Up in the hills of Kerala they are growing tea since British colonial times. Nothing is ever flat here, and tea plantations cover the rolling hills like bright green pillows. Women hand-pick the tips of the plants for white tea and the top leaves for green tea, then someone clips the rest with shears for “ordinary” tea.
Of course they have a tea museum where they crowd tour groups into a small room to show them a movie with sappy music to explain how wonderful life was for the tea workers since the British brought tea and civilization to this poor land.
We actually went all the way to the top of the highest mountain in southern India, named Top Station with a distinct lack of imagination, in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu. Everything is very relaxed and pastoral up in these hills - until we came with our onomatopoeically named tuk-tuk, that is.
Oh, and the tea they serve up there is excellent.
