Human-powered Ferris wheels amaze Myanmar

Credit to Author: Agence France-Presse| Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2019 16:13:02 +0000

Taunggyi: Aung Sein Phyo careers toward the ground, hanging from one arm on the basket of one of Myanmar’s human-powered Ferris wheels, reliant on gravity-defying agility and split-second coordination honed since the age of nine.

Fireworks shower down onto jubilant crowds nearby from stunning, if treacherous, hot air balloons at the annual festival in Shan State’s capital Taunggyi.

As ear-splitting techno pumps out from the fairground, the team of lithe youngsters coax captivated onlookers onto their Ferris ride, hamster-wheeling it round to fill up the baskets.

Taunggyi, Myanmar: This photo taken on November 6, 2019 shows crew members operating a human-powered ferris wheel in Taunggyi, Shan state. Myanmar’s human-powered big wheels, is reliant on gravity-defying agility and split-second coordination by its workforce of youngsters at fairgrounds and festivals across the country. AFP PHOTO

Aung, 22, blows his whistle and then scampers with his teammates up the 20-meter high structure.

The wheel starts to turn, getting faster and faster, each worker adeptly leaping away to safety just before they crash into the ground.

As the ride’s kaleidoscopic neon lights become a blur and its delighted passengers cheer and scream, Aung jumps underneath—almost onto his back, like an extreme limbo—lunging up to give each basket an extra shove.

“I started working on these when I was nine,” he tells Agence France-Presse during a break. “My parents didn’t like me doing it, but I did it behind their backs,” he confides with a grin, acknowledging it is “dangerous” work.

Aung is one of several hundred young men working Myanmar’s Ferris wheels — known as “char yahat” — at fairgrounds and festivals across the country.

For nine months a year his team of 15 are on the road and they work without a day off, earning between $70 to $100 a month before resting up during the monsoon season.

AFP

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