Sunrise at the tea plantation

It's an early start as I watch the Liverpool game at 3am this morning but I'm getting picked up at 6am to do a sunrise tour. Marly and Harvey have also booked on so I'm looking forward to it. Arvin is our guide and is outside early but when I come to find my shoes there not there. In most Asian countries they take their shoes off outside the property but with it being so early there's no one to ask. Tge guide says to try the door and I'm relieved when it's open an my shoes are just inside. Arwin drives out of town and to the viewpoint where the sun is just starting to rise but the moon and stars are still clearly visible in the sky. Its a gorgeous sunrise as the skyline lights up shedding light on the tea terraces below us. They are so well groomed like topiary and as we walk down towards the cafe there are people harvesting the tea. This is only done once a fortnight . The tools they use are recycled bottles formed to make big handlike utensils that almost clap the new leaves off. The workers are generally from Pakistan or Nepal and are paid 24 cents a kilo the equivalent of 5p and imagine how many tea leaves to make a kilo. The tea is called Boh tea and is very popular here and it stands for best of highlands. The owners are actually Scottish and descend from a guy named Archie Russell who started the tea plantation when his other investments of tin and rubber took a hit with the great depression in the 1920,s and is still owned by the family. Our next stop is to taste the tea at a cafe with the most surreal view. They even have scone jam and cream here but I opt for the firecracker sausage roll and the strawberry tart it's only 830 but I've been up for hours. I even go back to try a different tea its so good. Now we're fed it's time for the trek . It's not too far but once again its climbing up through the forest until eventually we reach the mossy forest. It's like being in a movie the scenery as the moss literally wraps itself around the floor climbing the trees. I take way too many photos but each time I turn a corner I just keep going Wow. After the trip were dropped off in town and we all go for food, its delicious and my intention of heading back and grabbing my washing ends up in me having a little siesta. I eventually make it to the laundrette. They actually have washing tokens here so I load my washing andhave also put my rucksack in. When I return 30 minutes later im devastated. Everything has white marks on it and I think maybe it hasn't rinsed properly but as I continued to sort through I find I've left my suncream in and it's literally covered my clothes. I rewash but they are still marked thank goodness it's only a few things. I buy a toothbrush and when I get back give them a good scrub and it comes out. I eat dinner in a restaurant called Jasmine and with it being western is twice the price. I meet Harvey and Marly in the shopping mall where we share a few games of pool before having an early night.Read more