Off the Bone

Aisinai’pi Alberta Canada

Nothing about the gently rolling prairie of south-central Alberta – not even Montana’s smoky Sweetgrass Hills on the southern horizon – prepares you for the sudden spectacle of Aisinai’pi. The experience is akin to stumbling upon a cathedral in the desert, only in this instance your gaze travels not up but down for this remarkable place abruptly descends into the earth, away from the heavens.

Lethbridge Viaduct

The Lethbridge Viaduct, commonly known as the High Level Bridge, was constructed between 1907–1909 at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada at a cost of $1,334,525.This bridge is one of the largest railway structures in Canada. It was built as part of a major diversion of the Crowsnest Pass route between Lethbridge and Fort Macleod. Length: 1,623.86 m (5,327.625 feet)
Height: 95.7 m (314 feet) above river bed
Materials: 12,400 tons of steel

Calgary

Fes el Bali-Morocco

Marrekech Morocco

Fes el-Bali -Tanneries - Morocco

Fes is very well known for its medieval Tanneries. The skins are first placed in vats, to prepare them for the leatherworking process. The skins are placed successively in saline solution, lime, pigeon droppings (the ammonia from the droppings softens the skins) and then in vats containing the colouring agents. Traditionally natural dyes were used, although some tanneries now use artificial dyes. The traditional tanneries get the red colour from poppies, yellow from saffron, brown from henna, and green from wild mint.

Most of the workers work barefoot, and use their toes to pick up the skins from the bottom of the dying vats, then work on them with their hands. Up to 600 skins sit in a vat at any one time, spending up to 2 months being worked on.

Since the animal skins are placed in vats containing pigeon excrement, and often have rotting animal flesh attached to them, the whole area smells extremely bad. When you enter the vicinity of the tanneries, guides and workers offer everyone fresh mint leaves to put under your nose for the duration of the visit.