Our Ilam friend, Mr. Narendra Gurung, brought us to one of the most family-run tea producers in the Ilam area, which is run by Master Man Kumar Mukhiya and his wife. They have about 6 hectares of tea harvested by hand all year long, in a rigorous organic way. The tea in Ilam's hills can grow at any season, due to the continuous rainfall and humid subtropical climate, but the best season, the one that bears the most refined tea for export, is the summer, or monsoon period. Here little buds spring forth immersed in sweet-scented rain, wild flowers abound, and mangoes are ripe. Maipokhari tea industry is a small quaint factory equipped with vintage soviet and chinese machinery that are worth a visit in their own right, for passionates of industrial archaeology and scholars alike. It is located just 200 meters from the Holy Lake, Maipokhari, which is also a Ramsar ecological protected zone, with several species of birds living and the elusive Red Panda roaming around. Mohan and his wife produce tea of very refined kinds, something I didn't find anywhere else. They are creative, hard-working, passionate tea artisans. With their Red and Oolong tea making skills and quality, they have won a prize in China some years ago, as you can see in the pictures. This tells a lot about their achievements. They started from home-made tea making and slowly made their way to one of the best quality teas in Ilam. This is quite remarkable for a lonely family who still lives in a wooden hut at 2400 meters.