Second stop: the river, by “malfunction bridge”

The Bengawan Solo River runs along the Central Java (Jawa Tengah) – East Java (Jawa Timur) border. The original bridge across here is perhaps best described as an engineering mistake. Holes big enough for a scooter to fall through. Still a good spot to throw fishing lines from though.

Below, in small wooden canoe boats, men carry sand, slung in buckets over both shoulders, up the steep river bank to sell in the market… probably as mortar. These guys are wiry- and good at doing what looks like back-breaking work all day long. They remind me of characters from the old mining song “16 tons”.