Tea Time

Sixteen hours of twists and turns, bumpy barely there roads and very sick passengers FINALLY brought us to the gateway of India! An overnight stay on the border and then another 5 or so hours on bumpy windy roads delivered our sleepy heads to Darjeeling, and oh, the journey was so worth it! This seems to be the softest landing that we could have had into India. The bustling, yet peaceful all the same, hillside town, is tucked into a valley at the foothills of the Himalayas. Out our frosty hotel window one can cast their eyes upon Khangchendzonga, India's highest mountain and the worlds third. On a foggy day, there is only a gray void where the valley should be. An extremely fortunate day and you may even catch a glimpse of Everest! The tea is delectably fresh, Darjeeling Golden Tips smelling so fine. Warms our noses on these quite chilly nights and the food!...ugh the food! It's a vegetarians paradise. So many new flavors both delight and confuse my palette. The fire of culinary inspiration is burning brighter each day. I can't wait to have a kitchen of my own to experiment in again.

We were a month too early to witness the first tea flush of the season, usually occurring at the end of March but were able to catch a little insight into the production and dedicated work that goes into one cup of tea. Did you know that only women harvest the tea leaves? The harvest of the top leaves (which is all that they pick for tea) works thru a hierarchy of age. The oldest women work closest to the factory. It tends to be less steep here and the shortest walk back when their baskets are laden with buds. The youngest women, ages 16-17, work the farthest and steepest away and most likely over the course of their lives, will move closer and closer to the factory until retirement in their mid-late 60's. A life dedicated to one task...a introspection to have over your next cup of tea.

Darjeeling is an apparent mix of many cultures. Geographically it lies near the borders of Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet. Walking through the streets one can see this confluence in the faces of those living here. A people as diverse as the landscape and culture. A Tibetan Buddhist Temple shares the same breath of incense as does a Hindu Shiva Temple. It is a synergy that I expect to find through he breadth of India and yet I don't dare make assumptions as I have already learned not to assume anything of India. The moment you try to label her, she will spin your head around...