ABSTRACT
The formation of hill stations can be traced to the British colonisation of tropical India. This process began when British officers who had difficulty adapting to the tropical monsoon climate took advantage of an opportunity to stay in the Himalayan Mountains to regain their health during the Gurkha War (Mitchell 1972). The idea of building summer resorts emerged from this activity. During the summer months, the Governor General of India usually moved his duties to Shimla, an area in the northern part of Delhi, located 2100 m above sea level. Shimla appeared to be an ideal spot to build a summer resort, and eventually became famous for its hill station (Kanwar 1990). Beginning with Shimla, the tradition of summering spread throughout India and into other western colonies in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam (Spencer and Thomas 1948).
