Some of the best times we had in Dooars were drinking tea outdoors at the managers' bungalows.
After we toured the New Glencoe fields and factory, the manager there invited SMC, my wife, and me to sit down at a table in his tree-shaded garden. By that time, we were hot and thirsty. (Remember, Dooars is fairly low-lying, so it does get hot, even in February.) Sharing the shade were a couple of placid cows belonging to the manager. We greedily drank a big pot of New Glencoe tea there, washing down some delicious typical Indian sweets the manager's wife had made. These sweets, with an intense cheese flavor, contained milk from the same cows that watched us refreshing ourselves.
There was also a blissful session of a couple of hours on the lawn at Soongachi, as afternoon turned into evening, with SMC, his wife, my wife, and me. We went through three different Chinese teas using the tiffin's gaiwan and thimble-sized cups. This was the Indians' first experience with an aged Puerh (Hong Kong back to China - thanks, Michael!) SMC and his wife were amazed at the number of good steeps we got; we weren't counting, but it must have been close to twenty.
/Lew