears must be finely honed to detect the whistling sound the wind makes as it resonates around the open mouths of gawping tourists.
Here's a little hut across the road from the big hospital, which I see on my walk home every night. I'm not sure if the bloke lives in there or if he just works there – he appears to be a cobbler of some sort.
It's a couple of weeks old now, but I guess I was a little shocked to read this headline in a paper in 2006. It'd be fascinating (and at the same time pretty gruelling) to see “back blocks” India, where traditional ways of life are favoured over contemporary norms. Although I've heard that some pretty barbaric things still occur out there – I've been told that in some villages, if a man dies before his wife then she's set on top of his funeral pyre and burned alive with his corpse. It's illegal, and condemned by Indian society, but it still happens.
The TV channels are a bit of a random mix – there appear to be a few “Idol” type shows which feature young perky things presenting Bollywood-style song & dance numbers, to be judged by experts in the field. Perhaps more surprising was the cricket channel I found at about 11pm the other night – they broadcast historical cricket matches ! I tuned in just in time to see Greg Chappell going in to bat in the 2nd Ashes Test, at Lords, in 1972.
So anyway, I've got a mahoosive post in the wings loaded with photos – it's a bit of a photographic documentary of my walk from the hotel to the bus stop of a morning. So what I reckon I'll do is get that ready and then put it on its own page. Yup. That's what I'll do.