Belur

After spending a week in Mysore it is time to move on, even though it is a very nice town and hosts our favourite Indian breakfast place. We take a bus to Belur and visit a beautiful temple. It is from the Hoysala period, 12th and 13th century and special for its 32 corner star shape and all the fine details in the sculptures. The nicest temple I've seen and made more vivid by a guide explaining the meaning of scenes and the background of its construction.
There is another one of these temples close by in Halebid but we don't see it as Lena is ill for a day. Instead we go to Jog Falls which is a long and tiring journey by bus but we're glad we went there.
The waterfalls at Jog are the highest in India at 260 meters. We hike down to the pool at the bottom of the falls and feel a fine spray on our faces. We are so lucky that there are absolutely no other tourists around, a very rare event in crowded India, and enjoy the peace and quiet for an hour. Hiking up the cliff is a lot more strenuous than walking down but half way up the refreshments are waiting by a bench cut in the rocks with a great view of the falls.
The local photographer at Jog gives us a picture of the falls during monsoon: a huge wall of water coming down and making the hike down to the pool impossible.