The Scenic Route to Shimla

The little canteen in Dharampur comes as a charming surprise, with shelves laden with quaint preserves and a selection of wines behind the counter. Anil my driver decides to break the journey here for lunch, but we still have a long way to go.
'I'm not hungry,' I lie. 'Let's carry on.'
Anil is puzzled.
'Sir go Shimla?'
'No, no.' We've been through this a dozen times. 'Arki then Shimla.'

Anil is petulant about this. I can sense it. Here we are on a 90km detour along a little winding road to an obscure outpost in the Shimla hills - is the foreigner sahib quite mad?

'Sir, cold air,' he says maliciously, turning off the airconditioning and winding down the window so that a blast of warm air hits my face. It was 40°C when we set off from Chandigarh on the plains and, surprisingly, not much cooler here in the hills.

Arki, of course, isn't just another little hill town like the others, I muse to myself as we drive past the pretty Gurkha cantonment of Sabathu. It was once the seat of the small princely hill state of Baghal - the Land of the Leopards. The Outlook Traveller guide (aimed at the discerning domestic Indian traveller) describes it as a 'little-known regal hideaway' with a 'picturesquely located fort-palace' situated 'high on a spur overlooking the town at 4,200 ft'. Quite apart from its setting, one of the great draws of the fort-palace is its exquisite audience hall or diwan-i-khas, with 'fabulous murals' depicted in 'different styles of Indian miniature painting of the highest calibre' (see above).

I had originally set off with the intention of spending a few days quietly pottering around Shimla. Having delved a bit deeper into the history of the region, I resolve instead to explore the palaces of the old hill rajas - and would have done so but for Anil's lack of cooperation. After dinner that night, we have a falling out over my plans for an excursion to Jubbal the next day ('Sir, Jubbal far-far, road no good!').

Needless to say, he didn't get a tip!