Uncover Asia’s Secret Stories in Every Sip
A cup of tea is never just a drink, it is a beverage crafted from a story steeped in land, climate, culture, ritual, and tradition. Each leaf holds the breath of its hillsides and each pour carries with it the flavours of the season in which it was picked and truly the taste of the terroir. At Secret Retreats, our Secret Journeys will take you beyond the teacup, into the heart of tea, its origins, its pouring, its sharing, its silences. Journey with us across Bhutan, India, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and China, and taste the tea stories that each place tells.
Bhutan – The Last Shangri-La & Tea’s Gentle Edge
High in the Himalayas, where prayer flags flutter across the mountain air and ancient dzongs guard mist-draped valleys, tea in Bhutan is an everyday essential. In The Last Shangri-La, you tread the paths that monks have walked for centuries, sip brews infused with alpine purity and feel life slow to the pace of the seasons. At Zhiwaling Heritage, recently honored as the 2025 Luxury Lifestyle Awards Winner for Heritage Hotels in Bhutan, guests are welcomed into an intimate Bhutanese tea ceremony in the hotel’s traditional Tea House. Here, butter tea (suja) is churned by hand in wooden vessels and served steaming in carved cups. This gentle ritual, part hospitality and part heritage, invites you to pause, warm your hands, and taste a tradition that has comforted travelers and monks alike for centuries. Life slows to the pace of the seasons, and tea blends with the mist, as enriching, simple, and profound as Bhutan’s hidden monasteries.
India – From West Bengal to Darjeeling & Assam: Peaks, Plantations, and the Railway Chai
India’s tea story begins on the plains of West Bengal, where colonial-era Kolkata still hums, and then climbs into the emerald hills of Darjeeling, where tea bushes cascade down slopes in the shadow of the sky-piercing beauty of Mount Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak. At Glenburn Tea Estate, you will see how the delicate art of plucking ‘two leaves and a bud’ creates Darjeeling’s prized first-flush, second-flush and even rain teas, with each tea shaped by season, soil and sky.
Another of India’s great treasures is Assam tea, bold and malty, grown in the lush Brahmaputra Valley. And our local expert offers this traveller’s tip, if you find yourself boarding a train in India, don’t pass up a steaming cup of chai from a platform vendor. It’s one of those quintessential experiences that lingers long after the journey ends. And remember, it’s simply chai. Saying ‘chai tea’ is like saying ‘tea tea’ a small linguistic slip that misses the poetry of the word itself.
Japan – Kyoto: Ceremony in Silence
In Kyoto, tea is art, ritual, and the serving of tea is a meditative moment. Under paper lanterns, in quiet tatami rooms, a tea master’s movements are precise, ceremonial, with every gesture deliberate. Through Discover Kyoto and Nara, you learn that the ceremony is not just about matcha, whisk, and bowl, it is about stillness, respect, and connection to the moment. You taste the matcha, smooth and vegetal with a subtle, lingering sweetness, feel the hushed serenity of the room, and notice the quiet beauty in every imperfect tea-bowl, the natural elegance of hand-crafted utensils, and the fleeting perfection of this rare and beautiful moment in time shared with tea.
Sri Lanka – Ceylon in the Wild: Misty Highland Plantations
Ceylon tea conjures thoughts of sweeping lush green hills, mist curling over plantation ridges, and fresh sparkling air after the rain. On the Sri Lankan highlands, tea plantations rise sharply, the air cool and bright, and each picking season brings its own character, brisk morning teas, rich midday classics, golden tips at dawn. Our Ceylon in the Wild journey will immerse you in this heritage with plantation walks, encounters with local tea growers, and witnessing the rolling, withering and drying that give Ceylon tea its famed clarity and freshness.
Thailand – Bangkok & Beyond: Street-Tea and New Traditions
Thailand offers many vibrant contrasts and tea here is as much about community and innovation as tradition. In Discover Bangkok, our journey traces tea from small farms to street-corner brews. We explore how vendors craft their signature blends and how new interpretations of tea are reshaping the country’s tea culture. Wander through the markets, sip rich sweet teas from streetside vendors, taste the playful energy of local innovation and see how tea becomes part of daily life with morning rituals, afternoon pauses, and the vivid bustle that makes the city’s tea culture thrive.
China – Xi’an & Pingyao: Back to the Roots
In the ancient medieval walled town of Pingyao, the heart of Chinese tea culture beats quietly. Timbered houses lean into narrow alleys, small tea rooms offer respite from the crowds, and you can almost hear echoes of traders and poets who once gathered here to share stories of the day over a steaming pot of tea.
On Xi’an & Pingyao: The Ancient Epicenter, you will follow tea back to its origins, the drink that shaped empires, inspired poetry, fueled trade routes and still today signifies hospitality, respect and tradition today in a single pour.
An Invitation to Sip Deeper
Each of these wonderful journeys is an invitation to slow down, to listen and drink in the stories of place and people. At Secret Retreats, we believe travel becomes richer when it awakens all your senses, when you enjoy the freshest tastes of the seasons, smell new and exotic aromas as you explore local markets, see fascinating cultures and land very different to your everyday existence at home, and feel the warmth from a fresh brewed tea warm your hands as you ponder the day’s wonders at the close of the day.
Travel Asia with Secret Retreats and together we’ll sip slower, delve deeper, and let every journey share its unique stories with you.
