sunshine, sunburn and the Sundarbans

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I'm on holiday at the moment (and I so deserve it!) so I decided to take my little self off to the Sundarbans and join a boat trip consisting mostly of teachers from my mum's school. I had heard from others that had been on this trip that it was primarily about relaxation as you just meander along on the boat keeping an eye out for wildlife (including Bengal tigers) and do as much or as little as you want. Perfect, I thought! Dhaka can be quite hectic...you spend an enormous amount of time in the car in traffic jams doing nothing but it's hot and busy so a few days doing nothing at all sounded good.

Here are a few facts for you fact lovers (or not...):

-The Sundarbans forest is one of the largest forests in the world (140,000 hectares)
-It lies on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal
-The area is known for its wide range of fauna, including 260 bird species, the Bengal tiger and other threatened species.

The others had decided to take the bus (approx 7 hours from Dhaka-Khulna, where you board the boat) but I, quite frankly, couldn't be arsed and thought 'why bump along for 7 hours when I can cruise through the clouds in half an hour?' so I chose the latter option, a slightly more expensive option it's true, but worth it. That decision was possibly a foolish one in retrospect, but more on that later...

I arrived at Dhaka airport pretty early as it took me only 10 minutes from my house to the airport, but better to be early than late I guess! I found out as soon as I arrived that my flight was actually going to depart 30 minutes early (have you ever departed on a plane EARLY?!) which was bizarre. I sat in the small departure lounge with the smells of samosas and singara coming from the food stand in the centre of the room. Time drew nearer and it was approaching 5 minutes before the flight was supposed to depart and I was getting a wee bit nervous. The flight number wasn't on screen anywhere, as far as I could see I was the only foreigner and couldn't find any information about my flight. In the end I guessed right and followed a line of people who suddenly arose from their seats and into a GMG (my airline) airline bus. However if you ever find yourself in Dhaka domestic terminal, don't count on anyone announcing your flight number (in English anyway)!

I made it onto the plane (a very small one - not been on one of those in a long time!) and my sight was temporarily obscured by a lady arranging herself next to me which involved swishing her sari over my person (a common event actually) but the sari floated away and left me to gaze at my book until we arrived in Jessore half an hour later. Small airport that it is, you simply wait about 50 yards from the plane for a cart containing your suitcase to be wheeled in your direction and collect your case. A representative from Guide Tours (who organised my trip) was waiting and ushered me, and two other 'foreigners' into a Land Rover. The ubiqutous sight of a beggar immediately hobbled towards us but we quickly sped away into the night.

Two hours later we arrived in Khulna where our boat, the Bonbibi was waiting. In pitch darkness with only the lights of faraway boats to guide us, we stumbled with our luggage down the bumpy trackway to where a small row boat was waiting. Silently we we rowed across to where the Bonbibi was resting, ascended to the steps, had a light meal and went to bed. It was stifingly hot in my cabin, I could hardly stand it. I tried first on the top bunk, where a fan above the bed provided some relief until it started to clunk and clang so much that I knew it'd be impossible to sleep. Heat rises which I soon became all too aware of that fact, so I moved down to the bottom bunk where the fan didn't actually work. However, I managed to get to sleep after repeating to myself again and again 'I'm in a cool place, I'm in a refrigerator, I've got goosebumps...'

I was woken by voices in English at approximately 7am the next morning, so I immediately reckoned with an 'it's-too-early' groan that the others had arrived. Breakfast was a little while later, and I will surmise the whole trip's food experience by saying it was pretty yummy, especially the breakfasts! There were eggs, chapattis, crepes, toast, a special kind of rice pudding which I used to order whenever I was in 'Namaste' in Chengdu which has cloves and other such spices in, truly scrumptious...and more. They served a particular kind of honey which was both distinctive and delicious. When I first bit into a piece of toast with it spread on I thought 'ooh, that's got a kick!' and it really does, hard to define what it is, but I really acquired a taste for it and hope to lay my hands on some here. The staff really outdid themselves when it came to the food as it was varied and extremely tasty.

The days kind of blended into one, but I will describe some of the highlights. A couple of mornings we woke to the sunlight streaming into our cabin windows, quickly pulled on some clothes, grabbed our cameras and hopped into a small row boat. We were rowed slowly and carefully along a small patch or two of water at dawn in order to spot some of the Sundarbans' wildlife at large. In those few days we saw monkeys, different kinds of butterflies, a squirrel, spotted, deer, a crocodile, fish eagles with impressive wingspans, a wild boar, different kinds of kingfisher, egrets, fiddler crabs and lots of mudskippers which are small slug type things which hop in and out of little holes in the mud by the water and look like they could belong on another planet. All was silent except the various twitterings and callings of the birds, sudden plops in the water proving life underneath the water and our whisperings to each other of 'there, over there! See?' 'What's that?'

An important thing to mention is toilets, loos, bogs, bathrooms, whatever you call 'em. In some parts of society perhaps it is rude to talk about it, but hey, I'm from the north (well, I was born there) so tough! I could write a book on toilets on my travels, but let's not go there. I was pleased to find that not only did the boat have both Eastern and Western toilets but they a) flushed b) had paper c) had a basin outside with soap and water! If you've travelled about a bit especially in Asia (soz, Asia, but it's true) you will know what a rare occurence that can be. There are also showers as part of the toilet cubicle which are cold and barely more than a few drips but very soothing after a hot and sweaty day on the boat.

When the motors of the boat started in mid morning and late afternoon, people either had a snooze, read a book, played games or simply watched the world go by. I tended to do the latter. I may have been quite anti-social but I was just looking for some time on my own to relax and do nooothing! I plonked a cushion on the shady side of the boat, took my book, mp3 player and water with me and lay down watching the blue sky and white puffs of cloud pass above me, occasionally leaping up when someone shouted 'look at that!' I put suncream on but the sun managed to get me and left its handprint of sunburn on my face and upper arms and even my feet! Thank goodness for aftersun lotion and moisturiser..I'm still slapping it on!

The sun seemed to set at about 5pm tho it must have been slightly later. Anyhow, we took a boat ride or two at that time to try and spot some more wildlife, with varying luck. Once, on the way back from a dusk boat ride all of us spotted a gigantuan cloud which looked like a rather pretty nuclear explosion, casting pink and golden shadows on the water below. As dusk turned into night flashes of lightning were seen in the cloud and rain later followed. Lightning was a common occurence as soon as night fell actually, almost every night, which was quite exciting...thunder and lightning seems to bring out the child in everyone, no matter how old you are!

The last day drew to a close and the others left on the bus back to Dhaka at 2pm. Earlier on in the day I'd been informed that my flight was delayed to 10pm that night, so I decided to have tea (i.e. dinner) on the boat and head off at 7:30pm ish. However, rain battered the windows of the boat all day and when it hit 7:25pm I was informed that my plane was cancelled until the next day, midday, I would spend the night on the boat and eat tea and breakfast there. Bearing in mind everyone else had buggered off at 2pm that day, I'd already read all my books, my battery on my mp3 was low and it was shitty weather, I was feeling restless and quite frankly bored. A few days doing nothing was fine, but I was ready to leave and get back home. However the elements obviously had other plans and 17 hours, 2 more books and several chapattis with honey later, I arrived back in Dhaka.

So all in all, why go to the Sundarbans? If you need some r & r, it's a good place to go. I wouldn't bring small kids myself as I think they'd get cabin fever, but that's just me. You see some fantastic sights, from villages along the banks and glowing sunsets to brightly coloured birds and butterflies and the luminous, almost unnatural green of the fields and the forest around you.

What you should bring:
-suncream, high factor
-several books
-sunglasses
-pair of rafters/suitable walking shoes
-aftersun/moisturiser
-chocolate/sweets as I was craving some!
-plugs for your mp3s, cameras etc. You CAN charge them on board which I was unaware of
-games (cards, Pictionary, Scrabble etc)
-bucketfuls of patience

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Photos

Sundarban Crow butterfly
..found only in the Sundarbans. Fact!

rhesus macaque (monkey)
he was too fast for me to catch his little face!

the Bonbibi at dusk
my home for 4 nights

the Common Tiger butterfly
spotted while walking through mud and grass and listening out for tigers!

homes by the river
where some of the 150 million odd people of this country live...

Comments

[tawsif]

it was very nice.. i lovebutterflies

[urmi]

black b2in green
realy great 2 see the beauity of the black b2in green

[deb]

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