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Published: November 13th 2007
Chittagong
Our first experience with Bangladeshis... Victoria surrounded by a throng of curious locals as she talks to the one man that speaks English...
And the answer is to stare! Yes Bangladesh is certainly a country of starers... But it is friendly and curious stares and when you flash the gazers a smile, you will see a sea of smiles returning... Give them the Muslim greeting of Salaam Alaikum and you will have made a thousand friends!
Not many tourists go to Bangladesh, which is unfortunate, because it has a lot to offer... Friendly locals, historic sights, beaches, beautiful and serene countryside’s, and an interesting culture... On top of this the country is a lot cheaper than India...
Bangladesh is also a country of cycle rickshaws... Yes, here the cycle rickshaw rules the street, not the car... This makes the smaller town pleasantly quiet, with only the ringing of the rickshaws to disturb the peace... And of course Bangladesh is known for it's many rivers, with numerous boats of all types plying the rivers...
If you want to enjoy the beach life, Bangladeshi style, you could go to Cox's Bazar, the beach resort of Bangladesh... Watching the women swim in full garb (this is a Muslim country, so no skin should be shown)makes for an interesting experience, that is if you can
Chittagong
Zia Memorial Museum in the old Circuit House
get away from the kids trying to sell you shell necklaces or asking for baksheesh!! Because of course, since Cox's Bazar is THE beach hotspot of Bangladesh, there are a lot of beggars, and they are more tenacious here then elsewhere in Bangladesh... They stick to you like Bush does to a bad policy, both not knowing when to quit!
In Cox's Bazar we met Abu, who showed us around his home village of Ramu, which is known for it's many Buddhist temples... Squeezing the three of us on a cycle rickshaw at first, and than borrowing a motorcycle from a friend because it was faster... After all that, we were a bit hungry, so he took us to his sister house who had cooked us a meal... As we were taking the night bus to Dhaka, we couldn't stay very long in Ramu, but had to return to Cox's Bazar in the afternoon... We still had time to meet his friend and English teacher, Mr. Mohammed, who was delighted to meet us, especially Victoria... Mohammed it seems, was having some trouble with his 6 month old relationship to an Australian aid worker and wanted Victoria's opinion on a
Chittagong
Rickshaw drivers...
couple of matters... He said his girl friend had told him she needed some space and that he should back off, which was understandable as he proclaimed he was obsessed with her... What should he do! What did his girlfriend mean when she told him she needed some space? Was he going to loose her? Victoria did her best to answer his questions and ease his mind... Than he took her aside for a bit and asked some more intimate questions, telling her about his sex life and asking advice on that... This was all done very secretive... Both Abu and I, where left out of this matter... As a thanks for her advice he gave her a shell necklace and one to me too, though I was of little help to him (not that I didn't want to help him, but he seemed to think Victoria was more competent in the matter... which might be true... ha, ha, ha...)
The night bus to Dhaka was also an interesting and scary experience... I thought Indian busses were bad, but the drivers in Bangladesh are worse... This is because the roads are much better than in India (or at least
Cox's Bazar
Me and a coconut on Asia's longest beach...
the main roads are) which means they can actually drive between 80 to 100 km's an hour, of course using both sides of the road... In India I am not so scared, because the average speed is only 35 km's an hour, so if you do happen to crash the damage might be limited, but a bus driving at high speed and swerving around the road is more of a death trap... Needless to say, both Victoria and I got little sleep...
Dhaka was interesting but very polluted, despite having less motor vehicles than a city of comparable size in India... Again, cycle rickshaws ruled the roads, which made for a lot of congestion, as busses, taxi's and private cars jumble for space... Walking through the old city, we attracted the usual crowd of onlookers and every now and again an English speaking student would engage us and talk about politics... The favourite topic? Bush!! Ha, ha, ha...
As Dhaka was a bit to polluted for our taste, we got a boat out of Dhaka to Barisal... A very enjoyable experience! From Barisal we went to Kuakata, a small fishing village on the Bay of Bengal where you
Cox's Bazar
And Tori on the same beach...
can see the sun set and rise over the ocean... That is if it isn't too cloudy... We were planning to stay for a few days, but ended up leaving after one, because our room boy turned out to be very annoying... We found a cottage on the beach, which subsequently turned out to be quite expensive, but after bargaining it down we got it at a reasonable price... We didn't know that a permanent presence of the custodian was included... If we didn't push him out of our room, he wouldn't leave... Watching Victoria as she put on lotion, sitting on the bed... It would have been nice to sit on the veranda and watch the beach life pass by, but going on the veranda meant having to deal with him staring at us... He couldn't speak any English and didn't seem to get the hint that we wanted some privacy... This was a pity as the village itself was very nice, with the fishermen tending to their boats in the morning, kids playing in the sea and the women collecting coconuts... Alas, it wasn't meant to be I suppose...
We decided to head for Khulna and from
Cox's Bazar
Kids on the beach playing with their pet crab...
there make a day trip to Bagerhat, a World Heritage Sight with lots of ancient Mosques, the most interesting of which was Sait Gombad with it's 70 domes... Bagerhat turned out to be a great experience as we got to see a bit of village life, when we were guided around by some young girls and women... We were trying to find a Mosque, which was hidden away in some paddy fields, so the girls seeing our confused looks helped us out...
Than I can't withhold our last experience in Bangladesh, or actually Victoria's last experience... Victoria and I have been travelling around Bangladesh claiming to be husband and wife... This is just easier when trying to get a double room... So anyway, the last night in Bangladesh, there was a big Hindu festival going on (Bangladesh has a Hindu minority of more or less 15 percent) in Khulna where we were staying... This made for a lot of noise and Tori couldn't sleep, so she went out to see what was going on... As she stood at reception smoking a cigarette and watching the procession go by, the manager came up to her and started asking her some
Cox's Bazar
Fishing boats under a beautiful sky...
questions... 'How much do you enjoy your husband? Do you enjoy your husband every day?' Victoria not understanding what he was hinting at, said she enjoyed me every day, as I was a good man (don't know about that... ha, ha, ha...) His response: 'Really, every day? I only enjoy my wife once a week'...Next question... 'Did you enjoy your husband today?' Victoria, confused... 'Yes...' Manager: 'Where did you enjoy your husband today?' Victoria even more confused: 'Well in Bagerhat, we went to the Mosques and the village and enjoyed it very much...' His jaw fell open at this answer 'You enjoyed your husband in Bagerhat!? Than the penny dropped... With enjoying her husband he was asking her if we had sex every day... And when Victoria said she enjoyed me in Bagerhat in the Mosques and the village it seemed to him that we were having sex in those places... After this came his last question: ' Do you want to come home with me to visit my family?' Or to translate: 'Do you want to have sex with me somewhere else?' Victoria, declined and came to our room to tell be the story... On the one hand we
Cox's Bazar
Locals enjoying the sea...
had a good laugh about it, on the other hand it was quite insulting of him to ask such questions in the first place and than make such a suggestion... If I really had been Victoria's husband I would have gone out there and had a little chat with him threatening to take him to the police for trying to get my wife to have sex with him... As it was, we let it be... Just another story in the life of a traveller...
On the whole we both really enjoyed Bangladesh immensely and apart from our horny hotel manager and perhaps the irritating room boy in Kuakata (though I am sure he wasn't doing that on purpose, he just didn't know any better) we had a great time in this little known country, with the most friendly people I have met for some time... Thanks to all you Bangladeshi's out there, your country might be poor in monetary terms, but it is rich in the heritage of it's people!
And so I am back in India, and what was the first thing that we encountered? Hartal! Or in other words strike! We got stuck at the border,
Cox's Bazar
Sun chairs lining the beach...
as all transport was suspended for the day... West Bengal had come to a grinding halt... Luckily today they called of the strike for 24 hours, so we made it back to Kolkata and tonight we leave for Puri in Orissa, where there will hopefully be no hartals!
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Fernando
non-member comment
Hey Ralf!!
Back in india? We are in Varanassi now, and heading west! If you are somewhere o this side let us know!! BTW, cool post!! I think we should go to Bangladesh!!! cheers Fernando