Tea plantations in the South

When is it the best time to see some activity on the tea plantations in South India? I'll be around Bangalore somewhere half november, is this the good time or not ? Where are the beautifull plantations ? How te reach them ?? Thanks

munar,
kereli kerala, lalalalaalala

Teeratiti,
my belgian fellow citizen, I would also say Munnar.

Munnar is tea town!! It's one of the largest "tea gardens" in the world at something like 220 square miles.
Set amonst craggy hills and wateralls this is a great place to be.
One of the great advantages of a stroll around Munnar is the myriad of tea pickers tracks, this coupled with the fact that tea bushes are kept at a hight just over a meter, means that walking is a joy with great views of the surrounding hills and lakes!!!
Take a look you'll love it!!

Happy Traveling

You'll find them at SW and NE India

The misty Ooty...don't forget to try the home made chocolates . It 'rocks'

Photo of Ooty tea plantation

Hi Teeratiti,


The road from Thekkadi to Munnar via Idukki in the Southern Ghats of Kerala is fantastic, plenty of nice panoramic views specially in the last 30 Km. Is with the backwaters the most impressive landscapes I've seen in India.

I've tried to sent a picture but it did't work

Agree with JR !!!! Try this link (the state government's site) www.idukki.nic.in

Thanks for all the info about the tea plantations in the South. But when it's tea pickers time ?? The whole year or only some months of the year ? Is november a good month or not ?? Thanks again.

As I know it there is no special ‘harvest’ season for tea leaf plucking. The first two leaves and the bud are manually plucked with hands. Mostly in it’s the women workers who pluck the leaves. The way they pluck, the time, the type of leaves, time to process the leaves…every thing significantly affects the quality of the tea.

Usually they start early in the morning. This has something to do with the mist on the leaves in the morning which affect the quality of the tea. Only the top leaves (2 leaves+bud) are plucked. The rest is of the leaves are untouched. The plantations are usually very large with very narrow walk way grids for the people to move.

Tea plantation looks more like a gigantic bonsai garden. The years of plucking has made the tea bush look like bonsai plants. I think the life of the plant is about 40 years. They are them uprooted and new plants are planted. The uprooted plant stem is used to make very interesting looking furniture.

All the parts of it are not of the same age. So the plucking action will be going on in some area of the plantation everyday. If my memory is correct it takes about 20 days for the new set of leaves ready for plucking.

The plucked leaves are then send to the factory for drying & packing. Usually they are closely and you can see tractors moving with bundles of leaves.

Always the tea plantations are on sloppy land. Silver Oak trees are planted in between. This has something to do with the moisture content of the soil or something like that.

Go somewhat in the early morning to see the plucking. Their fingers are Skillful & extremely fast. I think that is why this job is dominated by women

Munnar is great! The Lonely Planet highly recommends a place called Zina Cottages, but I stayed there a couple of months ago and would not recommend it at all. The accomodations are fine, but there's no restaurant and the place is quite isolated, a few km from the town, so it's difficult to get food. Also, at night you have to get around by rickshaw or other vehicle because of wild animals, so it's hard to get to town.

Jenny, Which overnightplace you can recommend me at Munnar or somwhere in the direct surroundings ?? Thanks.

i stayed in Royal Retreat - quite ok with its own restaurants, but bang on the side of the main road. a larger building right behind it also spoils the experience. not for the budget traveller - around 1000+ a day . you might get a bargain during off season though.

there are a number of less expensive places.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend a place -- just know that I wouldn't go back to the place I stayed. Munnar is pretty underdeveloped as a tourist town, so there aren't as many options as in other places. I'm sure you can find something, though!

Best of luck.