General Scenery - # - Sandy McClearn Photography

From February 1999 to February 2001, I worked for the Foundation Company of Canada (now AECON) on the Nathpa Jhakri Hydroelectric Project in the Kinnaur District of the Province of Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayas of Northern India. See this
map. During that time, I lived in Ponda Camp near Point "D" on the map. These are some of the more scenic photos that I took during my time there, most taken solely for the enjoyment of my main hobby - photography. The majority are fairly low quality by today's digital standards - 1 megapixel and 2 megapixel images from an Olympus C2000 digital camera, and scanned negative film images taken on a Minolta 7000 with a cheap wide angle zoom lens. It has been about 10 years since I took these photos, and as a result I may have some of the details incorrect. The route between Shimla and the project location follows National Highway (NH) 22, which has been featured recently in the Himalayan episodes of Ice Road Truckers.

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A road in Delhi approaches an abandoned temple. The scooter rider is a bit of a rarity - helmets are not the norm. Note the lack of painted lane lines on the road - even where they exist, motorists tent to ignore them. The mosque in the background is abandoned, except for the pigeons.

My first taste of traffic in Delhi. The black car is an Ambassador, and despite the 1950s styling, these cars are still made. Take a look at the sign in the top right of the image - an ad for classifieds in the Times, "1542 grooms to choose from"!

This is the highway between Delhi (Point "A" on the map) and Chandigarh (Point "B"). Note that it is a twin carriageway (i.e. divided highway). Personally, I got a bit excited when I noticed the headlights heading towards us. My driver wasn't quite as observant as I would have liked, because I had to point this out to him so that he wouldn't try to pass the car in front of us. On trips between Delhi and the site, I would wear my seatbelt between Delhi and a point part of the way between Chandigarh and Shimla (Point "C"). Beyond that point, I would take off the seatbelt, because once you got into the mountains the speed dropped and you wanted to be able to get out of the vehicle as quickly as possible if you went over the edge. Not that it necessarily would have done me any good, but I felt better.

Another view on the road, this time travelling from Chandigarh to Delhi.

A fairly typical transport truck for the Himalayan region of India. Many drivers decorate their trucks to the hilt, including the windshield, so at least this driver can see out. This photo was taken on the road between Chandigarh and Shimla, as we started to head into the mountains.

Yes, capitalism had arrived in India. The STD sign refers to a pay phone service, and not something else. You could buy Coke in the classic bottles, but somehow it just didn't taste the same.

Another view on the road into the mountains.

This is either Shimla (Point "C" on the map), or one of the settlements on the outskirts. Shimla is built on the sides and top of a mountain, and it is where the British established there summer capital, so they could escape the stifling heat and humidity of the plains in Delhi.

The Satluj River valley, somewhere between Shimla and the site. National Highway 22 (NH 22) twists its way along the side of the mountain into the background.

A road in Delhi approaches an abandoned temple. The scooter rider is a bit of a rarity - helmets are not the norm. Note the lack of painted lane lines on the road - even where they exist, motorists tent to ignore them. The mosque in the background is abandoned, except for the pigeons.