My Days At Marigold.

The next day we woke up leisurely and after a heavy breakfast, we went trekking. Now, I'm not new to trekking and I think this was more like a hike than a trek. We took regular water-breaks and photo-breaks. We saw several monkeys. Awfully tame. And we also saw apple farms. But we didn't see orchards of red juicy apples since it wasn't the season.

So we trudged along, until we reached a temple. An old man sat at the foot of the temple, contemplating. The temple was small and pretty. After this we walked back in another route. We crossed the estate of a certain Prince of another era.

                                  

The guide was a local. He was a simple, friendly man and an expert in climbing pine trees with ease.  He informed us that the red flowers that grow in plenty in the hillside was known as "Brass" and a juice was made out of it..

Kids from the Highway!

We reached the resort around 12:30PM and after a brunch, we started towards Jakku Temple. Jakku Temple can be decribed by 1 word: Monkeys!! As rightly pointed out by WikiTravels, it is not advisable to spent too much time here, since there's the constant threat of being approached (I wouldn't say attacked) by monkeys. We got sticks just to ward them off. The temple is an old structure and a huge statue is now being constructed (Reportedly funded by Ab. Bacchan). I purchased cute woollen shoes for Divya (after a lot of haggling).

Next Stop: Rashtrapathi Nivas. Steeped in History, this structure now houses the Indian Institute Of Advanced Studies. The scholars pursue research work in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities.

National Instt. Of Advanced Studies

Built using teak wood, decorated with 123-year old Belgian chandeliers and equipped with unique fire fighting system (Wax and water), this colonial building was first the Summer Palace of the Governor General, then, the summer home of the President of India and finally it is now the IIAS (after it was inaugurated by Dr.Radhakrishnan)... The Palace had a certain colonial charm to it.. It was regal.. We saw several pre-Independence era photos in the Gallery... By The way, The Shimla Conference (If you remember your History) was held here..

After this we strolled in the famous Mall Road. Vidha3 and I had bhelpuri. And we also saw Preity Zinta's college. (St.Bede's)... We didn't really shop much. Just a few souvenirs. Also it wasn't really crowded. Because it was the World Cup Final, silly!

                                      

                                                 Mall Road, Shimla

So after ambling aimlessly, we went back to our cottage. And had dinner in bed. and I fell asleep before India won. I vaguely remember Vidha3 waking me up (as I had requested her to do so in case India won) , I remember mumbling something incoherent and dozing off. Yes, very unpatriotic indeed. :( (According to a certain Ms.P)