Periyar is one of the best-known wildlife reserves in India, and it owes its lake to a dam. In 1895 the British, working for the Madras Presidency, completed the Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar river and sent water east through a tunnel into the dry plains of Tamil Nadu, flooding a forested valley in the process. What drowned the old trees created the main attraction: a long, winding lake with skeletons of old trunks poking through the surface, and around it a reserve of evergreen and deciduous forest, home to wild elephants, gaur, sambar, wild boar, lion-tailed macaques and a small number of tigers. The dam is still a point of dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The Kerala side is wetter, and the contrast is quick: within thirty kilometres the plains give way to moist forest, spice plantations and the little tourist town of Kumily, whose bazaar sells cardamom, pepper, cinnamon and tea. Thekkady, the park gate, is a few minutes beyond. Inside the reserve is the Sabarimala hill shrine, reached by pilgrims in their millions in the winter season.
Getting here from the plains is a ride in itself. The ghat road climbs from Cumbum in dozens of bends, past vineyards and tomato fields, and crosses the state line into forest, with fine views back over the plains. The surface is mostly tarmac, rough in places, and in the pilgrim season, from November to January, the road is crowded with buses and cars. Elephants sometimes cross the road at dusk, and monkeys are a nuisance, so keep your snacks sealed and your speed down.
Boat safaris on the lake run through the day, though the most rewarding time is early morning, when animals come to drink and mist hangs on the water. Entry rules change, so book ahead. Fuel is at Kumily and Cumbum, the latter a town of sixty thousand about thirty kilometres away. Kumily's cafés serve good appam with stew, and spice shops sell fresh cardamom by the bag, which smells wonderful in a pannier.