| Taste the difference! |
Tea time makes vacationers happy gluttons for luxury
Sunday, January 1, 2006
Exotic tea breaks can best be had on a tea estate. That's one reason why we
headed to Darjeeling, a hill station nestled 7,000 feet above ground level in the
Himalayas. The other reason was that when on vacation, it's imperative to be
pampered silly. When white-gloved waiters serve you six-course meals,
someone else takes care of laundry, and the view includes snow-capped
mountains and leaf-pickers plucking tea leaves, it is hard not to feel completely
relaxed. Friends and family had raved about the hospitality of two venues we
picked for exactly such a vacation -- the Windamere Hotel and the Glenburn Tea
Estate -- and now we can safely say they were right.
The Windamere, from where you can see the Kanchenjunga, the fourth highest
peak in the world, is a heritage hotel established in 1810. Formerly a boarding
house for tea planters, its guest list boasts the princess of Siam and actress
Vivien Leigh. Its setting atop a hill on which the Governor's house, the
Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, the Everest Museum and a zoo are located,
makes it an ideal stop for those wishing to stay within a city, visit local tourist
spots, trek in the Himalayas and shop for curios, artifacts and of course, tea.
The Glenburn, whose vintage dates back to 1860, is the private residence of a
tea planter's family. In recent years, they've decided to rent out four rooms in this
spacious bungalow, along with a 21-member staff, who serve guests hand and
foot throughout their stay. Guided walks through the privately owned tea estate
spread across several hills, a visit to a working tea factory steps away from the
bungalow and eclectic meals with homemade delicacies like fish curry, pork
pie, tuna puffs and bread pudding provided just the kind of break we were
seeking.
A jeep sent by the Windamere picked us up from the train station in New
Jalpaiguri, three hours away from Darjeeling. We got jolted across the pot-holed
roads of West Bengal, the state where Darjeeling is pitched as the Queen of the
Hills. To be honest, if it weren't for the warm welcome extended, the aromatic
cups of tea, the hot water bottles tucked into our beds to heal tired toes and the
mist-laden wind, we might not have smiled upon our arrival. Shipra Nair,
manager of the hotel, greeted us and suggested we visit the zoo and the
mountaineering institutes the next morning.
We proceeded to do exactly that after a breakfast comprising ginger muffins,
fresh squeezed orange juice, omelettes and a fruit salad. The zoo had red
pandas, yaks, deer, wild boar, Chinese pheasants and parakeets, which kept
my six-year-old son, Dhruv, and my two-year-old nephew Aarya, happy -- and
more important -- busy. The institute and an adjacent Everest museum had a
collection of memorabilia, equipment and photographs from various
expeditions to Mt. Everest, the highest peak in the world.
The twenty minute walk back up Observatory Hill to the Windamere helped build
up our appetites and we polished off the chicken, rice, vegetables and nut cake
with creme anglise served by white-gloved waiters wearing white uniforms. An
afternoon snooze helped us recover fully from our excesses. Or so we thought
we were invited to tea in the parlor at 5 p.m.. On the menu were cucumber
sandwiches, marble cake and chocolate cookies. Tucking in, we were left with
just enough time to walk down to the Mall -- or the Main Street in town where the
shops are located -- before dinner.
Even though we really should have skipped dinner, we didn't. It's hard to say no
to celery and apple soup, fish cutlets, roasted vegetables and nut cake with
whisky sauce, wouldn't you say?
More hospitality
Determined to walk off at least a fraction of the calories we had consumed, we
did stroll for about an hour the next morning, absorbing the beauty of the rolling
hills and the pines. After a morning of browsing through old picture albums, we
were picked up by a jeep sent by the Glenburn. The driver swung by Batasia
Loop, a clearing on top of a hill, so we could see Darjeeling's narrow gauge
steam train chug by with its three carriages and passengers freezing their
memories with digital snapshots.
At the Glenburn, manager Neena Pradhan had a greeter serve us chilled ginger
ale the minute we got there. We were then taken to the Kanchenga suite, a
three room section of the bungalow aesthetically decorated in blue and white
linens and drapes. My inlaws were taken to the Rose suite, where the furniture,
the drapes, the linen -- and even the tea set -- had pink roses on them.
A tea tour
On our second day at the Glenburn, we took a tour of the tea factory, guided by
the manager of the plant, Sanjay Sharma, a 32-year old fishing enthusiast. He
showed us how tea leaves are picked manually -- generally by women carrying
baskets on their backs -- , weathered or dried under highly regulated heat and
moisture conditions, cured by rolling, sorted and packaged into wooden boxes,
ready for sale. What struck us was the fact that in all these years, there has
been no change in the way tea is picked, processed and packed.
Setting off on a four hour trek down the hill, we then headed for the tea estate's
camp ground, right by the river Rangit. A porter carried chilled lemonade for us,
serving it in glasses wrapped with cloth napkins so our hands would stay dry
despite the condensed globules. Following us was another servant in a jeep,
escorting our picnic meal and willing to pick us up if we decided we were too
exhausted to walk. My parents in law and son decided they would take
advantage of this arrangement in the final hours, while my husband and I
trudged along.
Once we reached the campsite, we had beer and grilled chicken, freshly
barbecued by another cook, sent in advance. Olive and mushroom salad, rice
with baked potatoes, julienned carrots and raisin salad followed by fruit in
chilled whipped cream was served as we relaxed under a picnic umbrella, after
we dipped our feet in the swift-flowing river.
On the way back, all of us piled into the vehicle and got back to the Glenburn in
about an hour. Showering before sitting under the stars, sipping wine while the
servants lit a bonfire for us, it was hard not to think that we were getting
thoroughly spolit. Once back in the States, we would be doing our own laundry
and rushing around like squirrels, gathering food and succour each weekend.
Oh well, that's the whole point of a vacation, isn't it: get away from the routine,
allow people to serve you and create happy memories for the family.
BOX: Getting there: The nearest airport to Darjeeling is Bagdogra and there
are direct flight connections from Delhi, Calcutta and Guwahati. Tourists
heading for Darjeeling can get cabs to Darjeeling from Bagdogra. The closest
railway station is New Jalpaiguri, a three hour drive away from Darjeeling. It has
direct railway connections with Calcutta, Delhi, Guwahati, Varanasi, Mumbai,
Bangalore, Chennai and other major cities of India.
BY ANUSHA SHRIVASTAVA
DARJEELING, India
Sunday, January 1, 2006
Exotic tea breaks can best be had on a tea estate. That's one reason why we
headed to Darjeeling, a hill station nestled 7,000 feet above ground level in the
Himalayas. The other reason was that when on vacation, it's imperative to be
pampered silly. When white-gloved waiters serve you six-course meals,
someone else takes care of laundry, and the view includes snow-capped
mountains and leaf-pickers plucking tea leaves, it is hard not to feel completely
relaxed. Friends and family had raved about the hospitality of two venues we
picked for exactly such a vacation -- the Windamere Hotel and the Glenburn Tea
Estate -- and now we can safely say they were right.
The Windamere, from where you can see the Kanchenjunga, the fourth highest
peak in the world, is a heritage hotel established in 1810. Formerly a boarding
house for tea planters, its guest list boasts the princess of Siam and actress
Vivien Leigh. Its setting atop a hill on which the Governor's house, the
Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, the Everest Museum and a zoo are located,
makes it an ideal stop for those wishing to stay within a city, visit local tourist
spots, trek in the Himalayas and shop for curios, artifacts and of course, tea.
The Glenburn, whose vintage dates back to 1860, is the private residence of a
tea planter's family. In recent years, they've decided to rent out four rooms in this
spacious bungalow, along with a 21-member staff, who serve guests hand and
foot throughout their stay. Guided walks through the privately owned tea estate
spread across several hills, a visit to a working tea factory steps away from the
bungalow and eclectic meals with homemade delicacies like fish curry, pork
pie, tuna puffs and bread pudding provided just the kind of break we were
seeking.
A jeep sent by the Windamere picked us up from the train station in New
Jalpaiguri, three hours away from Darjeeling. We got jolted across the pot-holed
roads of West Bengal, the state where Darjeeling is pitched as the Queen of the
Hills. To be honest, if it weren't for the warm welcome extended, the aromatic
cups of tea, the hot water bottles tucked into our beds to heal tired toes and the
mist-laden wind, we might not have smiled upon our arrival. Shipra Nair,
manager of the hotel, greeted us and suggested we visit the zoo and the
mountaineering institutes the next morning.
We proceeded to do exactly that after a breakfast comprising ginger muffins,
fresh squeezed orange juice, omelettes and a fruit salad. The zoo had red
pandas, yaks, deer, wild boar, Chinese pheasants and parakeets, which kept
my six-year-old son, Dhruv, and my two-year-old nephew Aarya, happy -- and
more important -- busy. The institute and an adjacent Everest museum had a
collection of memorabilia, equipment and photographs from various
expeditions to Mt. Everest, the highest peak in the world.
The twenty minute walk back up Observatory Hill to the Windamere helped build
up our appetites and we polished off the chicken, rice, vegetables and nut cake
with creme anglise served by white-gloved waiters wearing white uniforms. An
afternoon snooze helped us recover fully from our excesses. Or so we thought
we were invited to tea in the parlor at 5 p.m.. On the menu were cucumber
sandwiches, marble cake and chocolate cookies. Tucking in, we were left with
just enough time to walk down to the Mall -- or the Main Street in town where the
shops are located -- before dinner.
Even though we really should have skipped dinner, we didn't. It's hard to say no
to celery and apple soup, fish cutlets, roasted vegetables and nut cake with
whisky sauce, wouldn't you say?
More hospitality
Determined to walk off at least a fraction of the calories we had consumed, we
did stroll for about an hour the next morning, absorbing the beauty of the rolling
hills and the pines. After a morning of browsing through old picture albums, we
were picked up by a jeep sent by the Glenburn. The driver swung by Batasia
Loop, a clearing on top of a hill, so we could see Darjeeling's narrow gauge
steam train chug by with its three carriages and passengers freezing their
memories with digital snapshots.
At the Glenburn, manager Neena Pradhan had a greeter serve us chilled ginger
ale the minute we got there. We were then taken to the Kanchenga suite, a
three room section of the bungalow aesthetically decorated in blue and white
linens and drapes. My inlaws were taken to the Rose suite, where the furniture,
the drapes, the linen -- and even the tea set -- had pink roses on them.
A tea tour
On our second day at the Glenburn, we took a tour of the tea factory, guided by
the manager of the plant, Sanjay Sharma, a 32-year old fishing enthusiast. He
showed us how tea leaves are picked manually -- generally by women carrying
baskets on their backs -- , weathered or dried under highly regulated heat and
moisture conditions, cured by rolling, sorted and packaged into wooden boxes,
ready for sale. What struck us was the fact that in all these years, there has
been no change in the way tea is picked, processed and packed.
Setting off on a four hour trek down the hill, we then headed for the tea estate's
camp ground, right by the river Rangit. A porter carried chilled lemonade for us,
serving it in glasses wrapped with cloth napkins so our hands would stay dry
despite the condensed globules. Following us was another servant in a jeep,
escorting our picnic meal and willing to pick us up if we decided we were too
exhausted to walk. My parents in law and son decided they would take
advantage of this arrangement in the final hours, while my husband and I
trudged along.
Once we reached the campsite, we had beer and grilled chicken, freshly
barbecued by another cook, sent in advance. Olive and mushroom salad, rice
with baked potatoes, julienned carrots and raisin salad followed by fruit in
chilled whipped cream was served as we relaxed under a picnic umbrella, after
we dipped our feet in the swift-flowing river.
On the way back, all of us piled into the vehicle and got back to the Glenburn in
about an hour. Showering before sitting under the stars, sipping wine while the
servants lit a bonfire for us, it was hard not to think that we were getting
thoroughly spolit. Once back in the States, we would be doing our own laundry
and rushing around like squirrels, gathering food and succour each weekend.
Oh well, that's the whole point of a vacation, isn't it: get away from the routine,
allow people to serve you and create happy memories for the family.
BOX: Getting there: The nearest airport to Darjeeling is Bagdogra and there
are direct flight connections from Delhi, Calcutta and Guwahati. Tourists
heading for Darjeeling can get cabs to Darjeeling from Bagdogra. The closest
railway station is New Jalpaiguri, a three hour drive away from Darjeeling. It has
direct railway connections with Calcutta, Delhi, Guwahati, Varanasi, Mumbai,
Bangalore, Chennai and other major cities of India.
BY ANUSHA SHRIVASTAVA
DARJEELING, India
Green Tea | Oolong Tea | Black Tea | White Tea | Herbal Tea
| Buy Tea using PayPal! Imperial Tea Garden accepts payments with Visa, Master Card, American Express and PayPal |
| Copyright 2003 - Imperial Tea Garden All Rights Reserved |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Today's Date:
Tea News