Dhaulagiri. Khaja House

 The time I reached here , I was on the way to the Sarangkot hilltop and boy was I hungry.
Had a few croissants and danish from the famous German bakery in Pokhara before starting off.. 4 hours of trek sure made me feel jumpy in my tummy. It was a small joint which seem overcrowded even at 1630 hrs in the evening. Came to know that it was run by a 64 year old woman and her daughters. Being hungry and desperate ordered for a plate of BUFF MOMOS..... well yeah that how Beef is spelt here and throughout Nepal.
8 pieces of steaming hot momos were on my small rickety little table with a bowl of the most amazing coriander flavored meat clear soup I have ever had in my life. A hint of spicy chilies and major aromas of coriander root. HEAVEN......    Spoke to the owner in my broken Nepali and came to know that the soup is a kind of a master stock ( similar to that of the Chinese Cuisine) . It is the steaming liquor that sits at the base of the Mamcha( momo Steamer) n starts off at 5 in the morning. and keeps getting reduced and replenished with meat stock.

Road Trips and more.....

GORAKHPUR TO SUNAULI

Wow... What a way to grab a bus.. Got off one and ran at full speed after the other one with my rucksack swinging all over. After all I had not expected to get a bus to Sunauli at 0420 hrs in the morning..... Jumped in and sheer luck , i got a seat of the co driver next to Mr Madan Kishore who apparently had been driving this bus since Delhi ...... and by the time it was 0530 I could see him drifting on the road.
One thing that travelling has sure taught me, when seated next to a driver ( and a really tired one in my case!) NEVER EVER GO TO SLEEP !!! Or for that matter even look at him showing him your puppy dog droopy eyes. It will totally fuck up his concentration .
So traversing along the plains we  reached this spot with immense forestation and a sign saying " Uttar Pradesh Van Vibhaag". Loads of monkeys( the normal brown looking ones which my mom often ends up calling me ) and those wise looking langoors trotting all over the place esp near the local dhaba called " THE FOREST TRET" , wonder what he was trying to imply. Eventually managed to cover the remaining stretch in 2.5 hours without Mr Kishore dozing off.

SUNAULI

The moment you get out of the bus at the station which was about 10 mins away from the actual border,  even at the time when I would generally be sleeping, you are bound to be hoarded by these rickshaw pullers screaming " BORDER PAAR" . Abe aise bol rahah hai jaise Pakistan jaane ki baat kar raha ho.  So caught one and reached the no mans land and a smart looking uniformed BSF jawaan came to me to check my rucksack and ask the regular "Where from? Where to? Who you ? " questions.
Promptly I pulled out my Dependent Card and told him about my intentions...... of going to Pokhara.He wondered what ID proof had I just given to him, so i pointed it out to him that it was issued by the Indian Army. Man, you should have seen him. Full on attention and a curt " Jai Hind Sahab". Hahaha the 25 year old me played along and responded " Jai Hind, Araam se". Talk about national security, he didnt even check my bag and allowed me to proceed.!!!

..... The curious story of the bus shall follow soon~~~ !!!