Shimla is where the British came to escape the heat of the plains, and it still has the look of a Surrey town that took a wrong turn into the Himalaya. Built along a ridge at roughly twenty-two hundred metres, with pine and cedar trees and rows of red-roofed houses, it served as the summer capital of British India, and decisions affecting hundreds of millions of people were made here between May and October. The Ridge, an open promenade in the centre, is lined with Christ Church, a pale yellow neo-Gothic building of the 1850s, and the Mall, a long shopping street, runs alongside. Vehicles are restricted on the Mall and the Ridge, so you will park below and walk up.
Above town, Jakhu hill carries a temple to the monkey god Hanuman and the monkeys that go with it, who are known to snatch glasses, snacks and anything that is not fastened down. Keep your gloves and food in the top box. Out of town, the Viceregal Lodge, a grey stone mansion in the Elizabethan style, now houses a research institute and is open for visits. The narrow-gauge railway from Kalka, ninety-six kilometres of curves, tunnels and viaducts, is listed by UNESCO and is a lovely way to arrive if you have no bike.
For riders, this is the start of the Spiti circuit and a place to prepare. The road east, the old Hindustan-Tibet road, follows the Sutlej river through Narkanda, Rampur and the apple country of Kinnaur, climbing steadily into a world of steeper valleys, thinner air and bigger mountains. Traffic leaving Shimla is thick and slow, with buses, trucks and taxis grinding along the narrow road, and in the monsoon, from July to September, landslides can block it for hours or days. Check the road status each morning.
Shimla has more than a hundred and seventy thousand people, and fuel and repair shops are no problem. Stock up on spares, cash and warm clothing here, because supplies thin out quickly after Reckong Peo. The best times to ride are May to June and September to October, when the sky is clear and the passes are open.
The town is at its best in the early morning, when mist rises from the valleys and the first light touches the snow peaks far to the north.