Following are some of the memories I have of the amazing moments of last winter.

1. Breakfast at Sangla

So I’ll start with food. Nothing is more delicious then a breakfast after a freezing night at Sangla. Parantha, rajmah, curd and tea.

Indian Breakfast of Stuffed 'Parantha' with lentils and curd at Sangla, Kinnaur. In winters all the shops and rest houses remain closed and the only 'Dhabas' that are open have almost no choice of food. (Himanshu Khagta)

2. 10kms walk to Chitkul and back.

Reaching Chitkul after walking for around 10kms on ice and snow and staying with a hospitable family.

Kids playing on the roof in Chitkul, Kinnaur (Himanshu Khagta)

Son of Mr. Thakur, our hosts in Chitkul checks his picture in a Digital Camera. (Himanshu Khagta)

Harsh Kalta checks something on the laptop with a Kerosene heater (Himanshu Khagta)

3. Sunset Treks

Sunset treks started last year with me and two of my friends, Ankur Khachi and Harsh Kalta. To get rid of the boredom of roaming senselessly on the mall road, we started exploring new places in and around Shimla, where people don’t generally go. From small tea shops with their aromatic tea to places were you could enjoy the different versions of Shimla Sunset.

The following shot we took when we were going back home as the dark orange sunset light fell on the green trees. I asked my friends for some poses and this is how we came up with this shot.

Friends posing for a shot at sunset time when the orange rays of the sun were falling on the green pine trees in a forest in Shimla (Himanshu Khagta)

4. Qilaa

Our friend Aasheesh Mehta, recommended this new place in town.  There were not many eating joints in Shimla so we decided to try it out and the moment we entered. we fell is love. Owned by a friendly couple, Qilaa has stone walls and low sitting area. We used to sit there for hours, without getting thrown out. We used to read, eat, talk and play games while waiting for the snowfall.

A cozy winter afternoon at Qilaa, a themed restaurant at Shimla. (Himanshu Khagta)

5. Early Morning Walks

Its difficult to get off your bed in sub zero temperature of Shimla, but once you are out, its worth the pain. Shimla looks beautiful with the empty roads of the mall road, the muted tones and grey clouds. Except for a day or two there was hardly anyone who would accompany me to the mall road at this morning hour. I befriended many mall road dogs. I used to walk around the ridge, Lower Bazaar and Lakkar Bazaar and my walk ended with a light breakfast at the Indian Coffee House.

People busy with their daily chores in a cold winter morning at Lower Bazaar of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India (Himanshu Khagta)

An early morning scene of the Indian Coffee House of Shimla. (Himanshu Khagta)

Night Shot : The last shot I took before I dropped my camera

Many of you might be using your Digital SLR to shoot in extreme weather conditions, but it’s unlikely that you’ll drop the sophisticated piece of equipment. I did so recently with my Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 17-40L f/4.

I bought this camera last year. Though it has a sluggish autofocusing system that is nearly useless when you try to auto focus in very low light, but still it works perfectly for me and its a wonderful camera. The weather sealing of the camera that is not as good as the 1D series, but not that bad either. Canon beefed up their weather sealing and now it features a better magnesium alloy exterior with rubberised grip surfaces. So let’s get back to the main topic.

While I was shooting some night landscapes with moon light through the window of an old guest house in a remote area of Himachal Pradesh, I accidentally dropped it from more then 15ft, right into a pile of snow. It was all dark and I didn’t hear the sound of my camera falling as well. I thought probably it had fallen into the water stream that was right next to the guest house. I wasted no time and ran down to find my camera and saw it lying in a pile of snow and slush. I took it to my room and started cleaning it. I removed the battery to avoid any electrical damage. Cleaned it for the next half an hour with my friend laughing at me.

So after cleaning it, I was surprised to find 0% damage and found it in complete working condition. I still think the snow saved it, but it sure is a water resistant (not waterproof).