Suspension Bridges

During my travels I’ve crossed a few weird bridges. Some really interesting ones were suspension bridges, of which I’ve selected a few examples.

 

Food Bridge in Hunza

Car Bridge in Hunza

Bridge in Yünnan / Tibet

Tibet

Car Bridge in Tibet

Food Bridge in Tibet

Also Tibet

Famous Kawarau Bridge in New Zealand (Bunjee Jumping)

Food Bridge

Also New Zealand

Road / Car Bridge in New Zealand

Old Bridge in Bolivia

Food Bridge in Kyrgyzstan

Not a suspension bridge

Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan - border to Afghanistan

 

 

The Green Cross or better Cruz Verde in La Paz

 
There’s a nice, little street in La Paz called Calle Jaén, which is visited by tourists as there isn’t any other remaining street of colonial architecture. Though the houses are painted colorful, the old architecture prevails. The original name in the seventeenth century has been Calle Kaura Kancha, which was a market for indigenous people to sell and buy llamas, alpacas or vicuñas for instance. Calle Jaén refers to Don Apolinar Jaén (1776-1810), a revolutionary, who was sentenced to death and executed. His remains were buried in the atrium of the San Francisco temple.

This little, slightly crooked street has produced a lot of stories and legends of yore. Most stories are about ghosts and strange noises. They have been collected in documents and books of Sanjinés.

One of the stories tells about a student, who scared the neighborhood in disguising himself as a ghost.

Another story is about a prisoner, who fled because he was to be shot and who fell on his knees as he passed before green cross, imploring Jesus Christ to save him from the gallows. It was believed as a miracle that the head of the figure of Christ fell off.

The green cross can be seen, where two priests lived formerly with their concubines. Two crosses were placed there to ward off the devil. Later these two crosses were removed, but a large crucifix was placed on the wall of the house, which was called the green cross.

Translation: The tradition tells us that in the days of the colony, the alley of Cabra-Cancha, today Jaén, was a dark place because of the constant appearance of supernatural beings and phenomena (ghostly elves, souls in pain, infernal noises of horse-drawn carriages and chains dragged over the ground), but above all, highlighted the presence of a doomed widow, who seduced all the men who passed by drunken in the late hours of the night to take them on a mysterious adventure. Then the neighbors of this street, heirs of an ingrained Catholic faith decided to place the "Green Cross" to drive away all these evil creatures that frightened them.

Links:

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolinar_Ja%C3%A9n

http://www.the-silk-route.co.uk/boliviaLaPazTiwanaku.htm

http://www.paginasiete.bo/sociedad/2014/4/20/cruz-verde-otras-leyendas-permanecen-entre-vecinos-19340.html

.

The Market of Tarabuco

Tarabuco is a small town in Bolivia near Sucre. And also near to the new airport. The town has about 3000 inhabitants. Tarabuco lies in between the altiplano and the lowland, but still at an altitude of about 3300 m! Every Sunday Tarabuco sees a big market. The people from the surrounding communities exchange food, agricultural products, clothing, animals, and also there is a portion of the market dedicated to souvenirs for tourists. As they (like myself) also flock in. The locals speak Quechua rather than Castellano. Some walk there leading a donkey or a mule, some take a bus, others own a truck to transport their goods to the market. The local people wear their traditional dresses like ponchos or leather hats that resemble the helmets of the conquistadores. Though tourism has taken Tarabuco market as a destination, it still is one of the most authentic markets in Bolivia.

 

Going to the market

 

The big sacks contain coca leaves

 

 

These sandals are made from ols tires

 

Old man in traditional clothes, the leather hat resembles a helmet

 

Part of the market, where goods are rather exchanged than bought

 

No everyone wears traditional clothes, or maybe better only to a lesser degree

 

Modern communication 

 

Crowds at the part, where goods are sold from the trucks

 

Pack animals may rest and feed

 

More coca leaves

 

The market is also a meeting place

 

Discussing prices

 

 Prepared goods for sacrifices and  dried llama foetus as well as bottles with spirits

 

Colorful, but that's the souvenir section

 

After the purchases

 

Only part of the town serves as market

Link:

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarabuco