Monday 1st April 2019 Having climbed to these Himalayan heights there is always the journey back down and, as a mark of respect for this impressive little narrow gauge railway, Robert dressed to match The Himalayan Queen, as this ‘Toy Train’ is known. We were bemused by the yellow signs (see above) on several of the carriages which read, “Ball and sausage packing”. This is still a mystery but it appealed to our sense of humour. Shimla Railway Station is very clean and orderly having had, as a sign informed us, a “Heritage upgradation cum restoration” in 2018. As previously mentioned, the view is always different on the way down and we were pleased to be able to spot the Viceregal Lodge and its turreted profile perched high above us. The train left just seven minutes late but by the time we reached Kalka it was right back on schedule. We did think that the management of the DHR could benefit from some consultancy advice. We caught the train from Kalka back to Chandrigarh and were greeted by the same “Meals on Wheels” member of staff who had pointed at Robert’s stomach on the previous trip. We realised we may […]
Chandrigarh
Tuesday 2nd April 2019 In 1950 Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India commissioned the building of a new city to serve as the state capital for Punjab as, when India gained Independence and East and West Pakistan were created, Lahore became the capital of West Pakistan. Chandigarh is a city and a union territory, governed directly by the Union Government, and serves as the state capital of both Haryana and Punjab. We visited The Le Corbusier Centre, the Old Architect’s Office, which was one of the first buildings to be constructed in Chandigarh and was used for its original purpose until 1965 when the Department of Urban Planning relocated elsewhere. It includes many interesting documents about the commissioning process and the building works. Nehru engaged the French-Swiss architect Charles Edouard Jeanneret [who adopted the name “Le Corbusier” and seems to have received most of the accolades and kudos] but his Swiss cousin Pierre Jeanneret, together with the English husband and wife team of Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew were also responsible for much of this large civic architecture project. The city is laid out on a grid pattern and divided into 57 sectors, though we could not find […]