Living Root Bridges

[bc_steve]

Meghalaya (state in India) is one of the rainiest places in the world. Conventional bridges get washed away. Still needing to cross the streams, the locals figured out a pretty ingenious way of making bridges that last something like 500 years. It takes about a lifetime to create one though.

They use the roots of a local tree, and make them grow across to the other side of the stream. They end up with bridges that are very strong and long lasting. Very impressive.

I find the forest one of the more difficult places to photograph, especially when you get patches of light and patches of shadow. And it can be quite hard to avoid a cluttered background. Anyways, my point is I found these pretty challenging!

Too bad it was the dry season. Running water would have been nice but not a whole lot I can do about that...

#1


#2


#3


#4 -- I need to find my map so I can get the name of this village


#5 -- trying to capture the scale of things. It had been a while since I'd seen a large area of relatively undisturbed forest


#6

 

[Braineack]

Neat bridge, awesome shots in your flickr set.

 

[bribrius]

interesting. I like interesting..

 

[Ec1981]

Those are awesome photos!

 

[Msteelio91]

Very cool! Also very smart on their part

EDIT: Also checked out your Flickr, fantastic photos!

 

[baturn]

I fully agree with everyone so far. Your posts of India are going to make me add another item near the top of my bucket list.

 

[bc_steve]

Thank you all

I fully agree with everyone so far. Your posts of India are going to make me add another item near the top of my bucket list.

It's an amazing place to visit. I highly recommend it!

 

[Desi]

Awesome....thanks for sharing.

 

[oldhippy]

Great stuff, you've got a good eye.

 

[TiltShift]

Makes me jealous! It looks stunning out there! Really great captures..

 

[kjhills84]

Awesome bridge and well captured. I wish i had places like that near me.

 

[bc_steve]

Awesome bridge and well captured. I wish i had places like that near me.

Me too! I'll probably never get back there unfortunately