세계에서 가장 비가 많은 곳 인도, 메가라야 : Meghalaya: The Wettest Place on Earth

Photographer Amos Chapple returns to our site once once again, bringing amazing images from the state of Meghalaya, India, reportedly the rainiest spot on Earth. The village of Mawsynram in Meghalaya receives 467 inches of rain per year. Laborers who work outdoors often wear full-body umbrellas made from bamboo and banana leaf. One of the most fascinating and beautiful features in the region are the "living bridges" spanning rain-soaked valleys. For centuries, locals have been training the roots of rubber trees to grow into natural bridges, far outlasting man-made wooden structures that rot in just a few years. The bridges are self-strengthening, becoming more substantial over time, as the root systems grow.

View Larger Map

In a scene played out every weekday morning, students of the RCLP School in Nongsohphan Village, Meghalaya, India, cross a bridge grown from the roots of a rubber tree. In the relentless damp of Meghalaya's jungles, wooden structures rot away too quickly to be practical. For centuries the Khasi people have instead used the trainable roots of rubber trees to "grow" bridges over the region's rivers. (© Amos Chapple) 

The village of Mawsynram, claiming to have the highest average rainfall on Earth. Perched atop a ridge in the Khasi Hills of India's northeast, the village receives 467 inches of rain per year - thirteen times that of Seattle. The heavy rainfall is due to summer air currents sweeping over the steaming floodplains of Bangladesh, gathering moisture as they move north. When the resulting clouds hit the steep hills of Meghalaya they are "squeezed" through the narrowed gap in the atmosphere and compressed to the stage they can no longer hold their moisture, causing the near constant rain the village is famous for. (© Amos Chapple)

Rain hammering down on a roof in the village on July 6, 2014. In the two peak monsoon months of June and July Mawsynram is hit with an average 275 Inches of rain - New York receives 60 inches in a year. (© Amos Chapple)

The weather station on the outskirts of Mawsynram. Measurements from the station are taken monthly, but by the end of 2014 an automated digital measurement system will replace this station. (© Amos Chapple)

Three laborers walk into Mawsynram under the traditional Khasi umbrellas known as knups. Made from bamboo and banana leaf, the knups are favored for allowing two-handed work, and for being able to stand up to the high winds which lash the region during heavy rainstorms. (© Amos Chapple)

Laborers wearing knups clear rockfall after a night of heavy rain in Mawsynram. Major repair works are impossible through the monsoon rains but these men are tasked with keeping the roads passable until October when the rainy season ends and the contractors' heavy machinery can be brought in. They earn $2.60 per day. (© Amos Chapple) 

A local guide demonstrates a tree root bridge being developed to replace an older, circuitous route across a gorge deep in the jungle near Mawsynram. (© Amos Chapple) 

Examples of the of thin aerial roots which locals have knotted into place to manipulate rubber trees into bridges and ladders which can stand up to the rain-soaked environment of Meghalaya. (© Amos Chapple)

An elderly Khasi woman is the first arrival to Sunday mass in Mawsynram's Catholic church. Around 70% of Khasi are Christian, largely due to the Reverend Thomas Jones who, in 1841 clambered up into the hills from the plains of Bangladesh and established the region's first church in the neighboring town of Cherrapunji. (© Amos Chapple)

Clouds curl over the eastern edge of the village where cliffs drop almost vertically to the floodplains below. (© Amos Chapple) 

The entrance to Mawsynram Village. Like most villages in the Meghalaya region of India's northeast, the people here are Khasi, an indigenous minority numbering about 1.2 million within India. (© Amos Chapple) 

Rainwater surges through Mawsynram Village during a heavy downpour. (© Amos Chapple)

Winchester Lyngkhoi carries fresh meat up to his butcher's stall on market day. When asked if it was hard to live with so much rain, the 26 year old replied, "we can't think about that. Here there's always rain but we have to work, so it's no good wondering about it." (© Amos Chapple)

Goats shelter in a bus stop during a drizzly afternoon. While it doesn't rain all day during the monsoons in Mawsynram, it does rain every day, with the heaviest rainfall coming mostly during the night. (© Amos Chapple) 

In the valley beneath Mawsynram, the village of Nongriat maintains the best-known example of the "living bridges" which have been used for centuries in the region. (© Amos Chapple)

As well as the bridges, the jungles beneath Mawsynram hide "living ladders" curled into shape to assist villagers descending the steep flanks of the Khasi hills. (© Amos Chapple) 

Local boys walk over a tree root bridge currently being forged, deep in the jungle near Mawsynram. The skeleton of the bridge is bamboo, with tendrils from the surrounding rubber trees are being fixed onto the structure strand by strand. By the time the bamboo has rotted away, within 6-8 years, locals say the roots of the tree will be able to bear a person's weight. (© Amos Chapple)

A young fisherman walks under the ancient tree root bridge at Mawlynnong village. (© Amos Chapple) 

하늘에서 본 성 피터스버그: St. Petersburg From Above

Recently, photographer Amos Chapple spent some time in Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city. He used a small drone to lift his camera high above the cathedrals and fortresses, capturing some amazing aerial photos. Chapple: "There's a legend in Russia that Saint Petersburg was constructed in the blue heavens and lowered in one piece into the marshland, 'for how otherwise could a city so beautiful exist in a region so bleak.'"

View Larger Map

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood during a squally autumn morning. The church marks the spot where the reformist Tsar Alexander II was assassinated by a bomb-rolling revolutionary. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features)

The angel atop the Alexander column. Built after Russia's victory over Napoleon, the column's 600 ton granite trunk was tipped into place by 2,000 soldiers. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features)

The Hermitage Pavilion wreathed in dawn mist. The little "whipped cream" pavilion was an example of the decadence which would eventually topple the Tsarist autocracy. It was famous for parties where tables laden with food would rise from beneath the floorboards into groups of delighted guests. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features) 

The Peter & Paul Fortress, Saint Petersburg's founding point, juts out into the frozen River Neva. At the time of the fort's construction the islands of the Neva were populated only by a ragtag collection of fishermen's huts. It was deemed "too wild, too wet, too unhealthy" for human habitation, the equivalent of founding a capital city in the upper reaches of Hudson Bay. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features)

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built only as an epitaph to the murdered Tsar and wasn't intended for public worship. A patch of the cobbled street on which the Tsar lay mortally wounded is preserved within the old church, now open to the public as a museum. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features)

Visitors walk on fallen leaves in the Summer Garden, central St. Petersburg's oldest Park. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features)

Mikhailovsky Castle, commissioned by Emperor Paul I, whose premonitions of assassination drove him to create the fortified residence. Forty days after moving into the castle he was murdered in his own bedroom in 1801. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features) 

Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral in Peterhof, the palace and gardens in the background. Beyond, the Finnish Gulf is obscured by fog. During World War II, German armies occupied Peterhof, destroying it almost completely on their retreat. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features)

The Palace at Peterhof, perched on a bluff overlooking the sea some 30km (19mi) from central Saint Petersburg. In his later years Peter the Great kept a study in the palace from where he could look out to the distant spires of Saint Petersburg, and the island fortress of Kronstadt guarding his new capital. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features)

Saint Isaac's Cathedral, partly under renovation. Many Finnish laborers were employed in the Cathedral's troubled 40-year construction, resulting in the Finnish idiom "To build like St. Isaac's" in reference to something taking far longer than it should. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features)

Smolny Convent at sunset. The building once housed a finishing school for Russian noblewomen. Delicate young graduates were known to have "some education.. strictly ceremonious manners" and a "thirst for expressing their feelings." (Amos Chapple/Rex Features)

Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral rising through winter mist. (Amos Chapple/Rex Features) 

St Petersburg From Above


St Petersburg Travel Video Guide

데모와 약탈로 아수라장인 미조리주 퍼거슨시 : National Guard Sent to Ferguson, Missouri, After Week of Chaos and Protest

Ferguson, Missouri, has been racked by protests since an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson last week. Over the weekend, despite calls for peaceful demonstrations by Brown's parents, several protests became violent. Protesters were not only angry about the shooting, but were outraged by the heavy police response to the demonstrations. The militarized tactics taken by Ferguson police were widely criticized, and officials are still struggling to control the situation. On Sunday U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ordered a federal medical examiner to perform an autopsy, in addition to one being conducted by state medical examiners, and earlier today, Missouri's governor said he was calling in the National Guard to help restore order. Gathered here are photos of the chaos in Ferguson over the weekend.  August 18, 2014

A law enforcement officer in a tactical vehicle watches after a device was fired to disperse a crowd on Sunday, August 17, 2014, during a protest for Michael Brown, who was killed by a police officer last Saturday in Ferguson, Missouri. As night fell Sunday in Ferguson, another peaceful protest quickly deteriorated after marchers pushed toward one end of a street. Police attempted to push them back by firing tear gas and shouting over a bullhorn that the protest was no longer peaceful. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Smoke trails tear gas canisters fired into the air after protests in reaction to the shooting of Michael Brown turned violent near Ferguson, Missouri on August 17, 2014. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Police advance after tear gas was used to disperse a crowd during a protest in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Demonstrators hold up their hands as police fire tear gas at them as they protest the shooting death of Michael Brown on August 17, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Tear gas rises from the ground after having been fired upon protesters in Ferguson on August 17, 2014. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Police wait to advance after tear gas was used to disperse a crowd on August 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Demonstrators face off against the police as they are cleared from the street on August 17, 2014. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

8

A law enforcement officer watches as tear gas is fired to disperse a crowd protesting last week's shooting of teenager Michael Brown on August 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) # 

A law enforcement officer watches as tear gas is fired to disperse a crowd protesting last week's shooting of teenager Michael Brown on August 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) 

A woman has her face doused with milk after being tear gassed by police during a protest on August 17, 2014. (Joshua Lott/Getty Images)

An FBI agent walks past a memorial erected where teenager Michael Brown was shot as the FBI interviewed residents of the neighborhood in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 16, 2014. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Michael Brown Sr., the father of slain teenager Michael Brown, attends a rally at Greater Grace Church on August 17, 2014. His son was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer on August 9, 2014. Despite the Brown family's continued call for peaceful demonstrations, violent protests have erupted nearly every night in Ferguson since his death. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A woman dances during church services at the Greater St Mark Family Church as the community discusses reactions to the shooting of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, on August 17, 2014. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) 

From left, Imani Harris, Cathryn Fraction, Zoi Williams (with hand at her face, bottom), Destiny Barnett and Zion Jamerison pose for a portrait with their signs during a protest of Michael Brown's murder on August 17, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. (Joshua Lott/Getty Images)

A man wearing a police hat protests in Ferguson on August 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Gabrielle Walker, 5, protests the killing of teenager Michael Brown on August 17, 2014 in Ferguson. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A woman looks into the camera during a demonstration to protest the shooting of Michael Brown and the resulting police response to protests in Ferguson on August 15, 2014. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Police officers stand in position by the 911 Hair Salon as they watch demonstrators protest Michael Brown's murder on August 16, 2014. (Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images)

A protester kicks a tear gas canister back towards police after protests turned violent on August 17, 2014. Shots were fired and police shouted through bullhorns for protesters to disperse, witnesses said, as chaos erupted Sunday night in Ferguson, Missouri, which has been racked by protests since an unarmed black teenager was shot by police last week. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) 

Police officers react at the scene of a looting at the Dellwood Market after protests near Ferguson on August 17, 2014. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) 

People protest in Ferguson on August 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) 

Police wait to advance after tear gas was used to disperse a crowd on August 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Masked individuals carry items out of a store, during on-going demonstrations against the shooting of Michael Brown, on August 16, 2014. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Demonstrators attempt to stop masked individuals from entering a store that had been broken into, during demonstrations in Ferguson on August 16, 2014. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Demonstrators protesting the killing of teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer try to stand their ground despite being overcome by tear gas on August 17, 2014. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) 

Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson holds a photo of Michael Brown while being interviewed during a peaceful demonstration, as communities react to Brown's shooting on August 14, 2014. (Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)

Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson speaks to protesters as he walks through a peaceful demonstration in Ferguson on August 14, 2014. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Demonstrators raise their arms and chant, "Hands up, Don't Shoot", as police clear them from the street as they protest the shooting death of Michael Brown on August 17, 2014. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

People leave a McDonald's restaurant after taking refuge from tear gas after a protest in Ferguson on August 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Demonstrators protesting the shooting death of Michael Brown hold signs on August 16, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)