July 16, 2016.

We were famished by the time we reached #Tabo at around 2.55 pm. So we set priorities: Find food, eat food; Find accommodation, dump bags; set out for The #TaboMonastery. So that’s exactly what we did. We took a walk around the the central market area, homed in on a little cafe in a lane… and we have just finished lunch. Vegetable Thukpa and Vegetable Chowmein. Kaushal and The Wayfarer dug into rotis, Kadhai Paneer, and Daal.

Photo: Sanjay Mukherjee

Photo: Sanjay Mukherjee

Photo: Sanjay Mukherjee

Let me explain what I mean by ‘central market’. I mean it’s more or less the centre of the village and it’s the main ‘market’, which is the State Bank of India ATM, the general parking lot, a few cafes, couple of good motels, and a few shops – all along or around a single little road that leads to the Monastery.

We checked out two places to stay in the market and a couple of options on the main road to Kaza running outside of the village (2 minutes walk from the market). We settled on The Tiger’s Den, which had a row of rooms on ground and first floor, a sort of restaurant and an open-air eating and hanging out place.

The other option in the market was the accommodation and restaurant attached to the Monastery. Kaushal of course has been to Tabo way back in 2004 and he had stayed in these rooms then – they are made of clay with wooden furniture and gives one a feel of the olden days atmosphere. Earlier these rooms were administered by the Lamas of the monastery, now they are run (on lease) by a private concern.