Just back from the coffee farmers in the mountains, after two days we return to the mountains, now to visit a tea farmer.
Ben and Linda want to investigate whether setting up tea plantations is also something they can create employment with. But what do they know about tea? To find out, they have an appointment with Suresh, the owner of a very large tea plantation close to Ilam, on the other side of Nepal. A distance of 665 km - 15 hours in the night bus, 3 hours in a day bus and 1.5 hours in a Jeep, it says something about the roads here. For a nice cup of tea you sometimes have to go the extra mile.
After the very long trip through the mountains, we arrived at an open area with an office and a large factory surrounded by a huge tea plantation, beautifully landscaped! It looks like a beautiful walking park.
The owner, Suresh, invites us to his office and Ben asks him about the company and the tea production. Although the very friendly man expresses himself well in English, he does not seem to fully understand some of the questions. Ben therefore tries to articulate the same questions in a different way, but with some questions it is not possible to get the answer. Sometimes you see the man thinking "oh my goodness, those people know nothing about tea, when is this conversation over ?!" but he also likes to answer all the questions, as he is very proud of his company, and rightly so!
It is clear that we do not know anything about tea yet. Instead of answering questions, he proposes to give us a tour through the factory where the tea is processed from freshly picked leaves to the tea we know in tea bags. Just like coffee, something we didn’t know about and we learned a lot – it’s so nice and interesting to see which process precedes drinking a cup of tea. And that's a lot!
The next day he proudly shows us his beautiful plantation and we also meet tea pickers who are working extremely hard. Ha, the group of women chatting together while picking, is suddenly silent when they see us coming.
They look at us somewhat shy, which is understandable with multiple cameras in front of them. Suresh explains the full process from planting to harvesting, he tells when and how tea is picked throughout the year and that the timing and manner of picking ensures the different types of tea. Every tea bush is harvested four times a year, first flush, second flush, rainy season flush and autumn flush, each harvest produces different grades and different flavors of tea next to the white tea and green tea. Wow, we learn a lot again.
We walk on again, and behind us we hear that the women are picking up the thread of their conversation again, relieved that the foreigners leave them alone again...
In the afternoon, Suresh takes us to a kind of kitchen in the factory where 10 bowls of tea are positioned in a row and behind each bowl the tea leaves from which the tea is drawn. We do a tea tasting to smell and taste the different flavors and qualities. Smelling and tasting because in that order it goes, just like with wine. First smell, then taste because that way you taste the taste better.
Well, we are cappuccino people and not necessarily tea drinkers, but it is really nice to taste the differences. So many flavors, all coming from the same tea bush. Quite special, never expected!
After a last night in our four-person bungalow, next to the factory, we are ready for the return ride to Pokhara, a total of 24 hours.
On Suresh's recommendation, we decided to take the 3-hour Jeep taxi in stead of the day-bus trip. Sounds good! More pleasant than sitting uncomfortably in a bus. With the driver, we arranged a good price and boarded the Jeep. It’s an extended Jeep with two benches in the back. Fine! Linda and Judy sat on the middle bench and Ben and Albert settled down on the backseat with their long legs. Not very spacious but both do a good job. They considered to sit in the back of the trunk for more space but decided they were already fine.
Just when we thought we were ready to go, the taxi driver gestures to a young man to get in. He climbs over the bench and then slides between the knees of Ben and Albert. Uggh. A minute later, a boy also boards the seat next to Linda and Judy.
A girl of around 12 years old climbs into the front seat, next to the driver, and next to her a man of about 50 enters the car. We are realizing more and more that this apparently is not our private taxi. We start our drive, and after 25 meters the taxi stops, and the driver puts a mother on the middle bench, with her toddler on her lap, next to the boy, next to Linda and Judy. After 50 meters the taxi stops again and the hopper fills up with 2 people. And more people enter the car until the driver decides that he must sell passenger number 16 a 'no'. Pppffff, that’s a relief! We are like herring in a tin (Dutch expression 😊)!
On the way, the driver continues to load cargo on the roof and accept several postal parcels and letters which he delivers on the way to the addresses along the road.
All in all, a special experience that our joints will not soon forget!
Arriving at the bus station, we have a few hours before we can get on the night bus so we have some tea in a little restaurant. They haven't heard of coffee in this part of Nepal and the tea is not of the same quality as we had yesterday. After a while we get hungry, so we enter a (almost empty) restaurant and sit down. The owner looks at us from his bar stool and laughs when we ask for the menu. He does not seem to want to have 4 customers and he stays where he is. Unbelievable, we decide to leave for another place.
When the night bus arrives, we start the last part of our journey, just another 15 hours on bumpy roads, and arrive safely in Pokhara again in the early morning.
All in all, a very long journey but definitely worth it - how often do you get the opportunity to see and experience a really nice tea plantation ...?
A few more pictures ...
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