Then, we visited a tea museum to learn the history of tea in India and to see how it is processed. Some interesting facts....
*The British introduced Indians to tea-drinking.
*Green, black, and white tea all come from the same plant. It is the part of the leave used and the process that differentiate them.
* Black Tea that is drunk with milk is different from black tea drunk with milk. (I think most Americans just buy one type of tea bag and serve it with or without milk.
These are the tea leaves
We went back to town, and the guide dropped us off at a local restaurant, at our request. We were definitely the only tourists there. They kindly served us forks and spoons in a bowl of boiling water. The locals, of course, just use their hands. George and I shared a fish curry, a local specialty, and Alexis had a mushroom dish. It came with something called Kerala Meals which is brown rice and various chutneys. The waiter walked around the restaurant refilling people's plates with rice; we didn't even make it through the first serving. We drink the regular water now, not just bottled water. At this restaurant, the water in the pitcher was pink. Later we learned that it is a custom here to boil drinking water, then add herbs that are supposed to improve health, and are tinted pink.
We took a drive to a lake and dam. More tea plantations along the way. We looked for wild elephants that live in the hills,but didn't see any, just the electric fence keeping them off the highway.
Back at the hotel, we strolled around the spice plantation. We ate dinner at the hotel. George and I had fish cooked in a banana leaf. Alexis had an okra dish. All very nice.
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