The roots of invention
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| Monsoons make this the wettest. |
Welcome to the wettest place on Earth. "Living root bridges" can be found in the tropical rainforests of Meghalaya state, northeastern India, among the wettest places on Earth.
The gentle waterways that flow through the region’s valleys become gushing torrents during the summer monsoon season and would wash away traditional bamboo bridges.
So generations of indigenous Khasi people have devised a way of building root bridges by shaping living trees, like one near the village of Mawsynram.
It works like this: Rubber fig trees are planted or located on opposite riverbanks. As the trees' above-ground roots grow, the Khasi guide them across the water, sometimes with the support of temporary scaffolding like bamboo.
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| Limestone cave expedition, Jainta Hills |
After years of tending, the roots eventually join and take hold of each other, forming a living suspension bridge that provides safe passage over swollen rivers. The innovation has proved critical to the Khasi people.
In this environment, bridges made of harvested materials would quickly rot and fall apart, leaving villages cut off and isolated. Building a living root bridge requires patience, however.
It takes about 15 to 30 years to grow a bridge sturdy enough to support humans. But the investment pays off. As these bridges age, they get stronger. Some are 100 feet long and can hold over 50 people.
Giant "wild men" of the world
Yeti (Mande Barung) of India
In the U.S. knows them as Bigfoot, in Canada as Sasquatch, in China as Yeren, in Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, the Chechnia, and the Caucasus as Almas or "Wild Man," in Brazil as Mapinguary, in Sumatra as Orang Pendek, in Australia as Yowie, in Vietnam and Borneo as Batatut, Indonesia as Sajarang Gigi, in Bangladesh as Ban-Manush, in India as Mande Burung and, most famously of all, in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet as Yeti or "Abominable Snowmen."
The little-known Indian version of this legendary ape-like creature is called mande barung -- or "forest man" -- and is reputed to live in the remote west Garo Hills of the north-eastern state of Meghalaya, India.
I was invited by passionate Yeti-believer Dipu Marak to travel throughout the area to hear for myself what he says is compelling evidence of the existence of a black and grey ape-like animal which stands about nearly 10 feet (3m) tall.
Giant "wild men" of the world
Yeti (Mande Barung) of India
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| Of course they exist and gov'ts know. Ask Lloyd Pye. |
The little-known Indian version of this legendary ape-like creature is called mande barung -- or "forest man" -- and is reputed to live in the remote west Garo Hills of the north-eastern state of Meghalaya, India.
I was invited by passionate Yeti-believer Dipu Marak to travel throughout the area to hear for myself what he says is compelling evidence of the existence of a black and grey ape-like animal which stands about nearly 10 feet (3m) tall.
No proof allowed not even hair DNA
(Indpendent.co.uk) [In 2008] a group of amateur "Yeti-hunters" from Meghalaya gave two hairs they say they discovered in a "nest" of the Mande Burung to a renowned British primatologist. Having examined the hairs, Ian Redmond said they were like that of no other creature known to live in these jungles. Even more teasingly, Dr. Redmond said that under the microscope the hairs most closely resembled those of a human, a chimp, a gorilla, or the purported "Yeti hairs" brought back by the late Sir Edmund Hilary's 1953 Mt. Everest expedition. More
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