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4 glorious days off work stretched in front of us - how should we spend it?
Drinking tea and sheltering from the horrendous daily onslaught of Dhaka noise seemed like a sensational way to escape.

We rose early on Friday morning to catch the 4 hour train ride to the northern state of Sylhet, renowned world wide for it's magnificent tea.

The jam-packed train station was the usual source of panic for me, made worse by the combination of extreme interest in my sensationally white skin and the presence of Dylan, our friends' baby boy. 8 white people, 2 of them extremely tall, 1 carrying a fair headed, blonde child in a massive backpack, all wandering aimlessly on an overcrowded platform - perfect early morning viewing for the multitude of locals!

The train finally arrived and we pushed, elbowed, yelled, argued, sidled and shoved using every limb, backpack, stroller and swear word at our disposal. After a few heated 'discussions' we found our seats (in some version of 2nd class which roughly translates into a semi-broken chair next to a semi-broken window with a semi-broken fan above you which attempted to dislodge the flies, sweat and poor humour).

Once we were settled the train journey was sensational. To watch the life of average (impoverished) Bangladeshi flash past as you stick your head out the window to cool down was absolutely wonderful. Bangladesh is nothing if not colourful and ever surprising. Open fields, industrious families, kids of all shapes and sizes inventing games with sticks and bundles of cloth, men selling anything and everything that chased us as the train went past, countless brightly coloured and uplifting shalwar kameez's flapping in the wind.

Once we arrived in Srimangal (pronounced Shri - mon - gol), we caught a CNG to our accommodation. 'The Tea House' is an old barracks of sorts, built by the British years ago. I believe they built it as a retreat for either diplomats or NGO workers and it is now leased out as a tourist facility. There are about 14 3 bedroom bungalows spread over a huge area, completely surrounded by tea gardens. Our group hired 3 bungalows (there were 12 of us altogether, but some of our group drove their cars up to Sylhet). The bungalows reminded me vividly of my grandparents' holiday house in rural Tasmania - kind've piece meal, old carpets, lots of fans, white washed and ad hoc furniture. It even smelled like a holiday house, sort of musty. The minute I walked in, I was transported to a world of reading on hot afternoons, the smell of salt on burnt skin, the sound of little wet feet and giggles. My stress levels plummeted and I stood up a little straighter.

Every bungalow was surrounded by large trees that swayed in the gentle but cooling wind that carried the delicious waft of summer blooms. It was at least 10degrees cooler up in the high lands, there was NO traffic noise and everyone was on holiday time - no activities planned, only a large, clean pool to float in and many, many books to read.

3 gloriously peaceful days ensued, the hours punctuated only by the sound of beers being cracked or pages being turned. Everyone lounged around in bathers, finally free to actually expose some skin to vitamin D.

Each night, and for most meals, we all got together to chat, play cards, drink. It was utterly perfect.

Dougo and I managed to lever ourselves off the pool chair or bed long enough to take 2 trips off the plantation.

For one, we went in search of the infamous 5 layer tea. It was absolutely delicious!! We're not sure of the types of tea but between us we could identify lemon, black, masala, lemongrass and perhaps ginger or cinammon. You tasted each layer separately - utterly bizarre but truly delicious. And at only 50tk a glass, a bargain!

Of course, it wouldn't be a true Bangladeshi experience if we weren't the stars of the show. We even managed to have one man get within perhaps 60cm of my face with his camera phone. Surprisingly, he didn't like it when Doug returned the favour...
(I really don't mind my photo taken, heck, I take enough pictures of local people so they can take one of me. However, I would appreciate either that person asking me or standing a polite distance - at least 10m - away so i can PRETEND that I'm not being photographed!)

Our second trip was a group walk through the local rainforest. It was a stunning, misty morning cool enough to walk without dripping in sweat. Babies were in the backpacks and our walking shoes were on. Spiders, monkeys, slugs, moths, dragonflies, birds, we had it all. All except the sole reason we actually went for the walk - gibbons. Chye, Francois, Annette and Paddy all went for walks or cycles and heard/saw the gibbons but when we actually went to find them the little fella decided to hide :(

Fortunately, Paddy regaled us with a superb impression that had us all in stitches for most of the weekend. That pretty much made up for not seeing the real thing!

Overall, it was a simply wonderful way to spend a long weekend and we will definitely go back next year, hopefully at the same time of the year.

Til next time,
Bec

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