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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hayao" data-source="post: 7213506" data-attributes="member: 238183">In the depths of northeastern India, in one of the wettest places on earth,  bridges aren't built -- they're grown. <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_01.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_02.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_03.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Grown from the roots of a rubber tree, the Khasis people of Cherapunjee use  betel-tree trunks, sliced down the middle and hollowed out, to create  "root-guidance systems." When they reach the other side of the river, they're  allowed to take root in the soil. Given enough time a sturdy, living bridge is  produced. <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_04.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The root bridges, some of which are over a hundred feet long, take ten to  fifteen years to become fully functional, but they're extraordinarily strong.  Some can support the weight of 50 or more people at once. One of the most unique root structures of Cherrapunjee is known as the "Umshiang  Double-Decker Root Bridge." It consists of two bridges stacked one over the  other! <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_05.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_06.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_07.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Because the bridges are alive and still growing, they actually gain strength  over time, and some of the ancient root bridges used daily by the people of the  villages around Cherrapunjee may be well over 500 years old. <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_08.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> But these are not the only bridges built from growing plants. Japan too, has its  own form of living bridges. These are The Vine Bridges of Iya Valley..... <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_09.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> One of Japan's three "hidden" valleys, West Iya is home to the kind of misty  gorges, clear rivers, and thatched roofs one imagines in the Japan of centuries  ago. To get across the Iya River that runs through the rough valley terrain,  bandits, warriors and refugees created a very special - if slightly unsteady -  bridge made of vines. <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_10.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> This is a picture from the 1880s of one of the original vine bridges. <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_11.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> First, two Wisteria vines -- one of the strongest vines known -- were grown to  extraordinary lengths from either side of the river. Once the vines had reached  a sufficient length they were woven together with planking to create a pliable,  durable and, most importantly, living piece of botanical engineering. <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_12.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_13.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The bridges had no sides, and a Japanese historical source relates that the  original vine bridges were so unstable, those attempting to cross them for the  first time would often freeze in place, unable to go any farther. Three of those vine bridges remain in Iya Valley. While some (though apparently  not all) of the bridges have been reinforced with wire and side rails, they are  still harrowing to cross. More than 140 feet long, with planks set six to eight  inches apart and a drop of four-and-a-half stories down to the water, they are  not for acrophobes. <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_14.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Some people believe the existing vine bridges were first grown in the 12th  century, which would make them some of the oldest known examples of living architecture in the world. <img src="http://buylovely.com/files/funzug/imgs/nature/bridges_natural_cherapunji_15.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></blockquote>

Verification: Hath warak paha keeyada? (hatha wadikireema paha)

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