“India is a place where some of the finest tea
is made, so I wanted to pursue my hobby
in that by volunteering on the tea farm in
order to increase my knowledge regarding
the fine leaf,” says Samarji about his love
for tea. Hence, he began his voluntary work
on an organic, artisan tea farm in a small
village Pororai, which is 20 minutes far from
Coonoor. Where daily jobs were anything
from plucking the tea leaves, processing the
tea, locating and guiding the cows or horses,
back to the farm in the evening.
In all of India, Pororai and Coonoor are
the places where Samarji’s heart lies. “I was
touched by the kindness of the people there. I
always received invitations to visit their homes
for tea and food. Never ever in my mind had
I thought that such things could ever happen.
I would like to bring that kindness and
hospitality home with me,” described Samarji.
Before flying to Kathmandu, Samarji traveled
around the beautiful places in Puducherry
and Kerala, despite the lingering rubbish
everywhere. In Kathmandu, Samarji joined
three of his friends from Manchester as they
were about to trek Everest Base Camp. “We
took a bus to Salleri as opposed to flying to
Lukla. It takes three days of walking up and
down the valleys and through Nepalese
villages from Salleri to Lukla. This section
of the walk was one of the hardest walks of
my life, but the scenery was like something
out of a picture, very quiet and tranquil.
Meanwhile with our aching bodies and feet,
when we joined the main trek from Lukla,
we realised that actually we were quite fit and
found ourselves overtaking everyone else on
the trek.”
Waking up to stunning mountain views,
breathing in the fresh air was cleansing for the
soul, albeit not the body, for it was too cold
to shower and too expensive to pay for a hot
one,” adds Samarji. “The higher we went, the
more spectacular the views were. I suppose the
climax of the trek was ascending Kala Pathar,
which is the apex point of the trek, 5550m
overlooking Mt. Everest surrounded by sharp
peaks poised ominously yet beautifully in
the sky. After reaching the summit of the
mountain, we descended and finished our
trek 20 days later, exhausted from long walks
but enric