Shimla's mugging monkeys (by Joe)

There are several notable things about Shimla, the old colonial hill station which has been our gateway to and from the Indian Himalayas.

These are the fantastic narrow gauge railway, climbing nearly 2000 metres which links it to the plains; the mock tudor colonial architecture (now crumbling somewhat); the views; the monkeys; and the fact that, because of the altitude, crisp packets inflate virtually to explosion point (strangely fascinating).

However, of these, it is the monkeys which we have been most fascinated by (see left and above). There are monkeys all across the region, but the monkeys of Shimla have a particular culture, bred through over 100 years of tourism in the town, of criminality.

We were told, firmly, to take extreme care as they were especially cunning and monkey muggings (even in broad daylight) were very common.

We were warned several times by several people that whatever we do, we absolutely must not let them see food in our hands or bags - especially fruit or nuts which would invariably incite them.

Walking around the town we wondered whether this guy might need to reconsider his business plan:

Joe