You can ride in a car from Coimbatore, an industrial city in the state of Tamil Nadu well connected by road, rail and air. Your chauffeur will motor past the town of Pollachi from where you will wind through 40 hair pin bends on the Anamallais Hills to reach the Parry Agro tea plantations at Paralai. Two and a half hours is all it takes from Coimbatore, and the views on the way are breathtaking.

If you choose to make an approach from the west through Kerala, Cochin - or Kochi as it is now known - is a convenient staging point that is well linked by sea, road, rail and air. The picturesque four-hour drive will take you through the town of Chalakudi, past the impressive Athirapally Falls, which warrants a quick stop. Drive through some lovely evergreen forests across the state border at Sholayur Dam into Tamil Nadu. The road then meanders through elephant country and tea and coffee plantations to reach my bungalow at Paralai estate, where I am the Sinna Dorai.