So we reached Shimla at 9:30pm. Our hotel was on Mall Road. We asked a passerby where was it exactly located, but he was confused. So we went a bit ahead and saw a board that said Hotel Amar Villa (the one we had booked) rooms starting from ₹599. My brother went in to enquire about the exact location & came back after five minutes. He said that the manager of the hotel is sitting in and he is saying that he has no information about our stay. Then I and my father went in. The room was filled with smoke out of a cigarette and there was smell of alcohol in the room. I guess they were having a party there. We showed them the voucher that we had received from MakeMyTrip after we paid the money. He said like us even the hotel receives a voucher but he hasn't received any voucher. He then said that they have a few super deluxe rooms & he will adjust us there for one night. The next day we will be allotted deluxe rooms (the ones that we had booked) & if we want to continue with super deluxe rooms for the next day as well we will have to pay extra charges then. We were OK with that. We then asked for his name & when he told his name we realized that this man had given us a call a few days ago asking us whether our booking was confirmed. Now if he did not receive the voucher why did he call us? How did he come to know that we had booked the hotel. However, we did not pay much attention to it as he was alotting us rooms.
We then reached the hotel, or should I say foot of the hotel. I had read in the reviews that one has to climb some 100 steps to reach to the hotel, so I was prepared for it. But just climbing and climbing with a bag that weighs almost a kilo makes a big difference. Yes, there was no bellboy to carry our luggage & it was impossible for us to carry all the bags, so we had to hire a coolie. Tired and exhausted we finally reached the hotel. They offered us water and when we got our breath back, they showed us a few rooms. We selected two rooms & then the receptionist told us that they were super deluxe rooms and we will have to pay extra for them. My father then said that we have spoken to the manager & he said that we will have to pay extra if we continue with the rooms tomorrow, tonight we don't have to pay any extra charges. But he just did not agree and started saying we cannot alot you those rooms as you are not ready to pay extra.
Even we did not agree to take any other room. I mean why should we? He then called the manager and had some conversation with him & then handed the phone to my father. The manager then started quarreling with my father. He said we will have to listen to what the receptionist is saying and if we don't want to agree we can leave the hotel, he doesn't care if we stay there or not. This phoning session went on for about 45 minutes & then after all the calling and quarreling they gave us the rooms that we had selected. They try to loot money from you, but you should stay firm. Nevertheless, we went to the rooms, freshened up & then went to sleep.
The next day we got up, got ready and ordered breakfast. I had read bad reviews about the food here but it was quiet good than what I had read. We then left for Kufri. On our way the driver told us that a lady came in the morning where the car was parked and demanded ₹250 for the parking. The driver asked for the receipt, when she handed the receipt it was written ₹120. The driver then said that he will pay only ₹120 because that's what the receipt says. She then started quarreling with him and then at last said that he will have to pay ₹150. We then reached Kufri Adventures, a small amusement park. It had some rides, some adventure sports and some indoor games. Then we went on the Kufri Hill. Now here at the hill there is Himalayan Zoo and Indira Bungalow at the foothill & then one has to climb the hill to see Mashu Peak, Fagu Valley, Apple Garden and a few other points. Then hill is often covered with snow and when the snow melts the road becomes very muddy making it difficult for people to climb. So they have ponies for taking people up. Now the people with the ponies start stopping the cars almost 2 kilometers ago from the foothill. But we did not stop. We went up till Himalayan Zoo. After taking a walk in the zoo, we decided to go up. The pony ride costs ₹500 per person. After having the most scary ride on the bumpy road sitting on a pony, we reached up on the hill. Entry fee, fee to see the apple garden, fee to see the main points, fee for this, fee for that. Damn!! this costs a lot of money. We did not spend much and tried to see everything from those points which did not have the 'thekedars'. After spending some time there, we went down. Our plan was to reach Shimla and then take a stroll in the market, have dinner and then go to sleep.
But, we lost our way & it took us about one and a half hour to reach Shimla. On the way our driver told us that there was a point, if we had parked our car there and hired ponies from there, the parking would have been free and they would even served lunch to our driver. But because we did not stop our car, they charged the parking fee as well as charged money for the lunch. Sigh!!
We then reached Shimla at around 7pm. On our way we encountered some rude traffic police. Nothing much to say, but the way they were controlling the traffic was very rude. I guess they were taking out their frustration on the people. We then took a walk at Mall Road and had our dinner at Jashan Restaurant. It was an amazing restaurant with good food. The ambience was really nice. Their were a few flaws, but that was OK. After dinner we headed straight to the hotel and went to sleep as we had to leave for Manali at 5am the next day.
To be honest, Shimla has got rude people, it is very costly & there is nothing much to see. We did not like Shimla at all. But we thought instead of cribbing about it, we'll enjoy the time we are there.
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