We left Nuwara Eliya on Monday by hire car. The drive though the mountains was beautiful. There are many huge planations. The friendly manager at hotel Revene advised us to visit Bluefield, which we did. The plant is a hundred+ years old. The leaf tips are harvested every few days. First they are put on large beds, screened at the bottom and left there for 2 hours to dry by half. Then they are transferred to a rolling machine, which partially grinds and rips them. Then are put into other beds with screens that agitate and the smallest fall through. This is the better tea, without stems. Then they are dried further, then sorted and packed for export. Most of the workers on the floor were women, as are the ones who pick the leaves. Afterwards, we sampled the white silver tip tea. Only 12 leaves per cup. I couldn't taste much, but mark thought it good. Have I said, I've become a tea drinker on this trip - that's how bad the coffee is! But the tea is good.
The terraces of tea bushes reminded me of the rice terraces near Sapa in Vietnam. There are roadside stands of fruit and vegetables so frequently, it made me wonder how any of them could sell enough to make money. Lots of coconuts, papayas, eggplant, turnips, carrots, and many things I couldn't identify on a quick drive by. Further down the mountains, we ran into massive rain, with streams crossing the road and rivulets running alongside. I guess those saris got wet. I couldn't figure out if they were being dyed or just dried, but it was a beautiful sight.
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