Travelling to a hill station is not only limited to enjoying the weather and the natural scenic beauty. Tourist do like to eat a lot of snacks on their trip to different location. People love to eat hot and comforting snacks at hill stations because of the cool weather, high altitude, and relaxing vacation mood. Tourists tend to walk, hike, and explore more when visiting scenic hill stations, burning significantly more energy than they do during their normal sedentary routines. Our body works harder to pump oxygen throughout our system, which accelerates our metabolism and triggers hunger. Finding this as an opportunity, most of the hill station the local people set up many street counters. Food stalls serves as a good business model for local people and a great source of earning. They simply used a cart and few tools to set up their kiosks. During the day time, they used to bustling with many people but in their idle hours they remain empty.

The crisp, fresh mountain air and the relaxed vacation mindset can naturally stimulate appetite and make food taste more appealing. People do all sort of things at popular destination. If they unable to complete their own trek they used to hire local horse / mule to trek and reach to higher altitudes. Horse riding is one of the popular business at many of the hill station. Tourist ride on them, reach to the higher points and then enjoy the daily snacks at the specified kiosks.

Some of the hill station has bustling market along the roadside. I doubt if they need any license to operate at the location. But tourist should be thankful for their operation. Atleast for their effort to serve hot snacks at such an high altitude. They do charge more than usual prices. The local people only need a temporary kiosks, a colorful umbrella, few tools to make their livelihood meet. These are a great source for their earning. Tourist do get hungry as they reach higher altitude and these kioks are their only alternative to cater the food need. Moreover they are ready to pay the higher prices without any question. Eating hot snacks, like steaming momos or roadside noodles, while watching the mist, valleys, or rain adds to the cozy atmosphere of mountain travel.

An early morning visit to one such particular hill station made me to snap the life of these marketplace. Few of the shops were operational while few were about to start their daily routine. The chairs were kept tilted on the table, to avoid it getting wet due to rain. The shopkeeper intentionally keep them tilted over the table to keep them dry. When Visitors arrive at their shops they can easily use the chairs without spoiling their cloth. There is nothing unusual.

These roadside snack points and tea vendors offer vibrant street level views of passing travelers, local craft shops, and alpine greenery. The view from a snack counter at a hill station typically features panoramic vistas of mist covered mountain peaks, lush green valleys, and rolling hills. Visitors eating hot snacks like Maggi or roasted corn (bhutta) enjoy panoramic views of the mountain slopes and clear sky. The view is intentionally curated to make the simple act of snacking feel deeply connected to nature.

In good faith - Peace!!