Deepwater Rice - The eastern side of Sylhet District - tea growing country, Bangladesh

There are actually hills	mostly small and covered with tea
with the valleys near the workers' houses with paddy rice	obviously more what everyone imagines of rice field scenery
Most of the tea nearest the border is on the hills	but further into Bangladesh, flat land is perhaps more common
Close up the tea looks like a well-trimmed hedge	with the "two leaves and a bud" ready for plucking
This was a long-established plantation, as shown by the Manager's House	and the factory
Inside the old rolling machinery	and the cut, tear and curl machines
all driven by belts and pulleys	from these wonderful single-cylinder diesel engines
Most of the tea workers are Hindu and we were priveleged to be invited to the climax of the Durga Puja festival	and then taken to be thrown into the sacred river - a compromise was to use the estate pond
The Bangladesh-India border - hardly dramatic	but perhaps this marker stone is even less striking

©2000 - Brian Taylor CBiol FIBiol FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. Visiting Academic in the Department of Life Science, University of Nottingham

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