Farmstay

Saturday, June 28^th

We woke up with the sun and had a few hours before breakfast so we decided to walk down the steep hillside to see what lay below. We walked down the steep and narrow path into dense and wet jungle. The trail passed through the yard of a small house a ways down. The dogs all barked at us but the people there were very friendly and waved us through. We saw a river far below and made our way down to it. A short travel downstream brought us to a waterfall and in the trees near it, there were small monkeys were watching us suspiciously as they munched on some fruit. It is surprising to me how lush and green these mountains are. Places in the united states at 3-7 thousand feet are usually cold and arid, but here, it feels like a rain forest. Sagar told me that its because the humid air from the Indian ocean forms clouds at the Himalayas that then sweep south and cause all of the rains. This means that the foothills get a massive drenching.

Good morning Leslie!

The trail down to the river

We came back up to our tent and were immediately brought some pre-breakfast tea. Darjeeling is world famous for it's tea and it is grown all over the hillsides. The tea we were offered is hand rolled by farmers in the area. Technically it is illegal to sell hand-rolled tea because it can't be taxed, but Navin wants the best quality for his quests. Our breakfast was rice with curried potatoes and masala eggs. All of the food was farm fresh and delicious. And of course we had more tea.

Navin's house

A cool idea for a hanging planter

After breakfast, we found out that the hike we wanted to go on was not possible because the national park where it resides is closed for the summer for mating season. All of the places to trek in the area are closed for this reason. Disappointed, we regrouped and decided to just head to Delhi after our stay in Darjeeling and get on with the rest of our plans early so we can accomplish more. Having solved that problem, we went for a swim with some of Navin's family.

Navin built this pool in his backyard that is filled with the overflow spring water that is used for showering, cooking, and watering the crops. It is fresh water so the pool had picked up some algae but it was refreshing nonetheless. We spent the rest of the morning reading and swimming.

Eventually we asked Navin to show us around his farm and he happily obliged. He grows cardamom (which we ate raw and was minty and delicious), ginger, oranges, corn, tapioca, and of course, tea. He rotates different crops in each small plot of land in order to maintain good nitrogen levels in the soil. He also has 3 cows for milk and manure.

Navin showing us around

raw, brown, cardamom seed

Navin told us that until recently, the tea industry was dominated by large company-owned tea farms that produced and sold all of the regions tea. With some support from the government and the work of people like Navin, there has been a shift where companies are buying organically farmed tea from local farming coalitions. The company does the processing and then markets it as organically grown. Right now, Navin is the head of a coalition of over 460 farmers in the region who sell organically grown tea.

Darjeeling tea is special because to make it, the farmers only use the tips of the tea plants. Only two leaves and a bud is picked and then processed, leaving the rest of the plant for other purposes. It is time consuming and therefore expensive to buy elsewhere in the world. Navin is working on selling hand-rolled Darjeeling tea to customers around the world directly. It is illegal to sell in India (and probably internationally) but its another way for the local farmers to make money.

Darjeeling tea. Two leaves and a bud

Every few hours we were brought some more tea and enjoyed the afternoon talking and playing cards. We went on a walk up to Navin's Buddha statue that was surrounded by prayer flags and then continued on down the road we had originally driven down to check out the other farms.

Tibetan Prayer flags

A huge tea field run by a larger company

At dinner we were offered some local homemade alcohol. It was made from wheat but tasted like sake and Navin told us that it is the same process but wheat is cheaper than rice. We went to bed extremely satisfied with the day.

Three things I learned:

1) Black, Green, and White tea all come from the same tea plant. The difference is that black tea is withered while green tea is steamed before they are rolled. White tea is just the buds of the tea plant and is therefore more expensive than Darjeeling tea.

2) It is best to hang a number of prayer flags that it is an integer multiple of your age (for me, I would hang up 22, 44, 66, 88...)

3) Tapioca balls, like the ones we eat in boba or tapioca pudding, come from within the root of the tapioca plant