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Home to one of the four major ancient civilizations, a centre of important trade routes and vast empires, India has long played a major role in human history. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism all have their origins in India and continue to thrive until the current day alongside Islam and, to a lesser extent, Christianity. Colonised as part of the British Empire in the nineteenth century, India gained independence in 1947. The British were the first to plant tea in India, producing their first successful crop in Assam in 1833. Indigenous strains of tea had been discovered prior to this but the first harvest was from plants brought from China. Today India produces more tea than any other country in the world and tea is most commonly drunk as chai masala with milk, sugar and spices.

Calcutta, the starting city of the expedition, was home to the East India Company and the port from which Indian goods were shipped all over the known world during the British period. Indian tea was first domesticated here in the botanical gardens and we will also visit the city’s tea auctions which have been functioning continually since 1861 and today handle 95 million kilos of tea each year. From Calcutta we will be travelling up to Darjeeling where many of India’s tea estates are to be found to look at the growing and processing of tea before returning to Calcutta for departure home.

The team will travel onwards to the ancient cities of Allahabad and Varanasi which sit perched along the holy Ganges River. Allahabad’s 16th century fort is a must-see attraction and, in respect to more recent history, the team will also visit Anand Bhawan, the family home of the Nehru dynasty who have provided three of India’s prime ministers since Independence. In Varanasi, possibly the world’s longest continually inhabited city, we will visit the Buddhist stupa of the Mauryan emperor Asoka, the city’s cremation ghats and the silk workshops that produce the world famous Banaras silks. No trip to India would be complete without visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra, and so this will be our next destination. The Taj should be visited at dawn or dusk for maximum impact.

The team will then travel on towards India’s capital city, Delhi, and visit India’s largest mosque, the Jama Masjid, Emperor Humayun’s tomb and the city’s memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. They will drink tea in the hectic market of Chandi Chowk as well as the popular tea bars that are springing up across the centre of Delhi. The team’s last major destination in India will be Amritsar, the main city in the Punjab. Amritsar is the home of the Sikh religion and while in the city the team will visit the celebrated Golden Temple, built in the late 16th century.