Konni has a place in Kerala's affections for one reason above all: elephants. The Konni elephant camp, on the banks of the Achankovil river, is among the oldest in the state, and for generations it was where wild elephants, caught and tamed, were trained to work in the forests and temples. Today the practice is over, but the camp still looks after elephants and their calves, and children come to watch them being bathed in the river in the morning. It is a gentle, rather moving place, with an unhurried atmosphere.
The forest division around it covers a large area of Pathanamthitta district, a landscape of rolling hills with teak plantations, rubber estates and patches of moist evergreen forest. Konni's teak was planted in the nineteenth century and is among the oldest plantations in Kerala. So you are on the dry side of the range, looking back at the long wall of ridges where the clouds pile up on the Kerala slopes.
The ride across the divide, if you do it, is a lesson in contrasts. On the Tamil side the road climbs from hot, flat farmland through grapevines and coconut groves into cooler hills, and over the top you meet forest, damp air and the smell of cardamom. Down the western side the road is shaded, with long curves, tea shops and places where elephants have worn paths across the tarmac, which is why signs warn you to slow down. In the evening, they are best avoided.
The practical needs are simple. Take on petrol in Gudalur or Cumbum before you cross, and again in Kumily on the Kerala side. Konni town on the western side has pumps and small restaurants serving the usual Kerala breakfast of puttu and kadala curry, which is cheap and filling. If you want to visit the camp, ask locally about opening times, as these change, and remember to be quiet and keep a respectful distance from the animals. The roads can be slippery in the rains from June to September, so be careful.