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#1
A couple of weekends ago, I decided to visit the ancient temples of Belur and Halebid (of which I had heard a lot). This is a brief travelogue and an input to people planning on taking the trip about road conditions (which, for the most part, are excellent).
The one thing that I am going to follow religiously is - 'start early'. Left home at 4:30 am on a Friday and within 30 minutes or so I was on the Neelamangala road.
The highway is superb with a toll booth after the elevated section (takes about Rs. 15). After this - you need to take the 3rd exit (the section marked as Bangalore to Mangalore) ... which leads onto the service road and then a dual carriageway (2 lanes either side with a divider in between) for close to a 100 kms . This drive is lovely with fields on either side, great tarmac and easy to maintain a steady clip of close to 100 kmph. The problem remains with buses that barrel down the wrong way (to avoid taking a U turn). So be cautious at all times as you will have to change lanes to avoid a bus / truck / car coming down towards you at full tilt on the wrong side of the road ...
The road becomes a single lane either way (with no divider) some distance short of Hassan - its still very enjoyable and there are signs of construction going on for extending the toll road. I stopped to take some snaps of 'windmills' on a hill at a distance - was a lovely sight (havent seen them in India till now).
The roads within Hassan are quite terrible. The rains have washed away most of the tarmac and its quite a bumpy ride through the city. The highway improved once I left Hassan and was again quite good all the way to Belur.
Reached the "Chennakeshava" temple at 0830 hrs ... so a 4 hour drive with a few stops en-route to just take in the sights, click some snaps and have a coffee.
The temple is beautiful. There are certified 'guides' within the temple. I engaged the services of one and over the next hour, he explained the history of Belur and the stories behind the sculptures. Spent a few very peaceful hours here. And then - continued onwards to Chikmagalur (to a homestay where I had booked a stay for 2 nights).
The distance from Belur to the homestay was about 55 kms - over a narrow excuse for a road. Everytime a vehicle came from the other side - both of us had to get off the road in order to pass. So - drove slowly / steadily and around late afternoon - reached the homestay.
It was raining heavily in Chikmagalur and didnt let up at all. The stay (room / food / people) was wonderful with a very hospitable staff. I sacked out for some time with a thought to go for a walk to the waterfalls within the estate. The rains though continued and there was no question of venturing out. the place had a nice library - and it was delightful to sit in the "verandah" with an old issue of National Geographic, with the rain falling, and a hot cup of coffee. Nice !
Will update on the return journey later (which included a stopover in Halebid).
The one thing that I am going to follow religiously is - 'start early'. Left home at 4:30 am on a Friday and within 30 minutes or so I was on the Neelamangala road.
The highway is superb with a toll booth after the elevated section (takes about Rs. 15). After this - you need to take the 3rd exit (the section marked as Bangalore to Mangalore) ... which leads onto the service road and then a dual carriageway (2 lanes either side with a divider in between) for close to a 100 kms . This drive is lovely with fields on either side, great tarmac and easy to maintain a steady clip of close to 100 kmph. The problem remains with buses that barrel down the wrong way (to avoid taking a U turn). So be cautious at all times as you will have to change lanes to avoid a bus / truck / car coming down towards you at full tilt on the wrong side of the road ...
The road becomes a single lane either way (with no divider) some distance short of Hassan - its still very enjoyable and there are signs of construction going on for extending the toll road. I stopped to take some snaps of 'windmills' on a hill at a distance - was a lovely sight (havent seen them in India till now).
The roads within Hassan are quite terrible. The rains have washed away most of the tarmac and its quite a bumpy ride through the city. The highway improved once I left Hassan and was again quite good all the way to Belur.
Reached the "Chennakeshava" temple at 0830 hrs ... so a 4 hour drive with a few stops en-route to just take in the sights, click some snaps and have a coffee.
The temple is beautiful. There are certified 'guides' within the temple. I engaged the services of one and over the next hour, he explained the history of Belur and the stories behind the sculptures. Spent a few very peaceful hours here. And then - continued onwards to Chikmagalur (to a homestay where I had booked a stay for 2 nights).
The distance from Belur to the homestay was about 55 kms - over a narrow excuse for a road. Everytime a vehicle came from the other side - both of us had to get off the road in order to pass. So - drove slowly / steadily and around late afternoon - reached the homestay.
It was raining heavily in Chikmagalur and didnt let up at all. The stay (room / food / people) was wonderful with a very hospitable staff. I sacked out for some time with a thought to go for a walk to the waterfalls within the estate. The rains though continued and there was no question of venturing out. the place had a nice library - and it was delightful to sit in the "verandah" with an old issue of National Geographic, with the rain falling, and a hot cup of coffee. Nice !
Will update on the return journey later (which included a stopover in Halebid).
