Gallery: Asia’s Crazy Bamboo Scaffolding

One thing that surprised me on my trip to India was that bamboo was still commonly used for scaffolding. I was blown away by the gigantic structures I saw being built — skyscrapers, statues, modern office buildings — that were covered in a bamboo skeleton, rather than the metal I was used to seeing in the United States. But no matter how unsettling it may be to look at, bamboo is used for a reason: it’s strong, extremely lightweight, and very flexible (as you’ll see in the photos). Check out this gallery of crazy bamboo scaffolding across Asia — I hope you’re not afraid of heights!


At the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.


Would you climb up this thing? I sure wouldn’t.


The Sri Ekambaranathar temple in southern India.


Another shot of the same temple. Wow!


Look, it’s a monkey!


Bamboo mixed with heavy metal machinery in Hong Kong.


Bad photo, crazy bamboo!


A human cement ladder.


India once again.


Yikes.


Hong Kong.

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