India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) - Keith Bain [249]
The best way to experience Periyar is with a Periyar Tiger Trail (see “Back to Nature on the Tiger Trail” box below); other than this, all access to the park is cheap, making excursions popular with exuberant domestic tourists who tend to be noisy, which somewhat inhibits one’s enjoyment of natural scenery. Most opt for the 2-hour boat cruise on Periyar Lake, from where—if you’re lucky—you can view animals coming to drink at the water’s edge. Unfortunately, you’re more likely to experience nonstop din from children (and their parents) who refuse to obey pleas for silence, preferring to rove around the boat and video each other. There are five boat departures a day, and you’d do well not to be on any of them. Less subscribed are the daily nature walks and green walks; these 3-hour treks depart at 7am, 10am, and 2pm and cost Rs 100 (maximum five in a group), and provide you with the opportunity to admire some of the stunning flora of the region; better still are the bamboo rafting trips in which a maximum of 10 people are taken on a full day’s worth of rafting combined with some trekking (Rs 1,000 per person; 8am–5pm). Check www.periyartigerreserve.org for details on these and other adventures such as jungle patrol (a nighttime hike; Rs 500), and the bullock cart discovery, where you ride through the countryside exploring traditional villages. However you choose to explore the park, remember that temperatures can be freezing from November through February, so pack warm layers.
Note: Whatever activities you have in mind, you’re better off making all your arrangements through your hotel. Avoid any unsolicited offers from “guides” promising to take you on walks or tours into the reserve; this will only waste your time and test your patience.
Back to Nature on theTiger Trail
By far the most exciting and tranquil way to experience the park is a 2- or 3-day Periyar Tiger Trail . Armed with antileech footwear and a sleeping bag (supplied), and accompanied by two forest officials and five guides, you are taken farther into the tourist zone than any other operator is allowed to penetrate. What’s more, you are being led and looked after by a team of reformed poachers (sandalwood, cinnamon bark, and bison being their loot of choice) who know the terrain and the wildlife better than anyone. They skillfully track and spot animals, carry all the gear, strike camp, cook, clean, and—most important—stand sentinel throughout the night when the danger of being trampled by elephants becomes a serious risk. They also now play an essential role in catching poachers who remain active in the reserve.
You need to be moderately fit for the trail; you’ll walk between 20km and 35km (12–22 miles), and there are (this being the great outdoors) no luxuries or conveniences along the way. The chances of spotting a tiger are slim at best, but you’ll almost certainly come across elephants, wild pigs, sambar, black monkeys, wild dogs, and bison, and when you’re not trekking to your next campsite, you’ll be relaxing under forest cover or alongside a lake tributary. Meals are wholesome, authentic Kerala vegetarian fare: sweet chai and pleasant snack lunches served on silver trays with the grass for a tablecloth and a beetle symphony as background. Toilet functions are performed in the great outdoors. Each trail is limited to five visitors, with very limited departures each week,