Itchy Boots

The bike names came from a famous Bollywood movie (“Sholay” IMDb link) she liked. Basanti was the female lead and Dhanno was her horse. That info is on her website (FAQs). I actually watched the movie (Prime Video) last week.

John
 
Last edited:
Today we get to go down a silver mine! How she continued to go into this mine given the conditions is beyond me. Another level of respect for this young lady......
See what you can purchase at the local corner store.....
This will be a controversial episode.......
 
I have never thought of myself as claustrophobic but I would have a tough time going deep into that mine.
These were normal work conditions in 1850, unfortunate that people still struggle like that in 2020.
 
John OoSTerhuis said:
The bike names came from a famous Bollywood movie
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. I may give that a look. Long long ago in a time far away I was at an Indian family's house and we were watching a Bollywood movie. Speaking no Hindi I concentrated on the subtitles— much singing and dancing. There was a scene were a romantic couple were alone on a high rooftop again with much singing and dance. Happy happy until he threw her off the roof to here death. I was demonstrably shocked much to their amusement. ZERO foreshadowing. No ominous music. No evil grin. Lift swing lift swing lift throw. Yikes.

Apparently this is not an uncommon technique in Bollywood and it was a true shame to see the young lady meet an untimely demise.
 
ddemair said:
I really like how she refers to her bike by name (Dhanno). I tried to come up with a name for my bike (I thought "Stella" might do), but if just never stuck and I still say things like "I'm taking the bike out"

It is, after all, an inanimate object, but It's great how Noraly doesn't treat it as such.
Click to expand...
I was thinking the same thing. I've never thought of naming any of my bikes or referring to as female gender. It's always seemed like a strained affectation. But it seems like second nature affection on her part. Very pleasant.
 
There is a LOT of great content on Ms Schoenmaker’s website.

Itchy Boots

www.itchyboots.com www.itchyboots.com
I see a lot of the same questions asked again and again in the individual videos’ comments sections.

I’ve now viewed every video and read every word created by Noraly, and some others about/with her. Yeah, I’m a fanboy... in a grandfatherly way. Man, when that drone pulls away and up to show our little gal as a tiny figure all alone in a vast, desolate wasteland I do feel pangs of protectiveness... Those drone shots are what make her videos so wonderful... conveying the sense of scale, place, and time that can’t be done any other way.

It is interesting how we tend to anthropomorphize our inanimate objects and machines.

(Grampa x 10) John
 
Last edited:
This is a mine we toured in 2011 in Glacé Bay Nova Scotia, it is a non operating coal , part of a museum. The tours were conducted by long retired miners. I remember it as interesting and they described their lives to have been hard working the mine in the day but it must have been a cake walk compared to the Bolivian miners experience.

15778575-015C-4DD7-A45C-5670387C0D9E.jpeg
 
I was feeling claustrophobic watching the video, I could not help myself to think about the Westray mining disaster .
Early in the latest installment, I thought that young boy was going to walk off the median right into bike.
 
John OoSTerhuis said:
pangs of protectiveness.
Click to expand...
I understand that feeling. I have a daughter her age (She's of Dutch heritage on my side, sort of looks like her and the same kind of personality...my daughter is a civil engineer)
I agree the drone shots do aid in making the videos great. Flying drones in North America will be a challenge for her...she will need a drone pilot license unless she gets a Mavic mini.
 
I don’t know if you caught the fact that the average life expectancy of those silver miners is...40 years old.

sheeesh.

what always amazes me about her rides is that, for much of it she is entirely alone on whatever road / track / trail / washed out riverbed she’s on. There is NO other traffic of any kind most of the time.
 
@Gerhard I've been down the mines in Glace Bay, Springhill and the Big Nickel in Sudbury. The coal mines made me the most uneasy. Too many tragedies in the coal mines of Nova Scotia. The ones in Bolivia would scare the bejeezus out of me. My hat is off to Nora for going into those mines. Such a dangerous way to make a living.
 
I was aware of the tragedies the coal mines had in their history but going into the museum's mine it didn’t seem imminent to me where the danger in Bolivia seems to be just waiting to happen. Most of the tour it was no problem standing upright we only went into a small section were a seam had been mined which wasn’t high enough for comfort but had lots of width so the claustrophobic feeling never developed in me. The day we went there in 2011 they had a concert by The Men of the Deeps and they informed the audience of the mine tragedies. Years ago I was in a salt mine and it had under ground road ways with trucks and excavators and caverns the size of cathedrals and most of all no methane that was an entirely different experience only worry was it was a long way under Lake Huron.
 
Gerhard said:
a long way under Lake Huron
Click to expand...
I heard they go for miles under the lake bed.
When we went down the gold mine in Yellowknife it was a mini city of roadways. The tunnels were wide, train tracks, trains with engines and heavy machinery for drilling.
Having grown up in Sudbury....thing moon landing terrain...one can see first hand the raping of the land. On my drive out west I pass by a gold mine near Marathon Ontario, part of it is open pit, The mounds of rock accumulated for a few ounces of precious metal is astounding.
Noraly has illustrated another society in their way of earning a living in their world.
Let’s see what tomorrow’s instalment will bring.
 
I lived in the lowlands/rain forest of Bolivia for 15 years when I was young. I've been back to visit several times and have a brother who still lives there. I hope she spends at least a few days in the lowlands but I think she'll stick to the mountains. The cultures between the highlands and the lowlands are so much different. But they are all wonderful places to see and people to meet. Love the drone footage!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom