An Assamese tea plantation at sunset
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Some of the world’s most beautiful places are those where man and nature have both had a hand in the landscape. This is as true of Assam’s tea plantations as it is of the Cotswolds.
I went for a stroll through the Mancotta Tea Estate early one evening in September, finishing with a cold drink in a tree house at dusk. The sun sets at 5.30pm in Assam at this time of year; India is all on one time zone, so while sunset happens at a reasonable time in Delhi, in Dibrugarh it’s lights out by 6pm.
The tea plantations take on a second life in the evening. The day’s work is done, the temperature is (slowly) starting to drop and the sun is hanging low in the sky. To make the setting even more idyllic, Assamese tea plantations have the distinction of being the only plantations in the world with trees growing amidst the tea bushes.
Tea grows best in shady areas. The shade for the hilly plantations of Darjeeling, South India and China is naturally provided as the sun travels overhead, but because Assam is relatively flat it’s necessary for tea growers to craft the shady spots themselves. The result is a heart-melting dappled effect, as the shadows cast by the small leaves of the trees dance across the dark green of the tea bush below.
Add to that the lengthening shadows of the trees themselves, mist hanging over the bushes, a near-full moon low in the sky and the gentle background chorus of cicadas and frogs and the whole effect is really rather dreamy; dusk hasn’t changed in Assam since the British established the first tea plantations here over 150 years ago.
A down-to-earth aside: As I wafted through the tea plantation a frog slimed my foot and a snake startled me from my reverie by skittering across a irrigation ditch close by. Also, on the drive to the plantation we saw a man fall off his bike in fright as a five-foot cobra crossed his path: nature has her dangers and annoyances, especially when man encroaches on her empire too far!
Thanks to Indus Tours and Purvi Discoveries for providing the guide, driver and accommodation in Assam.
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