Set high up in the hillsides, ( some 4,500-5,000 feet above the sea level.), the Ilam region of Nepal shares the same climate,  geography and topography as Darjeeling, India. Tea was grown in the Ilam region since the 1860's, and in the 1900's tea was shipped to Darjeeling factories when the Indian tea bushes became old and could no longer produce good leaves.