tea plantation daydream

Recently read a really nice blogpost about a woman visiting a tea plantation in Ceylon. She had a great description of the whole ordeal and lovely photos. The blog was written by an American living in England, and she was describing a very relaxing and invigorating trip to see where and how tea is grown. Here's the URL if you want to see what I'm talking about: (http://www.aladyinlondon.com/2011/01/ceylon-tea-tour-sri-lanka.html)

Her post got me thinking about a post I wrote last year in the dead of winter:

(http://lahikmajoedrinkstea.blogspot.com/2010/02/daydreaming-in-sri-lanka.html)

I know some tea drinkers who aren't that curious about the origin of their tea. Maybe a bit curious, but the thought of actually going and seeing where the tea was grown is the farthest thing from their minds. Not me. I really wonder what it's like there. I find out where a tea plantation is, and I search for satellite imagery of the area.

I fantasize about what it would be like to hike in the mountains of Darjeeling. I wonder how much of the tea processing they'd really let you see on a Chinese tea estate. I hear about the damage to the tea plants in Assam, and I wonder if the landscape is visibly ravaged.

So that's where my thoughts are on this mild wet winter's evening. I'm sure there are places where tea-pickers aren't paid a decent wage. Or where the tea is grown as just another commodity. I'm not thinking about those issues or places.

Instead, I'm on a plantation where they take loving care of every step of the process. Can't wait to take a trip like that Lady in London.