Tea, with a capital T

Tea is the beverage of choice in all three countries we visited – Bangladesh, Myanmar, and India.  Even when we were up super early to catch a flight, tea stalls along the streets would already be open.  Each would have a pot of water steaming on a flame, with low tables and/or a rainbow of plastic stools close by.   There would be bikes and motorbikes crowded there for their first cup of the day.  And, in the afternoon,you’d often see men (and very few women), sitting and talking together.

Because the Selhet area

Statue commemorating women tea pickers

is known for its tea, we asked if we could see the workings of a tea plantation.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t the season for harvesting tea, so they didn’t have the factories open.  But, Chandra did take us onto tea fields where men were engaged in trimming back the plants in order to stimulate new growth.  I hadn't even known how tea grew - whether it was a tree, plant, or what.  Here, there were vast fields of waist high tea bushes.

Several women were still harvesting tea.  I learned that you pick “exactly two leaves and the bud” when new sprouts first appear.  The women had large wicker or jute baskets on their backs, and a strap that ran around their foreheads to keep them balanced in place.  Chandra said on average they pick tea leaves for 10-hours for about $1/day.  But their hard labor didn’t stop several from putting down their baskets and giving us radiant smiles.

Carrying in a basket's worth each

Chandra demonstrating how you
carry a basket with your forehead

A unique specialty of the Selhet area is “seven layer tea.”  Developed in this area only, they know how to pour different teas and other “secret ingredients” to produce and retain the separate layers.  We even were served a “ten layer tea”!  

Being served 7-layer tea

We liked it!