Where are the Tea plantations?
 

My wife and I are travelling to Asia in April, and one thing we would like to do is visit a Tea Plantation. Ideally stay there or nearby, tour it, taste the tea of course...

Our likely countries to visit are Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam (We are flexible to change this, but want to stay in this general vicinity. Probably not visit Sri Lanka or India this time.)

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks!

Thailand: Mae Salong area of north Thailand, hands down. This area was settled by Chinese and you can see the influence. You can stay there or in the general area, which is IMO one of the more interesting parts of Thailand.

Vietnam: I have seen some tea being grown in the Dalat area. Remember that tea needs some hilly coolness--tea is not a "tropical" plant! Vietnam also grows some pretty good coffee bean as well.

Cambodia: My impression is nothing tea-wise in this country.
Indonesia: Ditto, though it's a large country and possibly somewhere has tea--though how accessible it might be is another story.

China of course, has plenty of tea you can see....and in incredible varieties.

Try the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia.

too bad you dont have China on your itinerary. Especially since April is the harvesting season for Spring tea in Zhejiang province, where the famous green tea - longjing is originated

Bandung, West Java. Direct flights from SIN and KUL or 2 hrs drive from CGK.

Thank you all for your suggestions! My wife and I will research over the weekend and see what we can make work. China might be a little too far, but I will take a quick look at the map and see if a destination there is within reach.

Otherwise, Thailand, Vietnam, or West Java.

For China, the tea-growing region in closest proximity to SE Asia would be Yunnan province. Google "Yunnan" and "tea." Some interesting teas like pu'er are grown in this region. Easiest access to/from SE Asia is via Kunming, Yunnan provincial capital, a 1.5 hour direct flight from Bangkok and also reachable from other SE Asia cities. Keep in mind China requires a visa in advance which can be costly ($140) for US passport holders, though it is good for 12 months and multiple entries.

If you decide China is not on your itinerary on this trip, I would definitely recommend the Mae Salong area of Thailand.

While I agree in general, I'm not sure I'd recommend a visit in April, as it will be hot and smoggy (since this is the season to burn fields). On the upside, it is also tea harvest season.

My trip from two years back, in April: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...g-qv-fd-2.html

And Wikitravel: http://wikitravel.org/en/Mae_Salong

From SFO China is too far? But Java isn't? I'm missing something here.

The northern reaches of Laos also has tea areas, but April has the same problems that plague the aforementioned Mae Salong.... and that is indeed a beautiful area.

OP is probably flying into SIN or BKK, and the question is how accessible are the locations of these tea plantations from there.

I have a view of tea plantations in the distance when I stay at the Sheraton Bandung. The OP may also find this resort interesting (disclaimer : I have not stayed there before) http://www.next-age.info/eng.html

I know the OP said no Sri Lanka so I hope they have already experienced Tea Trails. www.teatrails.com. I think this is a great way to learn about the tea production in SE Asia. Food was great, lodging and service good, gardens, views, weather, activities, just amazing!

This is a good point, and I'm embarrassed to have forgotten it. :o

Another point forgotten is the Songkran holiday in mid-April--the OP should read up on it in case their trip dates might be affected. I personally would not wish to be in Thailand (except maybe the beach) during this holiday.
Perhaps if we knew what other focus/interests this trip was supposed to cover (besides tea), it might produce some additional direction for OP's trip planning.

Would Taiwan be any possibility?

Tea is big in Taiwan and it shouldn't be that difficult to coordinate your itinerary between SFO and TPE.

I know you guys said no sri lanka but i had one of most amazing experiences at ceylon tea trails where they have a 'tea experience' which teaches you everything about tea and this insight is just amazing delivered by their planter in residence! you cant top this location for this topic and its year around! being one of the best tea markets in the world with a small footprint SL makes for a great tea and tropics holiday!

In a way, yes
 

You are all being so helpful - I really appreciate it! - I will share more of my itinerary as soon as I get closer to solidifying it.

Generally, we will be in SE Asia for April. First few days in Hong Kong. Then a week in Bali. Then from 4/11 - end of April we are trying to figure out our itinerary. We were thinking head from Bali to Bangkok and then branch out from there. This is not set in stone, is there a better central location to travel to Vietman, Cambodia?

We are still researching! If we can make BKK to China Tea provinces happen we will certainly consider it!

Do the China Tea Plantations have the same smoke / burning issues as other locations in April?

(I have asthma, so breathing smoke or even a semblance of smoke is not a good thing for me. Thank you to those of you who have highlighted smoke as a concern for some locations! This has been very helpful in narrowing down where we should consider visiting!)

One "forgotten" option are the green tea plantations of Southern Jeolla province in Korea. This green tea is very light in taste and several of my Chinese friends have actually switched completely to Korean green tea for the purity and lightness compared to Chinese varieties.

The surroundings are also quite pleasant with plenty of local seafood and tasty other dishes available and also several spas in the area.

This is a pretty good idea! Alishan is very scenic and famous for High Mountain Oolong, and April's not a bad time to be in Taiwan -- although it'll still be pretty chilly up on the mountain, and I gather that the railroad up is still out of service.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Alishan

Great minds think alike. :D

Reading the possible (mostly SE Asia) arrangement from OP, I don't want to push too hard unless he can weave Taiwan into his itinerary. If he shows high possibility and interest, I'd be more than happy to provide some pointers for tea plantations in Taiwan. Some Taiwanese teas are prestigious. For example, the high mountain tea from Alishan is so good and famous that some Chinese guys/company registered and now own the trademark in China way before the authentic Alishan tea farmers. That particular Alishan "brand" you can buy from China is NOT grown nor made in Alishan at all. Who doesn't know Alishan is in Taiwan? Just like trademark infringement from domain names. The irony of the legal trademark thingy but I digress.

Yes, April is a lovely time to visit Taiwan. You are also correct that transportation might not be as smooth right now (not just railroads) in Alishan. But it's still possible. That's why I was holding it back in my other post up thread. Not to mention Alishan is not the only region in Taiwan that has tea plantations.

BTW, OP didn't ask but there are great coffee plants in Taiwan as well. ;)

Taiwan?
 

Thanks jpatokal and lin821.

Taiwan is certainly an option. I am actually now trying to hone in on the best airline / airfare, and it looks like there are many options through TPE (Initially I was only considering HKG as my through point for this trip.) EVA Air Business class airfare is quite attractive, I am trying to get a better feel for the product (looks good from what I have seen).

We may be moving the trip up a week (last week of March, first two and 1/2 weeks of April). Is last week of March too cold in Taiwan? We could also stop on our way back at the end of our trip...

Thanks again!

Lark

Guide?

Bummer that the forest railway is closed!

We'd also consider hiring a guide / driver to maximize our visit. How much does this run in Taiwan?

Do you fly TPE to Chiayi to access this area?

Trip planning
 

jiejie:

Thanks for the information! I am looking at a map right now and Yunnan is really not far at all from where we are hoping to travel. (It's closer than Taiwan, unless we fly EVA and actually go through TPE on our way to SE Asia...)

We plan to fly to HKG the end of March. Spend 2 - 3 days in HKG.

Then an intermediate destination for 3 or 4 days. We need to be in Bali/DPS after this, so ideally a destination that is between HKG and DPS (more or less). We might head from HKG to Jakarta and branch out from there for a couple of days. Or maybe stop in Saigon?

We'll then be in Bali for 6 days. This part is firm and booked.

After Bali, we will have another 9 or 10 days.

We are thinking Bangkok, Cambodia (Angkor), and Hanoi. If we are in Hanoi it looks easy to get to Yunnan as it is just over the border. Are there flights HAN to Yunnan? Or is train better? Another alternative would be a guide / driver...

Neither my wife nor I have ever been to this part of the world, so we are really looking forward to travelling around and all the new experiences. We'd prefer to visit fewer places and spend more time in each, so our trip will probably look something like this:

SFO to HKG - 2 or 3 days in HKG (last couple days of March)
HKG to Saigon, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur? 3 or 4 days in this destination
Bali - 6 days
Bali to Bangkok - 2 days in Bangkok (we might skip Bangkok and save it for a future trip if we do not have enough time...)
Cambodia (there is an Amman 6 day Cambodia experience we are considering - 3 days in each of their resorts there. If we do this we will almost definitely eliminate Bangkok from this trip.)
Hanoi / Yunnan - total 3 or 4 days
Hanoi to SFO

EVA is a Taiwan-based airline. I have friends really love their Deluxe Class. You can find discussion about EVA in Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific Frequent Flyer Programs Forum.

In case you didn't know this open secret, TPE is kind of a sweet spot sometimes for either Mileage Run or stopover. Having TPE as a strategic point can save you $$. I've never done it myself but I read quite a few successful stories. Maybe our frequent in airline fora of your choices can give you more tailored tips. Nail down your tix first. If having TPE is to your advantage, you can then start planning for the Taiwan portion. This Taiwan thread may give your some general ideas. ;)

If you can deal with SFO, Taiwan can never be as cold. Mountains are different stories though. Spring is lovely with flower blossom in March/April. You may run into some rain but it's manageable.

If I were you and never visited Asia, I probably would focus on S.E. Asia and possibly Taiwan for this trip, considering the places you have to be and the size of China. You can have China some other time in another whole different trip/s.

Since you have never been in Asia before, let me advise you that you are trying to cover too much ground in 3 weeks. No, you cannot do Hanoi/Yunnan in 4 days no matter how close they look on a map. You need to sharpen up on priorities or you will see way to much of transportation venues and not enough of Asia. An asthma sufferer should definitely avoid smoky agricultural burnoffs.

Will you likely come back to Asia at some point? Let's be positive and say yes. I would drastically cut down number of countries to no more than 3 or 4 and that includes your entry gateway (HKG or other). I would actually cut Cambodia and Vietnam on this trip, and save them for your next. I'm of the strong opinion that to go to Vietnam with less than 10 days to spend is a waste of money and effort. With that assumption:

If you are committed to entering at HKG, then for the oddball 4 days, I'd tend to fly to KUL and get up to the Cameron Highlands for tea, maybe to Penang or Melaka, time permitting. Fly KUL-DPS, easy nonstop options. After Bali, spend rest of time in Indonesia, maybe with a day or so in Singapore before heading home.

If you are intrigued by China, of which Yunnan even without the tea is one of the more fascinating areas to spend time, then I'd do HKG-CGK-YOG-DPS-KMG (via BKK connection)-HKG. Tea of course, in Yunnan.

If you manage an EVA flight via Taipei you might use that as your gateway. Save the stopover and Tea in Taiwan for the homeward leg as weather will be better in April.

Good Advice
 

This is good advice. Even in one of my previous statements I said we preferred quality over quantity and then I start thinking about a whirlwind all over SE Asia! I told my wife what I had written here earlier and I think her exact words were 'Are you nuts?' :)

Yes, we will be back! (At least, I think we will. I am approaching middle age and this is my first trip... We are of Euro heritage, so that is where all of our International travel has been...)

So, here is my revised thinking:

Gateway will almost certainly be HKG. CX will certainly (if we can make the dates work) be our Transpac airline.

I think we will skip Northern Vietnam and China this time. Skip Taiwan too if CX comes through.

SFO to HKG 3/28
- 2 or 3 days in HKG

HKG to KUL 4/1
- 4/1 through 4/6 exploring this area
- I've got to check out options here -'get up to the Cameron Highlands for tea, maybe to Penang or Melaka, time permitting.'

KUL to DPS 4/6 (firm)
- 4/6 through 4/11 Bali

DPS to JOG via CGK? (I think Yogyakarta is JOG)
- 4/11 through 4/14
- My travel agent has recommended a place to stay here for 2 or 3 days

OK, I am still tempted by the Amman Cambodia experience and Angkor Wat...

CGK - Cambodia on 4/14
- Cambodia 4/14 through 4/20

Cambodia to HKG 4/20

HKG to SFO 4/21

Am I still trying to do too much?

I don't know Indonesia well at all... But let's say we stay in Indonesia 4/6 - 4/20 (Bali 4/6 - 4/11). What would you suggest for the 8 or 9 days after Bali? We will probably have had our fill of beaches...

Thank you for your feedback!

Nope, take the high-speed train -- it's a Japanese bullet train and an experience in itself, and there's a station not far from the airport (take bus or taxi). That said, instead of going direct, you'll probably want to drop into Taipei for a day or two, as Chiayi itself is a bit of sh*thole and not the best introduction to Taiwan.

Our story from 2007: http://extra.world66.com/blog/jani/t...an_tales_index

Cameron Highlands
 

izzik: Your suggestion is the one we are going with. Can you tell me more?

We're flying in to KUL around noon. Spend the afternoon at our hotel, a little walking around and sightseeing.

It looks like Cameron Highlands is quite a ways from KL. We'll probably turn this in to a two day trip so we don't spend one entire day in transport...

What is the best way from KL to Cameron Highlands? Hiring a taxi / car would be easiest, but the most expensive too. What other options are there?

Regarding places to stay in Cameron highlands - any suggestions?

Thanks for your insights!

reply to my own post?
 

I know it is bad form to reply to one's own post... But....

We've taken jiejie's suggestion to heart. For this trip, we're just going to do the south part of SE Asia: Malaysia and Indonesia. Plus three days in Hong Kong on our way home.

Fly in to KUL, with 4 nights here (or as I said above, touring outside of the city too! Malacca, Cameron Highlands, Fireflies.... We want to get around a bit, but don't want to spend too much time in a bus / train / car...)

KUL to DPS, spend the majority of our time in and around Bali. Up to Java too...

Then to HKG for three days and then return home.

This means we will definitely have to return to see much more!

Yes, its a long way from KL which is why I suggested Bandung instead (direct flights from KUL, SIN or DPS). Believe it or not, when I seek cooler weather its easier for me to fly to Bandung than to go up to Cameron Highlands, and I live in KL !

For CH, its best to rent a car and drive yourself, the roads used to be narrow and winding but I havent been up since the new highway was completed. Cant think of any place in CH that I would recommend, but the 'best' up there at the moment is supposed to be the Cameron Highlands Resort http://www.cameronhighlandsresort.com/ which is actually along a main road.

Further thoughts?
 

mario: Thank you for this additional insight / information!

The Cameron Highlands Resort looks very nice, and it is really the type of thing we are looking for. Nice enough place to stay. Right at a Tea Plantation. Get to tour and see the whole tea growing / making process...

However, your other suggestion also looks attractive...

Theoretically, if we go with the Bandung option, we could:

Arrive KUL 4/2 around noon. Stay around the hotel / nearby walking / sightseeing. First full day in Asia.

4/3 - Day touring / sightseeing in and around KUL. Malacca looks worth a visit. Would we have to dedicate a full day to a Malacca excursion? Are you full time in KL mario? We'll have to meet so I can buy you a drink...

4/4 morning sightseeing in KL, afternoon flight to BDO (3:30 Indonesia flight 7594)

I'll take a look at this place; The OP may also find this resort interesting (disclaimer : I have not stayed there before) http://www.next-age.info/eng.html

4/6 BDO - DPS Looks like there is only one daily option - Indonesia Flight 7156 - at 3:35 PM, which would work just fine for us to arrive DPS at 6:20 PM

YMMV, but I don't really get what people like about Bandung, it's a big, sprawling and not particularly attractive Indonesian city. I'd go for Cameron Highlands instead, it's an entirely different side of Malaysia; and given how limited your time is, I wouldn't spend a full day on Malacca.

Malaysian driving is fairly sane by Asian standards, but it's still pretty wild if you haven't experienced it before. Driving in KL, in particular, is very confusing and the traffic can be murderous. It might thus be worth it to first head to Ipoh (there's a fairly spiffy new train service) and head out from there by eg. chartered taxi. There are also direct buses from KL, but it's about 4.5 hours one way.

Easy access, cooler weather (compared to most parts of SE Asia), various options on decent places to stay (compared to Cameron Highlands where I have yet to discover an acceptable hotel), real culture (unlike Cameron Highlands where they try so hard to be 'English' & fail miserably, just hate that mock tudor architecture), authentic local food & most importantly you do actually get service over there (compared to most of Malaysia where its almost non-existent).

I agree Cameron Highlands is more picturesque, and Bandung is not a particularly attractive city in the urbanised areas. But if you look further beyond the city centre, the areas surrounding Bandung can be quite pleasant.

From a tourist point of view, yes Cameron Highlands is probably a better choice if you can bear with the hassle of getting there & all the negatives I have mentioned above. But as a 'traveller', I wouldnt write off Bandung ....

Cameron Highlands Resort
 

Yes, it does look very nice after the renovations (& rebranding from Merlin Inn) & the view of the golf course across the road is very pleasant. But honestly I dont think I could sleep a night there, its located along the main trunk road in Cameron Highlands & road noise is a major issue since the days of Merlin Inn.

Its also not next to any tea plantation, its probably 15-30 min on the road. However, if you play golf theres a 'public' golf course just opposite the hotel.

Its probably still the best option in Cameron Highlands at the moment, but its not a place I would like to stay.

Cameron Highlands Resort
 

Well, we went ahead and booked Cameron Highlands Resort. It will be noisy (road), but it sounds like it calms down somewhat at night. We travel with earplugs so don't anticipate too much of a problem here... I don't know if I will do a complete trip report, but I will report back to this thread on our experience.

The hotel offers car service from KL, which we will use (it's a little expensive, but so simple I could not resist).

mario - we'll be in the KL Marriott 4/4 and 4/5 - Tell us where you'd like to meet and we'll buy you that drink I offered!

Another future Tea Option (in China)
 

"Amanfayun is surrounded by terraced tea plantations growing Hangzhou's famous Longjing or 'Dragon Well' green tea. Renowned for its high quality throughout China, the tea leaves will soon be picked and the harvest will continue through April. This is the ideal time of year to stroll through the tea fields or visit the National Tea Museum near the resort. And of course to enjoy freshly picked, freshly brewed Longjing Tea at the village's traditional Tea House."

http://www.amanresorts.com/amanfayun...346cc545bd2420