The forest begins quite suddenly. One moment you are in the farmland around Gundlupet, with sunflower and marigold fields stretching to the horizon, and the next the road runs into dry deciduous woodland, and the signs warn you about elephants. Bandipur is a tiger reserve in southern Karnataka, joined along its border to the Mudumalai reserve in Tamil Nadu and the Wayanad forests in Kerala, and together they form one of the largest protected tracts of forest in India. The highway from Mysuru to Ooty cuts straight through it, which is why this ride feels more like a safari than a commute.
The road is a good one, wide and mostly well surfaced, with gentle bends through teak, bamboo and tall grass. You are riding through habitat, not along its edge. Chital deer are the common sight, grazing in small herds at the verge. Langurs sit on the tarmac like commuters waiting for a bus, peacocks stalk through the undergrowth, and with a bit of luck you will see gaur, the huge Indian bison, or a wild elephant standing in the shade. Tigers live here too, but they keep to themselves, and anyone who claims to have seen one from the highway has had a very lucky day.
There are rules and they matter. Traffic through the reserve is banned at night, roughly from nine in the evening until six in the morning, to protect wildlife, so plan your day to be through before dark. Do not stop to feed or photograph animals at close range, and do not leave rubbish. A wild elephant can be very dangerous, especially a bull in musth or a mother with a calf, so slow down if you see one near the road and keep a gap to turn away if it moves. Speed limits are low and enforced, and the checkpoint staff are used to explaining them to impatient visitors.
The air changes as you climb out of the forest, with the scent of dry leaves and dust giving way to cooler, damper air at the foot of the Nilgiri hills. March to May is hot and dry, when animals gather near the water and are easiest to see. The monsoon turns the woods emerald but can bring leeches and heavy showers.
Fuel is not available inside the forest. Gundlupet, a larger town with pumps and food stalls, is the last sensible place to fill up, with Masinigudi on the Tamil Nadu side a smaller alternative. Eat before you enter, because the forest stretch has little more than the odd tea stall.