Visiting small roadside tea shops is one of my favorite things to do when cycling outside city limits. It may not be everyone’s cuppa ‘tea’ (I know as some of my friends hate it), but it certainly is mine. I have never felt these shops to be unhygienic or their teas to have a strong smell/taste of kerosene or smoke. Or maybe they might have a tiny bit of that, as most of them still use either kerosene stove or the traditional Indian stove that uses firewood, and I am perfectly okay with that because what I get from these tiny shops, along with some tea made with affection, is a lovely conversation, if I am willing to have a chit-chat with them, and some beautiful memories to take back home with me, and that, I feel, is what makes my bicycle rides complete.
Make tea, not war – as someone said. 🙂
u m b r e l l a j u n e 