Off to Vietnam

Off to Vietnam on Saturday evening. Had a real nightmare with my passport and visa - too many stamps and not enough spare pages left - but it’s all come good, and my bags are (nearly) packed. My first visit and really looking forward to it especially as they showed the Top Gear special from there in NZ a few weeks ago - brilliant programme, fantastic country.
I land in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and make my way to Da Lat and the tea estates of the south. I’ll be visiting growers in both North and South Vietnam and hoping to taste some great teas from the new season’s growth. Vietnamese tea has been getting better and better over the past few years, and they’re making some good speciality teas, most of which are exported to China.
After that I head for ShangHai and Zhejiang Province in China. My friend Liu Zhiming at the Shanshan Tea Company has promised me some fresh new seasons green teas to taste, and it’ll be good to catch up with him again. This is where we source our Zesty Green Tea from.
Glen Ryan, our Ops Director, is joining me for the China leg. It’s his first trip to tea plantations and what better place to start, China being the home of tea and where it all began 5000 years ago. We’re hoping to visit the West Lake area, home of world famous Dragonwell Tea. Story goes that many centuries ago the very finest leaves were picked for the emperor with golden scissors. I’m looking forward to travelling with Glen and to showing him around. Back on the 1st June.