Experience life on an actual working farmhouse. Learn how to pick tea at the family owned tea garden, how to milk cows at the farm’s diary, how to smoke meat in Naga style. Participate in planting trees, flowers, vegetables and plants around the farmhouse and the tea/coffee plantations or work alongside the locals in their rice fields. Visit the nearby villages or go for hikes in the orange orchard and forests or take a dip in the waterfalls
The Konyak Tea Retreat is a privately owned family property that was established in 1988. It is located in the middle of Sayeang Tea Estate, Shiyong village, Mon District, Nagaland, India. The farm is run by Phejin Konyak, the great granddaughter of a tattooed headhunter Ahon, who was one of the first interpreters during the “Diaries of Two Tours in the Naga Hills” 1923 written by JH Hutton, the first ethnographer to venture into the Naga Hills during the time of the British Raj. Phejin lives in Shiyong village. Besides running the farm and receiving guests in her homestay, she travels to the remote corners of mon district to document the tattoo tradition of her tribe. Together with photographer Peter Bos, she has documented all the tattoo patterns used in the old ways by the Konyaks.
Nestled in a tea plantation
Both Assam and Chinese variety of teas are cultivated here. It employs about 80 workers permanently from the village. But it also employs seasonal workers from outside the state from the neighbouring state of Assam. It also has an English medium school “Sayeang Middle School” that was established for the children of the tea garden employees and also from the village and surrounding areas. Since the tea estate does not have its own factory and production unit yet, the green leaves are transported and sold to the tea factories in Assam.
The stone walled farmhouse is located in a secluded spot entirely on its own in the middle of a privately owned tea plantation. Guests can experience total safety and privacy. The only wake up call might be the songs of birds and insects as the rays of the morning sun gently caress the flowers and the tea buds. Vibrant shades of greens and flowers surround the farmhouse. Milk,vegetables,fruits and meat are locally sourced as the aim is to be self sustainable and self sufficient as much as possible. The retreat grows all sorts of vegetables, herbs and fruits around the farm where guests can help around; to pick and eat. 
The farmhouse has an open kitchen cum living cum dining space with 2 bedrooms (a double and a twin bedded room) and 2 bathrooms.
Legacy of the Konyaks
The Konyaks can be found in Mon district of Nagaland state, India and in Sagaing Division, Myanmar. They belong to the mongoloid race and speak about 28 dialects that fall under the Tibeto-Burman language family. The Konyaks are one of the major 16 tribes of Nagaland state. They were once well known for their ferociousness in the head- hunting raids which is why they remained isolated and untouched by outside influences for a very long time.
The Konyak tribe is famous for their prominent and elaborate tattoo patterns on their faces, necks, chests, arms, hands, legs and backsides. The iconic facial tattoo of the Konyak male represents the unique ethnic identity of the tribe to the outside world. For the Konyak people, tattooing meant obligation of coming of age or rite of passage which marked the physical journeys and life achievements of the wearer of the tattoos. The practice of tattooing dwindled after the conversion into Christianity that eventually brought the people in touch with the changing times in the world around their society.
