Malaysia Cameron Highlands Tea Plantation 003

Life for the workers on the tea plantations is a hard one. Even though electric cutters mean ladies no longer have to hand pick the top three leaves from the tender shoots the bags of leaves are really heavy and the slopes of the plantations very steep. But teams of tea pickers do mange to eek out a living. We were surprised that tea bushes are actually trees that are kept small by the regular programme of picking and pruning; every three weeks, without fail.