Walk with me | Ep. 9 - Shimla, Himachal Pradesh | A Day At Viceregal Lodge & Chhole Samose Chat

Sep, 2023: This video starts in the middle of our walk westwards from The Mall area of Shimla. We continue walking westwards until we reach Observatory hill - one of the seeven hills of Shimla.
From the base of observatory hill we start we start our ascent right to its topmost point where we find the most important location of Shimla when it was the summer capital of the whole of India. This is the Viceregal Lodge or now called Rashtrapati Bhawan. This building was built at the top of Observatory Hill by clearing and flattening the top of the hill over a very large area of more than 300 acres at one point.
While today the place occupies a smaller area in acreage it still portrays the grandness of its rich and powerful history. We arrived at The Viceregal Lodge on a bright clear and somewhat warm Shimla afternoon - perfect to explore this iconic building. After India's independence from the British, the Viceregal Lodge started being used for the President of Independent India, especially during the harsh Delhi summers.
We spend a good amount of time hanging out at the Viceregal Lodge, exploring its different nooks and corners and taking in the views and experiences all around us. Just when we are close to the Shimla evening we get all done with a wonderful time at the lodge and start our descent to the base of the hill and back eastwards to The Mall.
Once at The Mall we spend some time relaxing and people watching at one of the iconic Shimla bus shelters. After this quick break we get back walking towards the Scandal Point and beyond to finally stop at a shop selling delicious snacks by The Mall. We order the yummy Samosa Chhole Chaat here and end our walk and video while enjoying this satiating snack / meal.

[@galacticquasar]

Nice video. I wish we could see inside the Viceregal Lodge too.

[@awalkwithmeee]

I wish so too :) But they don’t allow photos or videos inside

[@rrrahulvvverma]

Pretty views on this walk. You have a lot of content on Shimla that I was not expecting.

[@awalkwithmeee]

Haha. Yes I do :) Just 2-3 more videos to go though