We British often take for granted the everyday cuppa that we enjoy in what is regarded by many as a national obsession. How it gets to our teapots is a fascinating subject and one which visitors to Assam can discover for themselves with a visit to an Assam tea plantation.

The low growing bushes of tea on their plantations is a familiar sight and many estates welcome visitors, only too willing to show them around and describe the process from which the green leaves are transformed into the rich dark flakes of traditional Assam tea. The attraction of a visit comes in the stimulation of the senses, sight, sound and - most of all - smell.

You usually start with a look at the tea bushes and an explanation of the plants' cultivation requirements. You will hear when and how the tea is picked, watch the tea-pickers at work and then follow the process from beginning to end, seeing how the leaves are sorted according to quality and then dried to a specific moisture content before being packaged. It is here in the sheds that the heady, sweet aroma of tea of fresh-baked tea leaves is most apparent.

At the end of the tour you'll enjoy several cups of tea, noticing the subtle differences between each as the guide explains what to taste for.

No trip to Assam is really complete without a visit to one of the numerous tea-plantations and such a visit makes a welcome break in any itinerary.