“Don’t be afraid to give yourself everything you have ever wanted in life.”

After I arrived up and over the pass I decided to spend the night in a dhaba instead of camping since my gear was soaked and another storm was on its way (plus it costs less than two dollars). Dhabas are tea side stalls that sell rice and dal (the most typical meal here), along with a few basic snacks. It costs less than a dollar for an all you can eat meal (they refill your plate as many times as you want), which is definitely a hungry cyclist’s dream. Dhabas are found just outside of cities, or in the middle of nowhere, and out here, they are especially popular amongst truckers. In this area, two or three dhabas make up a village. These “villages” are only inhabited for four months of the year, because starting in October, this mountainous region is snowed in.

Here is the inside of the kitchen, which also doubles as a restaurant (there are a few stools), and at night, a bed for the people working there.

My hosts were sixteen and eighteen year old Nepali boys. One of them spoke a bit of English, as his older brother who works with tourists taught him some. Among many other Nepalis, these boys came here with their families because there was more chance to find work. I spent the evening with them, mostly watching them cycle up and down the road. They managed to crash multiple times (and bend my handlebars) and loose my speedometer (which they then went back and found), but it was obvious they were having such a good time I couldn’t bring myself to take the bike away from them.

Here was my room for the night. As you can see, it’s a hut made of rocks, with tarps for the ceiling, and a piece of metal for the door. This is very typical for a dhaba in this area. Inside there were two beds, which were actually rocks laid down with some cloth over them.