Bolaven Plateau: Talking about Tea

The Bolaven plateau outside Pakse, which we visit on our trip down south, is definitely one of the coolest stops in Laos with all of its dramatic waterfalls and spectacular natural scenery...

Not only is it one of the prettiest areas in Laos, but it is also one of the most fertile areas since it’s located on top of an ancient volcano that erupted millions of years ago leaving behind rich volcanic soil.  The Bolaven, located on an ancient volcano, definitely has the upper hand over Auckland, New Zealand which is located in the centre of some ridiculous number of dormant volcanoes… 

While meandering around the Bolaven, we typically take a walkabout around the oldest tea plantation in the area, which continues to hand-pick the tea and process it in a traditional manner.  First, the least coarse leaves of the tea plant are picked in the morning, while the leaves are still wet from morning dew.  The picked leaves are then spread out on long metal troughs and they are heated over a wood fire to cause them to dry and lose water.  The leaves are sifted to remove unwanted parts and rolled in a machine called a rotovene causing them to release juice.  Finally, the leaves are dried one more time in the sun on bamboo trays and then roasted in hot pans to further dry them.  After all that you can finally enjoy a cup o’ tea brewed by the plantation owner (if you aren’t asleep by then…).   

Our local guide, Sonexay, giving a tour around the oldest tea plantation in the Bolaven (actually owned by Vietnamese…)