Bridge across the River Yantra

Today I had no scheduled classes, so I decided to do something that had been on my mental to-do list for quite a while. I walked across the railway bridge. I'd heard about the ricketty nature of the metal pedestrian lane and thought it sounded interesting, plus I wanted to take some photos as I knew I'd get a different viewpoint of the town than usual. Another thing was, I often hear trains passing over this bridge as it exits the tunnel under VT; the low BOOM-BOOM, BOOM-BOOM, BOOM-BOOM, soon fading into the distance as the track bends with the curve of the valley, is strangely comforting. I remember mistaking the noise it made for the drums of a procession in the first week I was here. It doesn't sound like UK trains at all (not that I'm an expert, of course).

I could tell that people don't often cross this bridge on foot, because the steps and path down the side of the hill to the crossing were very overgrown. Trees and undergrowth almost obscured them at times. The day was extremely hot and sunny, however, so the shade was welcome.

The pedestrian part of the bridge was indeed pretty ricketty. It was tacked on to the side so closely to the train track that if a train had passed by while I was walking over, it would have gone within only a foot or two of me. The part I walked on was made of a succession of very thin metal sheets, each one a couple of feet square. Inbetween each one there was a small gap, allowing me to view the river Yantra below.

On the other side, instead of continuing forwards along the side of the track I turned a sharp right and pushed through some more overgrown vegetation to the path on the riverbank. I walked under the bridge I'd just crossed, round the corner to a tiny near-white river beach, then back.

From the bridge it was a five to ten minute walk along the riverside to the big stone bridge, where I crossed and made my way up the hill back to my flat.