Pakistan transport part VII - some of you have asked if the decorated trucks were used for cargo

and as a bonus a donkey cart.

I love the juxtaposition of the two, no wonder the little donkey looks disheartened, but have never been happy with the focus, it was taken from the door of a moving steam train and I had no idea what settings to use under the circumstances, nevertheless it was one of those special moments.
I really felt sorry for the little donkeys, I'd see a chain of them carrying loads at building sites, I'd see a few trotting along with riders, their legs dragging along the ground (the rider).

I was told a funny story about them showing how clever they could be, apparently the salt mines used them to carry loads of salt in panniers on either side, the poor little beasts really heavily loaded, part of the journey involved crossing a stream, the donkeys quickly learnt that if they paused in the water and squatted down some of their load would dissolve into the water, thus lightening their load. Unfortunately the owners foiled this by filling their load with hay and straw or cotton which would become much heavier when soaked.

[alia_801]

That looks like a lot of wood to carry around, even for the big truck. Poor little donkey though - doesn't sound like much fun for them :(

[Phil]

Gosh I would never have guessed the lorry was so huge! What a load. And yes, poor little donkey, he looks so forlorn! :)

[trude]

wow....love this shot, didn't realise how big the truck was until i noticed the donkey...poor guy!!

[cglist]

Oh, wow...!

[Jennifer C]

cruel life for donkeys and other animals in third world countries
love this POV and scene

[Netkonnexion]

I have loved this series. Lets see more - they are great fun.

[Kirsti Abbott]

totally LOVING all trucks. But it would suck to be a smart donkey that got the raw end of the deal from a cranky owner.

[Jason Daniels]

Is that Bamboo? And that Hussain Plaza sign is very PNG!

[Megan Richardson]

@bobfoto yes bamboo, probably destined to be used to make scaffolding and ladders at very dodgy looking construction sites

[Ulpi]

Very nice!

[Karen H]

The donkey cart really does show the size of that truck well. As others said, never would have realized how large it is.

[Allison Maltese]

That's quite a load, and a funny story about the donkeys. No worries about the focus.This one is to document that moment in time, which you did beautifully.

[Taephy]

if i had my way, all animals will be sleeping or playing all day long.....your story made me feel sorry for these overworked donkeys.

[Tammy Montoya]

Cool shot!

[Mike Warren]

Hauling bamboo? Great shot.

[Shirley]

great photo....and I love seeing pieces of the culture

[Zoe Ferrie]

Another great example of a culture in another part of the world!

[Tanya]

clever donkeys! :) that truck makes him look very very small beside it.

[Sheralee S]

Wow, that truck is really loaded up. Perfect timing Megan.

[Shannon Pitton]

Wow, that's a serious load. Good capture, but a shame about the focus, sometimes you just have to love the shot anyway.

[Miley]

Lovely capture.

[Janna Dawn Goldrup]

Yay - great sense of scale here! I wouldn't have expected the trucks were so big from the earlier shots in the series. I rode a donkey once...and have felt guilty ever since. Never again.

[Alan Warren]

Sweet! Not as overloaded as some of the trucks you see on the interwebs, though.