Why it's still possible to get misty-eyed and wonderstruck in Munnar

Renu Bahal Wadhwa and TCA Srinivasa Raghavan explore the gems of a time gone by in Kerala's breathtakingly beautiful hill retreat

It’s been said that while other countries have armies, in Pakistan it’s the army that has a country. Munnar, in the hills of Kerala, is a bit like that. It’s a bunch of golf courses to which tea estates have been attached. 

Some months ago, some of us who often take trips together decided to go there because, well, it’s there. 

As you drive from Kochi to Munnar, you slowly leave the hot and dusty plains behind. (You can get there from Coimbatore also but it takes a bit longer.) The road starts to climb about an hour out of