Shimla Vs Mussourie - Which of them has better Mall Road?

While coming back from Kinnaur, I spent two days in Shimla. While roaming on the Mall Road, we happen to visit a Cafe called 'Wake & Bake' and really loved being there during evening. This Photo Journey shares some of the moments I spent at Wake & Bake, Shimla. So here is the first view you get from the Cafe Windows. Wake & Bake Cafe is on 2nd floor of the building just in front of Shimla Town Hall on Mall Road, Shimla. It has decent place to sit on 2nd floor as well as open air terrace with a great view of the deep valley on other side.Here is the view we get from open air terrace of Wake & Bake Cafe. This view is something that you may get from other restaurants or cafes as well, but the one towards Mall road is special for me. Above view showsn two huge huge buildings - High Court of Himachal Pradesh and Holiday Home Hotel by HPTDC. Colorful view during evening was really amazing. Cafe has some vibrant colors with colorful lighting on Town Hall Building on the front & the blue sky in the background. Here is an amazing art-work on the walls of Wake & Bake Cafe. During daytime, this wall looks normal (but of-course, interesting artwork ) but in evenings all these colors pop-out to give a 3D view. It's really awesome and shiny colors make this art perfect. We also got to know the view of artist who created this wonderful piece of art on walls on Wake & Bake cafe on Mall Road, Shimla. Closer look at the wall. I loved this portion of the wall. This was looking awesome from distance. Because of good number of people at cafe, I couldn't click it from right place. Never mind, will try to get better shot next time :)I am sure that above photograph will give you a perspective about the place. This is clicked from main counter of the Cafe. As we enter into the cafe, this is first view we get. An open window facing Shimla Town Hall building and wonderful artwork on the right wall. I have nothing to share about eatable at Wake & Bake, as I don't remember what I had there. I was so busy in appreciating in beauty around that I didn't bother to focus on eatables or drinks there. But I am sure that it must be great as the place iAneesh keeping an eye on seating place around roof top of the Cafe..Here is the view of Shimla Town Hall on Mall Road.. This is shot from entry of the Wake & Bake Cafe.. There is a series of stairs that lead to the cafe on second floor.A view of street where Wake and Bake Cafe is located. The blue board on one of the building on left is exactly the place and yellow windows behind that belongs to Wake & Bake Cafe. On the right side is Shimla Town Hall on Mall Road in Shimla.Here is another view from windows of Wake & Bake Cafe. This Gaiety Theatre complex and this particular portion is used but Police. I love architecture of these buildings.If you are around Shimla and roaming around mall road, I highly recommend this place to spend some time. And if you happen to visit, please drop your comments with experiences. I know it sounds weird but this is something that came to my mind when I recently visited Mall Road in Mussoorie. Shimla is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Himachal Pradesh and is usually compared with Mussourie which is a popular summer destination in Uttrakhand. It was really very disappointing when we hit the mall road in mussourie at 11am. Whole mall road was jammed with vehicles taking people to hotels and picking the guests who were checking out. This disappointment kept increasing as moved ahead.

 Related Blogpost : Shimla Mall Road || An Amalgamation of Colonial Architecture and Modern Urban Sensibilities

Here are some of the main reasons I love Shimla Mall road as compared to Mussourie -

1. Vehicles are not allowed at any time of the day, while in Mussouire vehicles are allowed till 1pm and some specific vehicles can be seen till 4pm on Mussourie mall road. 

 Related Blogpost : Places to skip when travelling to Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

2. Cleanness of Shimla Mall Road makes the experience unmatchable. On the other side, I noticed open drains in Mussourie and many of them were broken at some places. 

 Related Blogpost : This is Shimla everyone forgets to explore 

3. You don't find random hawkers on Shimla Mall Road and hence you can peacefully walk and enjoy the weather. 

 Related Blogpost : How to reach Shimla and main places to visit around summer capital of India

4. Surrounding walls and the boundaries on Shimla mall road are always neat and well maintained. In mussouire Mall road, I saw some colorful flowers all around but uncovered hills having polybags & construction material of hotels coming up.

 Related Blogpost : Main places to visit around Shimla : One of the popular Hill Statons in Himachal Pradesh

5. During busy hours when thousands of folks come to Shimla Mall Road, well dressed traffic policemen ensure that people walk on the appropriate side to avoid any chaos.

 Related Blogpost : 'Shimla – A Monsoon Epitome'

 6. Mall Road in Shimla is aesthetically much better in comparison to Mussourie. Shimla Mall Road has very beautiful buildings of British era and very well maintained. 

 Related Blogpost : Saturday Evening at Mall Road, Shimla in Himachal Pradesh State of India

 7. Crowd on Shimla Mall Road is much more happening as compared to the Mussourie Mall Road. 

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There are many other things which are difficult to compare and describe. I know it would be disappointing for many of you, but the biggest learning is to go to Mall Road in Mussourie in the evening when you can walk in relaxed way and need not worry about honking vehicles all around. I will be writing a separate PHOTO JOURNEY about what all you can do on Mussourie Mall Road and similarly on Shimla Mall Road. 

Comments

Sakshi said…
You know, I am from Dehradun, and Mussoorie has been my Sunday-to-Sunday spot. However, I have to agree with you here. The traffic and the concretization of what was once much greener and cleaner has taken the charm away. When we go now, we go straight to Char Dukaan (en route Lal Tibba) and by pass the Mall altogether.
But I have to say this here - Mussoorie is over-flowing with tourists from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana in certain months. I do hope you visit off-season and get to enjoy some very beautiful places in the less-popular parts of Mussoorie.
July 10, 2014 at 9:27 AM
Travellingcamera said…
Thanks for sharing Shakshi.

That's true. I have been there many times and never experienced such chaos earlier. And main tourist season make it worse. I am also planning another visit during off-season and wish to explore at peace.

In general I prefer going to places in off-season, but this time we had plan during summer vacations of our nephew :)
July 10, 2014 at 10:19 AM
Travellingcamera said…
The major thing for me was mad traffic, which completely spoiled our visit. We hardly spent 30 minutes on Mall Road and came down.

Of course, it was season time but still I believe that many things could have been improved with good administration.
July 10, 2014 at 2:21 PM
ilakshee said…
I have hazy memories of my first visit to Mussoorie. As a child i remember it as a fine hill station with people swathed in woollens ( you know, the hill station syndrome for tourists!). The subsequent visits have been owing to my husband's posting to the Pine Brigade stationed in Garhi Cantt in Dehradun. the charm of Mussoorie lost it's sheen by then due to the crowd of loud tourists and unplanned constructions. I hope the authorities pay heed now. Although I have been to Kasauli and Chail, I've avoided Shimla for the congestion. Hate to be in a crowd when on a holiday :)
July 11, 2014 at 1:37 PM
Travellingcamera said…
Ilakshi - Chail and Kasauli are better options for folks who want to avoid jammed roads and noisy town(s).

But slowly all these hill stations are getting covered by concrete layers, unless protected by local authorities. Some time back I got to know that Dalhousie has very restrictive rules for construction, at least around mall road. And probably that's one of the reasons that town is so green and peaceful.
July 11, 2014 at 2:18 PM
myblog said…
It has been sometime that I visited Shimla, so really can't comment about it. But I visited Nainital and Mussorie recently. I find Nainital better. Nainital has similar traffic restrictions on Mall and one can roam around freely.
August 30, 2014 at 7:57 AM
Travellingcamera said…
@Saurabh - That becomes very important to maintain such disciplines when you have thousands of tourists visiting everyday from different parts of the country.

December 17, 2014 at 12:40 PM
Akanksha said…
Shimla is the first hill station I ever visited so it remains a special memory to me. But, I have a trip to Mussoorie coming up soon - Looking forward to our post about the Queen of Hills!
April 27, 2015 at 10:31 PM
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