I was wondering how going back on the road would be. It’s turning out fine. After about 2 1/2 weeks of braindead beachcombing, it feels good to get some new stimulation.
I just need to say this. Many times I’ve seen people who look just like somebody. Sometimes it’s a very close resemblance. Yesterday I saw a guy who looks exactly like my dad about 15 years ago. I mean exactly. Same hair, same smile, almost the same complexion (which you rarely see in an Indian), same size and build. I tried not to stare, but it was eerie.
Enough about that.
I left Gokarna around 4:30 the day before yesterday. Another coincidence. Getting on the train for Mangalore with me was another American. I talked with him for 4 hours. That’s the longest I’ve talked to another American since I got to India. It was nice to speak in my own idioms for so long. Sometimes I feel like I’m losing the ability to speak anything other than International Simplified English.
I stayed overnight in Mangalore, and headed to Belur. It and Halebidu are between Mangalore and Bangalore. I wasn’t sure I wanted to stop there, but they’ve been replacing the narrow guage rails between the two cities for the last three years, and it won’t be completed till next month. That meant I had to take a government bus for 9 hours if I wanted to go all the way to Mysore. That is something I’ve avoided when possible. They’re sometimes one step above chicken buses. Lonely Planet talked up Belur and Halebidu, and they’re halfway between, so I went there.
These places are in the Western Ghats, that is, the western hill country of South India. There are Eastern Ghats on the other side of Mysore. You wind up over a combination of lousy old road and road under construction to an elevation of about 3000 ft. There is kilometer after kilometer of coconut, cocoa, tea, banana and other plantations, and forest. It looks like this most of the way.
Once you’re up on top, more regular agriculture takes over. They grow a lot of rice, corn, sunflowers and, of all things, castor beans.
Belur turned out to be a good tourist destination. The Hoysala dynasties ruled the area from the 11th to the 14th centuries, and their art is what you think of when you think f Indian architectural art. They built low temples mostly, and some high ones.
The amazing thing about them is the detail of the carvings. The other main thing is the amount of relatively undamaged sculpture there is, considering they are up to 900 years old.
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Even better is Halebidu. I stayed the night in Belur, and went the 16 km to Halebidu this morning at 6. Then I returned and came to this town to see what’s billed as the world’s largest monlithic statue, that of a Jain deity. I’ll get back to you with the name of this place. It’s a tongue twister, and I’ve forgotten it just now. I suppose I could go out in the street and look at a sign. Anyway, Halebidu was even better than Belur. The staue is big, I’ll grant it that.
I’ll post pictures of Halebidu and this place tomorrow or the next day. I left my USB cord in my room.
So, that’s it for today. Again, I hope your holiday season is nice for you.