Hassan (Karnataka), India - December 16th, 2006

Two cold tablets for 10 rupies (about .20cents) worked miracles. My cold is gone, so I am off to Hassan. Travelling directly east from the coast, half ways between Mangalore and Bangalore (south central part of Karnataka).
Hassan is a good town base to visit Halebid and Belur. The trip to Hassan by bus was terrifying, mainly the last hour. The road is very bumpy, narrow and winds around a mountain range, constantly turning with huge potholes all the way. The trucks with petrol are travelling both ways because the refinery is in Bangalore, so all these trucks must pass thru this road. One of these trucks was turn over in one of the turns as we were trying to manage driving arount it.
They haven't fix any part of this major access road after the heavy moonsoon rains. Arriving to Hassan was a big relief.
Tomorrow I'll go to visit the Hoysala temples in Halebid and Belur. The arts of music and dance were highly regarded during the Hoysala period. Those were times of a relatively high degree of sexual freedom and prominent female participation in public affairs.