JATOG TO KUMARSAIN

The previous night we had gone off to sleep to the sound of light rain falling on the tin roof of the accommodation.

We woke very early in the morning at about 4.30 am and after a quick wash and our cup tea with biscuits we stepped out of the guest house and to our utter joy the skies were clear and I could see morning stars. This lifted my spirits greatly and we took off from there.

The uphill road from the previous evening was now downhill and it added to our joy. As we were crossing the railway tracks of Jatog railway station, we met a lady who was walking her dog and when we asked her directions she got after us to come to her house and have tea. She also pointed out a shorter route to the famous ridge of Shimla. Some of us wanted to see this famous tourist spot .We peddled along the road where we encountered morning walkers and joggers. We passed along the Circuit house boundary wall. Many walkers were quite fascinated by our group when they came to know that we were cycling from Dehradun and all of us were senior citizens. We passed by Railway Board building, which is near Summer Hill and Mall road.

This building was constructed towards the end of 1800’s and is considered to be a fine example of colonial architecture. It is made of iron and steel and is supposed to be fire proof. Students of architectural colleges come here to study the design.

 From here we proceeded towards the famous ridge of Shimla. This is vast open space where many cultural events are held. It is quite popular with people who are fond of shopping as plenty of shops are around this. Basically the ridge is a vast water tank built by the British for supplying water to the town. The most significant landmark of Ridge is the Church .This church is supposed to be second oldest church in India .First being a church in Meerut. The church was built in 1857(the year of Indian Mutiny) and is of Neo Gothic style of architecture. It has five stained glass windows. Many ancient books and scriptures are housed in this church. As we were cycling along the ridge a group of children in school uniform cheered us on. Further down the road, another group of girls who were jogging cheered us as well. This encouraged us greatly and our legs peddled harder.

 We passed by the hospital on our way to Kufri, which was about 15 kilometers away. By this time the traffic had started to increase .The road  was pretty steep and narrow. At one place a loaded truck brushed my saddle bag which was quite scary. After this I decided to walk pulling my bicycle till my nerves were back to normal. Finally we reached Kufri and stopped for breakfast at Sher e Punjab Dhaba (much to my relief.) Dhaba means a restaurant. Most of the time our breakfast while on the move consisted of Aloo ka paratha.(The most common breakfast of North India)

After breakfast some of us took photographs with Yaks. We resumed our cycling in a very relaxed manner and proceeded towards Theog.  At this time we had no idea as to where we would stop for the night.

We had entered the apple country. The slopes of the mountains were covered with apple orchards.

Huge white plastic sheets covered the apple trees to protect the fruits from the birds and monkeys. The roads were broader now. One could see trucks and pickups parked by the side of the road near the apple godown.

The apples were sorted out and packed indifferent kinds of cartons,according to the quality for transporting to the vegetable market across the country. By this time we had decided to halt at a place called Kumarsain. We reached here around 4.30 in the evening and looked for a place to stay, which was a PWD inspection bungalow. After putting our bags in the room and securing our bicycles we went for a small walk to the town which was basically just a single narrow street. A quick dinner and back to the room.

That day we covered around 90 kilometers.

Jatog, Shimla Railway Board Building ,Ridge ,Church, Kufri,Kumarsain.Apple orchards