Yet another jam-packed day. We started off with breakfast, and then packed to leave, and headed off to the Makaibari Tea plantation, located within walking distance.
We just didn’t know it was all downhill, meaning that it would be all uphill on the return. (We actually bailed at the end of our tour and took a cab back to the hotel). We were not sure what we were going to get as our “tour” but this far surpassed any expectations we might have had.
We were met by Panong who was a volunteer who worked in the tea factory. It was a complicated story, but as best as we could understand, he grew up in the area and still lived here. He was a mountaineering guide, but joined a group of people from the community who volunteered on a regular basis at the tea factory.
We learned about the process of planting, harvesting, and preparing tea as well as about Rajah Banerjee, the owner of the tea plantation.
We were taken into the factory and told that the first step was called ‘withering” where approximately 70% of the water was removed from the leaves for water evaporation.
However, if the tea was to be green tea, this step was eliminated. Then the leaves were “rolled” which basically put the leaves through a conveyor belt and opened more of the leaves.
The leaves then went through a “fermentation process” which in fact as not fermentation but increased oxygenation. Oolong tea is made up of both green and black tea. The green tea has a different length of fermentation process. After the fermentation step is completed, the tea is “sorted” which separates out sticks, dust, and other debris.
The leaves are then packaged for retail distribution.
The best tea is the “first flush”, followed by the “second flush”, the “autumnal flush”. We learned that the lowest quality tea goes into tea bags. Perhaps we shouldn’t wonder what type of tea goes into those little Keurig cups!
David then met Rajah Banerjee who is the owner of the factory.
He was quite a character to say the least...stories about how the secret to the universe could be discovered by cutting open a cow horn and observing the repeating geometric patterns inside....hmmmm...
His great great grandfather started the company in 1859 and it is apparently the only tea plantation that has remained family-owned. He started organic tea farming this area, and brought a lot of ideas about ecoagriculture to the world of tea farming. He also has a strong sense of a living community and is obviously very socially conscious. Seven villages are part of the Makaiberi tea plantation environs. The tea plantation offers nursery and child care and education to the children of the workers. Additionally, the women do most of the tea leaf picking. They earn a decent wage, will get a pension when they turn 58, get extra money if they pick beyond their target for the day (i.e. pick 10 kg and needed to pick only 5 kg). The community has started to offer homestays for tourists who want to get an in-depth experience; they can accompany their hostess to the fields the following day and pick tea leaves. Women start working for the company at the age of 18 or above. The tea from Makaiberi is one of the tea that is used by the TAZO brand of tea which is what is sold by Starbucks and is the tea provided at the Inn at Montchanin where, of course, David and Jo went on their honeymoon night.
Afterwards we took a walk through the tea estate.
Then a brief stop at the tea factory store and the purchase of a few wooden crates of tea (the boxes are made on site by other women), we returned to the hotel for our last meal of chicken tikka, raita, roti, and a chopped vegetable salad.
After a taco-style roti, we got ourselves ready, took a cab to Kurseong, and took our seats on the Toy express.
A brief foray into the stores nearby while we waited for the train to leave, and peanut butter, KitKat bars, and Cadbury chocolate in Jo’s pack, and off we went on our next adventure. The train ride was “memorable”, but not one that we would likely repeat. The fog made it impossible to see the scenery next to the left=side of the train, and the right side view was basically of tin shacks with stores selling the same items, and men and children standing or sitting outside of the stores when we came into the little towns along the way or stone walls.
The engineer blew his horn almost continuously, and the smell of the diesel fuel filled the car. The ride took three hours (with some prolonged stops at stations) to go 30 miles/13 km from Kurseong to Darjeeling.
Our first glimpse of Darjeeling was a city built on a hill with some of the houses painted with bright colors. Then the tin shacks appeared, and we chugged into the station – and as David and Jo would say “the controlled chaos of India.”
Off to find the Shangri La, the hotel David had arranged for. (He has done a simply incredible job of organizing our trip.) We got in a cab (after Jo did a little negotiating of the price) and wound our way through the lower portion of Darjeeling until the driver pulled over and said he could go no further. We would have to walk the rest of the way because the streets were not accessible to cars. Well, not a lot of options there, so we headed off up the hill with our four bags, computer bag, backpacks and banjo case. We got to a very busy and congested street == and had no idea where to go. Jo asked several people for directions but they were not particularly helpful. After some more wandering, we asked a store owner to lead us to the hotel, which he graciously did through the chaos of a smaller version of Times Square and there we were at the Shangra La.
As soon as we walked through the door, a feeling of serenity came over us, and we proceeded up to our rooms, which were large and spacious, decorated beautifully, and with large windows overlooking the square. We could watch people buying scarves from a stand just below the window.
Off to dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, and a dinner of Tibetan soup and stir=fried vegetables. My chicken soup was flavored with cilantro, scallions, and a few fresh green beans—a pretty far cry from the chicken soup with matzoh balls I made for seder one month ago.
Jim went out for a late=evening explore and came back with Cadbury chocolate and bottled water. The town closes down around 9 pm, and we collapsed into bed.
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