DAY 170 - KURSELA

170) WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 1977 : 217KMS. - KURSELA

 

At approximately  10:00 p.m. last night,  a police officer came to knock at our campervan  and advised us to be careful of robbery as we parked in unsuitable remote dark area, if something happened  nobody would  be able to help.  Anyway,  since we had problem to start our campervan,  we insisted to park overnight  at the same place as we  were  not  afraid of robbery  because there were  cars passing  all night and  the tea plant was  just  across the road.

In the morning,  we were  invited to visit the tea factory, not a modern one and not so clean.  There were  piles of leaves on the ground  that might have been  trampled. There were many female workers on duty  selecting  tea leaves (picking up stems  out of tea leaves). 

Picking tea leaves - Photo : kalimpongnews.com / Bing images search

It was explained that tea  leaves that we saw were the top  leaves (Orange Peakoe). It is the top grade and tiny size of tea leaves which render the most tea flavor.  Secondary grade tea  and lower grade have larger leaves.  Tea leaves are  picked from only the top 1–2 inches (about 3 leaves)  of the mature plant. The smaller the leaf, the more expensive the tea.

Top tea leaves - Photo :  hopearoundindia.com / Google images search

   

Collected tea leaves are graded by the machine (a metal plate with holes the size of tea leaves, according to their needs) by letting them pass through grading holes down  to the large tray after curing. 

Tea grading - Photo : hojotea.com / Bing images search

After our visit to tea manufacture, we headed down to the south via KISHANGANJ, PURNIA, KURSELA. We saw tea plantations everywhere  along  the way (more than other vegetation).  There were  mango orchards that reminded me of  my auntie’s  orchard and her  Mango  candy.  There were also pineapple and cassava plantations.  We saw a stall selling teals (tied up together – alive), we asked to buy some to set  them  free but we could not communicate  to understand  and finally we did not buy one as we did not see a suitable location nearby to  leave them to survive.  I felt a bit guilty !

 

Tea hill  -  Photo : hojotea.com / Bing images search

Sadly ... on the way,  an unlucky  bird (bittern or egret) ran across the road in front of our campervan. I heard the loud thud, but we did not see any blood traces or a bird in nearby area.  So if this bird was not dead, it might be  badly  injured.