20th of December

We had a pretty lazy start to the day. The hospital had an anaesthetic exam on for their registrars so theatres were shut. We decided to go to the Jakruu temple that is at the top of the hill where we are staying. The temple is to the monkey god, so as you can imagine there were lots of monkeys around. There were warning signs up informing us to take care of your belongings. Being rather bright I put on my sunglasses, as we were leaving I noticed a monkey leaping towards me. I flung my arm up and it bounced off me and scratched at my face. About 2 seconds later I realised that my sunglasses, which were over my eyes (where they belong), had been stolen. The dirty bloody monkey had stolen them. I didn’t like them before but now I can’t stand them.

The view from the high parts of Shimla is fantastic. Considering at sea level I can see to the horizon, about 7 km away, being at 2200 m I can see 150 km. The vista is stunning, the mountain ranges roll around us, the highest ones are about 6000 m. Snow capped teeth of the world. I’ve never seen anything like it around Australia, not that I’m widely travelled. I’ve added some photos to try and capture the panorama that is Shimla.