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| Just three hours from the capital, colonial-era plantations provide a taste of a different era. Visitors can stroll through the shrubs, hand pick their own leaves or take a tour of the processing facilities. (JG Photo/ Debra Pangestu) |
Tucked in the highlands of West Java, away from the endless hustle
engulfing Jakarta, tea estates harkening back to the Dutch colonial
period have become Indonesia’s answer to France’s famed vineyards or
California’s Napa Valley.
Providing getaway seekers with a
chance to savor a different world, these tea estates are drawing city
dwellers and foreigners looking for a taste of something out of the
ordinary.
“Tea plantation tours offer something different,” said
Jimmi Lapotulo, a visitor at the Goalpara Tea Estate in Sukabumi. “The
natural beauty, the fragrance of tea leaves, the fresh air breeze — you
can’t really find places like this anywhere else.”
Indonesia’s
introduction to tea came in the 18th century, courtesy of the Dutch
colonialists. Java’s tea industry was painstakingly cultivated by
Dutchman Jacobus Isidorus Lonevijk Levien Jacobson, who arrived in
Jakarta, then Batavia, in 1827. For six years, Jacobson made exhaustive
trips to China to bring back seeds, plants, workmen and materials, until
he was able to start a tea plantation in Bogor. The Indonesian tea
industry continued to grow, and now the country is the fifth largest
producer of tea in the world.
But it wasn’t until the late 1980s
that these tea estates began drawing tourists, thanks to a
collaborative initiative by the Indonesian government, state-owned
plantations and travel bureaus.
Tea fields have been turned into
hiking trails, hilly paths are dotted with mountain cyclists,
processing factories offer educational and tasting tours and colonial
homes are now charming guesthouses. Here, vacationers can travel back to
a bygone era and partake in ecological adventures without ever having
to set foot on an airplane.
Today, there are more than 30
state-owned tea plantations in West Java and a handful of them are
tapping into the growing tourism market.
“Developing tourism at
other plantations was simple because the infrastructure was already in
place,” said Ali, a spokesman for Goalpara. “Malabar has a big colonial
mansion and is close to a hot spring, and Gunung Mas is located at a
high altitude, so it’s perfect for adventure sports.” Gunung Mas is
another tea estate.
Goalpara’s high production targets mean it
doesn’t have the time to promote agrotourism as much as other estates,
but Ali said tourists, both locals and foreigners, do make their way to
the plantation.
“Locals like to come here to escape the noisy
city life,” Ali said. “Here, they can do lots of outdoor recreational
activities — picnics, trekking, enjoying the cool weather and the view.
It’s all very refreshing.”
According to Ali, tea estates are also popular getaway spots for European tourists, who enjoy the old-world charm.
“Most
of the [foreign] tourists come from the Netherlands, because most of
these plantations used to be owned by the Dutch,” Ali said. “Coming to
the tea plantations is like a way for them to preserve the memory of
their ancestors. There’s an emotional connection.”
Unlike a lot
of ecotourism, which focuses on adventure travel, tea plantation tours
are more relaxed. Vacationers can choose to participate in leisurely
“tea walks” around the estate, accompanied by cool breezes and the scent
of flowering shrubs.
At Malabar Tea Estate in Pangalengan,
walkers can head to the nearby hot spring afterward to soak their tired
muscles; Gunung Mas in Puncak has a swimming pool where hikers can cool
off.
However, adventurous vacationers, seeking more than just
rest and relaxation, will also find plenty of activities to keep them
occupied. The sloping, winding paths of the plantations provide a
perfect backdrop for challenging treks and mountain biking, while tea
estates at higher elevations like Gunung Mas offers adrenaline junkies
the chance to paraglide over Puncak’s rolling green hills.
In
addition to refugees from the city and adventurers, West Java’s tea
estates are also drawing visitors with their educational tours.
“Coming
here is not just about relaxation, but also about education,” Jimmi
said. “You drink tea every day, but a lot of us don’t know how it gets
from the earth to our tea cup.”
Senari has worked at Gunung Mas for 35 years and now leads tours around the processing facility and the plantation.
“We
get a lot of young tourists also,” Senari said. “Parents would come
visit for the weekend, bring back the tea, and their kids would want to
come for themselves to see how it was made.”
Tea estates like
Goalpara and Gunung Mas have tours that allow visitors to walk through
the shrubs (some close to 100 years old), partake in the tea picking
process, observe tea production and packaging, and sample the estate’s
teas.
Many tour operators now offer tea-tasting getaways, which
include transportation and accommodation at a colonial plantation house,
but escaping to these tea estates is simple to do on your own. All it
takes is a three-hour drive from Jakarta, and, if you can make it
through the traffic, you’ll find yourself up in the cool hills, raising a
steaming cup of antioxidants in salute to the charms of tea-estate
culture.
“I like to go on ecotours because it’s about preserving
our natural wonders,” Jimmi said. “It’s about nurturing the environment
and getting away from it all. It makes me feel younger every time I
go.”
Additional reporting by Astrid Paramitha Lyssens & Lauren Zumbach.
Goalpara Tea Estate
Jl. Raya Goalpara, 43/92
Sukabumi
Tel: 026 622 1500
E-mail: gt1.goalpara@gmail.com
Gunung Mas Tea Estate
Jl. Raya Puncak Cawas, Bogor
Tel: 025 125 2501
Malabar Tea Estate
Pangalengan, Bandung
Tel: 022 253 4517, 022 250 2049
Taken from Jakarta Globe. Read the original article
