Thursday, March 6, 2014

Roads and Trees


This is a Peepal Tree growing over bricks. I don't know if it was part of a wall or a building or just a stack of bricks. Peepals are figs, and usually start by growing over some existing tree or structure. They are "holy" trees in India (and much of Asia) -- the Latin name is Ficus religiosa. The Buddha was sitting under a peepal when he attained enlightenment.



I knew that the road to Modern School (where I "volunteer") was going to be paved this spring. The old dirt road had car-eating sized potholes -- it was actually faster to walk than to drive. But it never occurred to me that it would be paved with bricks -- amazing what cheap labor can do. Lon says the new road takes ten minutes off the drive time.

There are spots where the road is barely one car wide.

I estimate that the whole road is about 300 m long. This is the longest, and straightest stretch.

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