On the hill in the clear air, the tea plantation grows Ceylon Tea in vast fields. Tea is harvested by hand, and only the very top of the plant is taken. The pickers take the top two leaves and the bud, which is the newest and smallest leaf. The prize bud is an unopened leaf.
After harvesting, the tea leaves are withered for about 36 hours, then dried and sorted for size, color, etc. The prized buds mentioned above are processed by hand, but the rest of it goes through machinery that's been in use since the 1930's. It's bagged up and wholesaled to various packagers who blend it or not as they will.
After checking out the factory, we were welcomed with tea and cake on the lawn at the manager's house. Neat architecture and beautiful garden.
The drive back to the pier went a little faster, and we witnessed early evening life in the area as we went. People gathered on the street corner waiting for Monks to arrive, sit in special white chairs, and bless whatever's going on: wedding, birthday, pub crawl, who knows? Also, for everyone's listening enjoyment, sermons are blasted over loudspeakers so one can get a little religion on the way home. We arrived back at the ship well after dark and the General Manager met everyone at the door to encourage us to "come as we were" to a buffet on deck. We expect that he was trying to save room service from certain disaster.
Onward to Incredible India!
