A bridge too far

When anyone talks about bridges, what comes to mind are the famous ones that offer a pretty sight or are feats of engineering, like the Golden Gate or the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Everyone’s been over those ad infinitum, so we’ll try and inject a bit of adrenaline into a somewhat sterile topic. If you have a fear of heights, stop reading. If you have a fear of heights but like that which is forbidden, you’re on your own since we don’t know how to deal with your conflicting emotions.

Musou Tsuribashi bridge, Japan

If you have ever seen Japanese television shows, you’ll know that they are just a little bit nutty. If you somehow haven’t ever been exposed to Japanese television and wanted incontrovertible evidence that there is a giant truckload of crazy hidden away somewhere beyond Tokyo, look no further than an old suspension bridge that is hidden away in the Southern Japanese Alps. Known as Musou Tsuribashi, this bridge is renowned as Japan’s scariest for a very good reason. First of all, it’s very narrow. Second of all, it was built somewhere in the 50’s and some of the rope and boards have been destroyed over time. So imagine going through the thin boards while bing wracked by strong winds, swaying side to side. That is the very definition of super-fun times. If you’re not convinced yet, allow us to offer a third reason; it’s in the middle of nowhere. So when you are falling to your death while hanging from the ropes, there will be no one to hear your cries for help. If you’re American and you’re reading this, we’re just a source of information, don’t go suing us once you get maimed. Seriously, don’t.

Hussaini Hanging Bridge, Pakistan

It is the age of space travel, and soon we will have cracked the human genome completely. And yet, for all our advances and all our bluster, some parts of this big blue rock of ours remains blissfully untouched by civilization. Take the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. Until 1978, it was totally cut off from the rest of the world due to the treacherous terrain and the lack of any arterial or main roads. Sure, you could fly in, but even that could only be a small one since landing strips were absent (let alone airports) and back in 1978 only the privileged few could afford it. For the common man, the only option was to traverse mountain passes through to Rawalpindi. It wasn’t until 1978 that the Karakoram highway was constructed and finally the region found a link to the world, but inter-region travel is as tricky as ever. One look at the dilapidated Hussaini Bridge, spread-eagled across the Borit Lake in the Upper Hunza, will show you why. Barely a bridge and with more gaps than planks, the wind shakes your battered confidence as you cross it and reduces you to a bundle of nerves. Perhaps this bridge is Pakistan’s answer to the Ironman Triathlon, but it will take a lot more than just immense reserves of stamina to pass this test. Did we say test? We meant to say bridge. Definitely bridge.

Aiguille du Midi, France

Trust the French to be eccentric and do things just a little differently to everyone else, like having pastries for breakfast and building bridges between mountains. We didn’t just make that up, it’s all entirely true. Head to Aiguille du Midi over in the French Alps and you will stumble upon what is most certainly the single most unique observatory on the face of the planet. What it is, is a tiny bridge connecting two mountains and it offers the most sensational view of the Mont Blanc massif you can feast your eyes upon. What it really is, is terrifying since it is so high up as to be able to send anyone with a fear of heights into instant cardiac arrest. Death by beauty is a terrifying thought but the bridge isn’t all that terrifying unless you have Acrophobia. It’s rather broad and reliable and the even winds swirling around at that height don’t make it swing back and forth, although it could be the weight of all the tourists using it that make it invulnerable to the wind god’s overtures. And as a reward for your bravery, when in reality there wasn’t much of a threat, is a meal at a nearby restaurant should you so choose. You have to hand it to the French, proving their madness to the world one thing at a time.

Hanging Bridge of Ghasa, Nepal

Since the dawn of mankind, man and animals have co-habited with one another rather peacefully, getting alone in the same environment and singing songs of peace and happiness that even Mother Nature found hummable. And then man discovered that he and animals could not live together in the same spot because animals are so damn tasty. But in Nepal, considered by some to be one of the cradles of civilization, there is a suspension bridge present near the village of Gus where man and animal exist in harmonious balance. That’s because the only way for inhabitants of the nearby villages to cross the hanging bridge is to jump past one another and to jump over the cattle that constantly slowdown in the time-trusted fashion of traffic jams. If this is not animal crackers, then what is? The bridge is wobbly and a bit tipsy, drunk from all the attention it gets, and it appears to be suitably dangerous but all the daily users probably wouldn’t say so. Hundreds upon hundreds of heads cross by everyday, all of them guinea pigs of all shapes and sizes. So far, there have not been any casualties of any note. How boring. Who likes reliability when you’re talking about dangerous bridges? In more than a manner of speaking, something has to give soon.