India`s Darjeeling makes it to `top 10 places to enjoy cup of tea`

London: In a survey of some of the world``s finest places to enjoy a cup of tea, Darjeeling, a hill station in India, has been named as one of them. According to a guide produced by travel publishing firm Lonely Planet, the Ritz in London has been placed first on the list.

"Afternoon tea at the Ritz is a splendid affair: silver pots and fine China chink at 4pm sharp under the vaunted glass and chandeliers of the Palm Court," the Telegraph quoted the guide as saying. Second on the list is the Trans-Siberian Railway, Russia/Central Asia, a six-day train journey from Moscow to Beijing, where Russian businessmen, Mongolian traders and Buddhist monks gather around hot water urns known as samovars to swap stories. Third on the list were Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina, and Junshan Island near the city of Yueyang in central China came in fourth with its rare silver-needle tea. Fifth on the list is the Sahara Desert, with the guide warning that taking tea with the nomads requires "patience and dedication" with each sitting composed of three rounds of tea - the first strong, the second bitter and the third sweet. The teahouses of Uji in Japan, where kimono-clad women serve drinks "with studied formality", came in sixth. "The ritual - involving beautiful utensils, delicate pouring and effusive appreciation on your part - is the only thing more important than the drink itself," the guide stated. The Inca Trail, Peru was placed at seventh and Boston, USA was placed at eighth. The plantations of Darjeeling at the foot of the Himalayas, where visitors can marvel at the "deep-green leafy profusion of tea cascading down the hillsides", was placed at number nine. And Hill Country, Sri Lanka was placed at number ten. The top 10 are: 1. London 2. Trans-Siberian Railway, Russia/Central Asia 3. Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina 4. Yueyang, China 5. Sahara Desert 6. Uji, Japan 7. Inca Trail, Peru 8. Boston, USA 9. Darjeeling, India 10. Hill Country, Sri Lanka ANI