The Bridges That Are Grown, Not Built

Travel Onion · 1:45

In the hills of north-east India there are bridges that nobody built. People grew them, out of the roots of living trees — and they get stronger every year. Meghalaya is one of the wettest places on Earth: more than eleven metres of rain falls in a typical year, and ordinary wooden bridges rot or wash away. So the Khasi and Jaintia people who live here plant a rubber fig tree on the riverbank and guide its hanging roots across the water, along a frame of bamboo or a hollowed-out palm trunk. It takes fifteen to thirty years before a bridge can carry a person, so the people who start one are building it for their children. The roots thicken and fuse wherever they touch; some bridges are thought to be hundreds of years old. The longest runs more than fifty metres, and in the village of Nongriat there are two, one above the other. Save this one for the trip you actually take. Follow for more places worth the trip. 📍 PLAN YOUR VISIT — THE LIVING ROOT BRIDGES ✈️ Getting there: fly to Guwahati or Shillong, drive to Sohra (Cherrapunji), then on to the trailhead at Tyrna village — from there it's about 3,500 steps down to Nongriat 📅 Best time: October to April, when the paths are dry 🎯 Don't miss: the double-decker bridge at Nongriat · the single root bridges on the way down · Rainbow Falls beyond the village