Jan 11, 2015
Bamboo Bridge #1
The bamboo bridge was pretty cool to see. We paid 5000kip ($0.61) to walk on it. This bridge is maintained by one family.
They have to re—build it after every monsoon because it gets washed away. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. There were lights strung up on it as well. The stairs on either side were pretty steep. There’s a lady who gives you a ticket and you use that ticket for when you return so you don’t have to pay again. She also had her dog with her to keep her company. She told us that it took 2 weeks to make the bridge with just her family and relatives coming here and there to help.
Old BridgeThe old bridge is a lot more scary than the bamboo bridge, I thought. Mainly because it was higher and sometimes the wooden planks looked like they weren’t bolted in properly. Other times the wooden plank looked it would fall off if you stepped on it. If there was someone coming in the opposite direction, one of you had to lean in to one side so the other could pass. The bridge also looked like it used to be part of a train track. Cars weren’t allowed on it and I don’t think they would be able to drive on it anyways.
Fun fact 1: Karen didn't see the walkway on the side and actually thought we were supposed to walk where the motor bikes were driving. lol
Fun fact 2: I got really awkward trying to let the monk pass by because we're not supposed to touch them. I got a bit flustered because the walkway wasn't that wide and I had my backpack on and did I mention we were really high up and the wooden planks didn't feel too sturdy? I ended up taking one strap off and pressing my body to the rail and I swear I thought I was going to fall off. haha but all went well, he passed by without being touched. =]
Bamboo Bridge #2
Karen and I didn’t realize that there was another bamboo bridge. We basically came by it by accident. We decided to walk all the way to the end of the road til we met the Mekong river. And just around the river bend was another bamboo bridge! This bridge was less sturdy and we had to pay 7,000kip ($0.86) instead of 5000kip ($0.61). Dunno why this bridge cost more to cross than the other one… maybe because it needs more funds to buy more bamboo to make it more sturdy? Dunno… we crossed it anyways, less excited since we had crossed the other bridge 2 times already. We crossed this one because we just needed to get to the other side.
