Filling the hole, then the bridge, then the road

This is where the rain had done its damage, and putting it right took two separate pieces of work.

First the hole

First the hole. We cleared the plants off it and laid the biggest stone we could move as a base. Then week after week of carrying rock in, big, medium and small, whatever would pack, until the hole was full. Two months on that. When it was level we put red soil over the top so it could be walked on.

Then the crossing

Then the crossing. Water came off the mountain on a different line and cut straight across the path. People had to get over it without us stopping the water, because stopping it only moves the problem to the next place. A cement bridge was the obvious answer and it was out of reach.

A bridge of stone, because cement was out of reach

So the bridge is stone. We dug into the base of the hill and laid a foundation, about a month of placing rock and breaking stone. Then the blocks went on, about half a tonne each, carried in from a distance and set by hand. Red soil over the top to finish it.

What it opened

Nearly two months on the bridge alone. When it was done there was a road all the way to the temple, and for the first time a vehicle could get up it. I rode a two-wheeler to the temple that day, right up to it, comfortably.

Then we planted trees down both sides of it.