Perumala is a small village 1km uphill east from Kanthalloor, towards Tamil Nadu. I think that the altitude of Perumala is approx 1800m, and it has some great views when the sky is clear. Most of the time it was cloudy for me as I'd reach there in the afternoon. One afternoon when I was walking through Perumala a man called Gopal asked if I'd like to visit his house as his garden had a good view. Gopal was right, his garden does have a good view as you can see from the 4 photos below.
I asked a resident of Perumala, and was told that this bus has been parked here for 7 years. Now it's only use is to display election posters.
In Perumala there is a tiny Hanuman temple, which is only open on a tuesday. Fortunately I was there on a tuesday.
There were two shrines near to the Hanuman temple, and next to the stream in the picture below is another nearby shrine.
Looking south west from Perumala.
There's an old temple in Perumala built around the stump of a Banyan tree. I was given a tour by the 4 boys pictured below.
Hanging out with the ladies of Perumala, and their grandfather. The woman on the left in yellow clothes is getting married this month (June 2011) to a man in Puthur. I hear all the news when walking around.
A lot of garlic is grown in Perumala. I like the method of carrying the crop.
Don't drop the garlic!
One afternoon I took a long walk of several kilomtres from Perumala up to a checkpost at Methappu at the top of the mountain range to the east of Kanthalloor in the forest inside the national park. I met Mr A P Thankachan the checkpost officer (right on the photo below) and his colleague who gave me some rice and sambar upon my arrival. I considered walking further into the forest but after a long climb I thought it was sensible to return to Kanthalloor before dark. There were some great views at the checkpost after 2 hours of walking along the road through the forest. Mr Thankachan said that the checkpost altitude is 2100m which is the highest altitude I've ever experienced, anywhere in the world.
This is looking west from the checkpost. In the foreground is the several km of forest I walked through from Perumala, the Sacred Heart school inbetween Kanthalloor and Perumala is visible just above the edge of the forest on the right, and way out in the distance but obscured by cloud is the Marayoor valley. Previous photos taken looking east to Kanthalloor from the valley floor in Marayoor will display a mountain range in the distance, this photo is taken from the top of that mountain range. I don't think I can say any more about the geography of Marayoor and its valley, I hope you can visualise it or go and visit for yourself.
The road through the forest from Perumala up to the checkpost.
There were lots of interesting trees and plants along the way, have a look at these huge Kalyana Theva trees.
I asked a resident of Perumala, and was told that this bus has been parked here for 7 years. Now it's only use is to display election posters.
In Perumala there is a tiny Hanuman temple, which is only open on a tuesday. Fortunately I was there on a tuesday.
There were two shrines near to the Hanuman temple, and next to the stream in the picture below is another nearby shrine.
Looking south west from Perumala.
There's an old temple in Perumala built around the stump of a Banyan tree. I was given a tour by the 4 boys pictured below.
Hanging out with the ladies of Perumala, and their grandfather. The woman on the left in yellow clothes is getting married this month (June 2011) to a man in Puthur. I hear all the news when walking around.
A lot of garlic is grown in Perumala. I like the method of carrying the crop.
Don't drop the garlic!
One afternoon I took a long walk of several kilomtres from Perumala up to a checkpost at Methappu at the top of the mountain range to the east of Kanthalloor in the forest inside the national park. I met Mr A P Thankachan the checkpost officer (right on the photo below) and his colleague who gave me some rice and sambar upon my arrival. I considered walking further into the forest but after a long climb I thought it was sensible to return to Kanthalloor before dark. There were some great views at the checkpost after 2 hours of walking along the road through the forest. Mr Thankachan said that the checkpost altitude is 2100m which is the highest altitude I've ever experienced, anywhere in the world.
This is looking west from the checkpost. In the foreground is the several km of forest I walked through from Perumala, the Sacred Heart school inbetween Kanthalloor and Perumala is visible just above the edge of the forest on the right, and way out in the distance but obscured by cloud is the Marayoor valley. Previous photos taken looking east to Kanthalloor from the valley floor in Marayoor will display a mountain range in the distance, this photo is taken from the top of that mountain range. I don't think I can say any more about the geography of Marayoor and its valley, I hope you can visualise it or go and visit for yourself.
The road through the forest from Perumala up to the checkpost.
There were lots of interesting trees and plants along the way, have a look at these huge Kalyana Theva trees.
