Wednesday, May 25, 2011-Trains and Tea!

Notes from the traveling desk of Rita Meek

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...

Dad laughing along with Mr. Banjerjee following some funny insight

Classic Mr. Banerjee



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.

Tuesday May 24-Exploring Kurseong: Orchids, Goats, and Banjos!

Notes from the traveling desk of Rita Meek

Up bright and early, breakfast at the hotel with roti, egg omelets, fruit and (instant) coffee and tea, and off we went for our explore. After discussing all of the potential activities and available hikes with the manager of the hotel, we rented a driver to take us first to then train station to get our tickets for the Toy train on Wednesday, and then to a monastery and then to the place where we could start our hike

The monastery was much farther up the mountain, and there was thick fog covering the entire area from our hotel up as far as we went on the mountain.

We left the car (after another series of switchbacks, cars honking madly as they rounded curves, a few backing ups, and one time when we all had to get out of the car so the car could make it up the steep slope), and walked up the old stone steps to the Buddhist monastery .

A stupa at the monastery

We were greeted by a Buddhist nun who allowed us to go into the . It was decorated with brightly painted and gold-gilded buddhas, and also devils. There were many prayer flags, each one sending its prayers out with the wind. It was such a quiet place, and was so deep in the forest, with birds, flowers, and fluttering flags around it.

Wild orchids in the trees

Mom smelling the beautiful orchids

We set out for the Forestry museum, which appeared deserted when we reached it. A gentleman opened it for us, and we wandered around looking at exhibits that probably were new in the 1950’s. Many dusty cases of butterflies, with typed labels identifying their genus and species. Many instructional posters, talking not only about conservation of the land and trees and water, but others counseling that the only way for this world to survive was with population control. Our ever-increasing number of people will further diminish our food and energy supply, therefore causing the poor to have increasingly decreasing resources making their lives even more difficult.

We then walked on through beautiful vegetation, lush and green. Tree orchids, gorgeous flowers by the side of the road, and beautiful flowers growing outside of some of the cottages. Again, many homes in need of significant repair and cosmetic attention, but an occasional one (possibly left over from the British) looked to be in good condition. Long stretches of green, and then a few houses would be clustered together. People smiled at us, and occasionally we would get a “Hi” or “hello” – we obviously were tourists. We passed several schools where classes were in session. The children were always nicely dressed in uniforms, polite, and apparently well-behaved when we saw them. We passed one elementary school and heard a teacher reading a story to her students in English about a Mommy Penguin. After each line she read, the class would all repeat back to her the statement word-for-word in perfect English. Very sweet and very special. We did later see five or six young children sitting by the side of the road, smiling at us, and waving. After we passed them, we began to hear the chant “please give me money” repeated over and over and over again....

Later in the afternoon (after a nap!) we met again and walked up the road to a beautiful old cemetery we had noticed several times. There were many old stone crosses that one could see from the road. The entire area was under fog and mist again, which made it a perfect time to explore a cemetery.

We wandered around, trying to imaging the life of the tea planter who died at the age of 20, the child who died at 10, the people with Indian names who were buried in a Christian cemetery under the sign of the cross….

David brought his banjo and played a number of songs as the sun briefly came out and then disappeared again behind the clouds and mist.

Rita noticed a group of goats cavorting around a large grave in the distance and captured an interesting picture of a goat trying to climb up the large gravestone.

Rita and David lingered in the cemetery, and slowly walked back to the hotel. They walked along with a small boy of 10, impeccably dressed in a gray sweater and gray flannel pants with knife-edged creases, and shiny black shoes who had obviously just come from school. Rita has been thinking about all of the young boys going to these (mostly religious) schools, and then about all of the men standing around in front of shops with apparently nothing to do, and wondering if that is the life that the boys will end up with…

A brief rest, then off to dinner at the hotel where we took all of our meals while in Kurseong. The food was not quite as good as the previous night, but we managed to eat most of it anyway, and then a brief banjo concert while Rita taught Jo how to play “Hearts”. After a few games including one where Jo demonstrated what a good student she was by “shooting the moon” successfully, everyone tumbled into bed so we could be up bright and early Wednesday for our next adventure: off to Darjeeling after a trip to a tea plantation in the morning! And we listened to the rain on the roof….

May 23rd-The Meek's Journey to India-On to the Northeast!

Up very early to get a 5:45 am cab ride to the airport and get on our 7:50 am flight to Siliguri-Badogra airport to begin our trip to Kurseong and then Darjeeling. The flight was uneventful and we were met by the driver sent by the hotel. It was quite an interesting almost two hour ride up through the mountains to get to Kurseong. The road is essentially one car wide – but it is a two lane road, so each car is incessantly honking to let someone from the other direction on the other side of the curve know they are coming.

Several times, there was an impasse where a car from each direction met and neither could get past. Ultimately one had to back up so the other one could get by. One time, a soldier had to make one car move backwards, because 20 cars were piled up behind the car that was headed in the other direction. It was a trip through lush, green forests. We went through a number of small villages, and noticed how multiple shops next to each other all sold the exact same packages of salty snacks, candy, etc. It is unclear how anyone can make a living in this manner. Many small shacks with tin roofs, many houses in various stages of disrepair, many men standing around with apparently nothing to do….

We arrived at the Cochrane Place Hotel, which is clearly much more elegant than the other hostelries in the area. We had two nice rooms. Rita’s and Jim’s was larger with a little balcony and a nice sitting area.

David's perspective is that the hotel was very "funky", with all sorts of interesting pictures, and other bits and bops...such as this, an elephant trunk-shaped exhaust pipe, or perhaps....a tea kettle? Given that we're in tea country we chose the latter!


The entire area was shrouded in thick fog and cloud. Jim and Rita went for a walk in the afternoon, and wandered down a small road into a residential area where the houses were brightly painted. People smiled at us, and many of the homes had beautiful flowers growing outside or in pots. There were cows, goats, chickens, roosters, and dogs wandering around in the street; many of the dogs were in the middle of the street sleeping. The homes were very much in need of repair and paint, and many parts looked like they had been in need for many years.

After our walk (and a nap), we met David and Jo and walked into the town of Kurseong. It is about one and one-half miles from where we are staying (all uphill), and we saw a number of residential areas along the way.

Again we saw all of these little shops, next to each other, where the very same items were sold, and many people were standing around outside. Again, lots of dogs in the streets, along with some chickens, etc. We got into the main street in Kurseong, and there were stores next to stores next to stores. People everywhere. Incessant honking from the bumper-to-bumper traffic. We walked to the train station where we will board “the toy express” to Darjeeling on Wednesday so we could check it out and figure out when we were going to get tickets.

The ticket counter was closed for the day which we knew already but made plans to get the tickets Tuesday morning so we would be sure of seats on the train. We were all feeling pretty tired so we took a taxi back to the Hotel. And it was beginning to rain – which pretty much happened every night. Also the mist persisted for most of our stay in Kurseong.

We had dinner with David and Jo in the hotel restaurant and had a full dinner, with a menu selected by the chef with approval from Jo. (she is so handy to have around since her ability to speak in Hindi makes everything so much easier for the rest of us!) The meal was interesting and we all agreed that the chicken dish was the best although the presentation of white, yellow, and green rice stacked in layers on top of each other was beautiful. However, it made a huge mess of “rice everywhere” when Jim took the first spoonful. After a traditional Indian dessert, we fell into bed, exhausted. And aside from the sound of the torrential rain hitting the tin roof, we all slept like logs.