Blogs from Bangladesh, Asia - page 19

Blogger Dougo So, I am sitting on the couch, trying to ignore the pile of homework books that need marking before tomorrow and I pick up my laptop to read the write-up on the AFL prelim final between St Kilda and Hawthorn. Having just watched the game at a mate's place next door, I thought it might be nice to hear what the critics have to say about a very one-sided game of football. Next thing I feel is the sofa shake. Not a huge shake, just a wobble. It went on for about three or four seconds and then that was it. Just long enough for me look around and see the reflection in our photos moving from side to side. We jumped up and ran next door to see if our neighbours felt ... read more

Diggin’ Dhaka So while Jake was away in Singapore I decided to get out and see more of Dhaka! We hadn’t yet ventured to central Dhaka since with traffic it can sometimes take nearly 2 hours to get there. So I hopped in the school van with a friend and we were off to explore more of the city! Our first stop was Dhaka University. Now this is normally the part of the city they tell foreigners NOT to go to, as this is where most of the riots, mobs and uprisings etc occur. BUT since the van driver actually suggested it, we figured hey- must be alright! And it was! The campus is actually very big but we just visited a tiny portion of it. The actual buildings are beautiful, architecturally speaking (most of the ... read more

We ventured to a little town called Sonargaon for the day with a few co-workers. We didn’t know much about the city beforehand, but were able to calculate two things- 1) that Sonargaon was the country’s first capital city, and 2) its about an hour away from Dhaka. We went by van, and it was nice to get out of the city scene and into a bit of countryside for awhile. We were surprised and pleased to see so much greenery, and impressed at how equally crowded these areas were in comparison to Dhaka. Even though things seemed a bit more spread out, there were still buildings and people everywhere. Everywhere you looked, there were people. People walking, people sitting and chatting, people selling, buying, and carrying food on their heads. We arrived in Sonargaon, which ... read more

My last weekend in Bangladesh, I took a trip down to Cox’s Bazar with some friends of mine. It’s a decently long bus ride from Dhaka to Cox’s, about 10 hours, including the 2 bathroom-tea-paratha stops (there are sadly no bathrooms on any buses). We took an overnight bus on the way there, which ended up being great besides them playing a loud Bangla movie at 1:30AM and stopping for tea at 4:30AM. I knew in my head that Cox’s would not be that great, but after enough Bangladeshis and long-term expats raved about it and its wonders, I couldn’t help but begin to believe in them. You hear lots of similarly sounding statements about the beach at Cox’s. I’ve heard everything from it being the longest beach in the world to the longest uninterrupted ... read more

Grensovergangen zorgen altijd voor het nodige entertainment. Deze keer werd er ijverig gebeden voor een "divine intervention" door een Mexicaan met de hoogst katholieke naam Jesús ("Chee-soes" voor de Latino's maar "Djiezus" voor de verbaasde douanebeambten) die gehuld in kledij van het Jainisme van een hindoeland naar een moslimstaat probeerde te reizen met een verlopen visum. Of het mirakel waar hij op hoopte zich uiteindelijk heeft voltrokken weten we jammer genoeg niet... Tijdens de busrit naar de hoofdstad Dhaka ontrolden rurale landschappen zich in tientallen tinten groen en blauw voor onze gretige ogen. Bangladesh heeft meer waterwegen dan alle Europese landen tesamen; het lijkt wel een verzonken land, of een overvloed aan drijvende eilanden, afhankelijk van hoe je het bekijkt. De Bangladeshi zijn schatten van mensen, echt de vriendelijkheid zelve, maar hun Engels laat jam... read more