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Published: November 16th 2010
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Time for part two. I hope you are still with me, there is so much to tell that i thought - to give you a break, i'd put it into two slightly smaller blogs!
Day Three So, we had a slightly later start to recover from the madness that was the previous day. But i was up early and very excited for the next adventures. We got up and headed straight for another tea garden. I watched with delight as women picked tea leaves straight from the plant. Here i discovered that tea workers are mostly Hindus, as the British brought them over from India, and women because women have softer and smaller hands for the picking! It was so nice to actually watch them pick, i even tried my hand though failed pretty miserably. We then moved on to a pineapple and banana plantation. It was nice to walk among the plants, though it was pretty hot. I didn't realise pineapples grew from bushes, not trees, so it was an educational experience!! We headed towards town, only to be stopped by a family of Macacs running across the road! Russel and i dived out of the car to
try and get some photos, it was a wonderful sight seeing these animals in their natural habitats.
Then, after a stop off in town for some coconut water (some of which ended up all over Bonny's face!!) we headed off to the wetlands in search of a boat, and the most peaceful two hours floating on the water. We found our boatman and followed him off to catch the boat. It was a tiny, wooden thing which i really thought couldn't hold us - i even had to wade through the mud to get onto the front. The boatman pushed off and we floated among the water lillies, birds, fish and people that make their life on the water. It was insanely hot in the sun, and the boat was far too small for my gigantic legs, so at times it was uncomfortable. But it was such a relaxing and peaceful experience - floating along with no noise, watching local people fish and live and generally just soaking up the fresh air.
After a stop at the same restaurant for lunch (i had naan and a wonderful chicken curry) we headed off to a Hindu temple which was
Life on the Water
These are peoples' homes for four to five months of the year pretty spectacular. Both Bonny and I were pretty exhausted from the sun, so we decided to get the driver to just drive us around the incredible scenery for a while. It was lovely to feel the breeze on our faces and just watch the most wonderful countryside go by. We then headed to the other tea cabin that does Seven Layer Tea, sampled its different and, i think, slightly nicer taste and generally wondered how on earth it is made. We had a lovely relaxing evening, another sensational meal and settled up the bill with the hotel and Russel. The whole holiday cost around £70, well worth it i think. This would have been our final time in Srimangal, as we planned to catch the night train to Chittagong. Unfortunately, due to the horrors of travel, we had to wake up stupidly early the next day and get a coach to Comilla.
Day Four We awoke in the dark at 5am, luckily the Imams woke me up as my alarm clock didn't go off. It amazed me to find, even in the middle of nowhere, a speaker playing the Call to Prayer to the faithful. Russel picked us
up in a CNG and took us into town to find some breakfast. We were taken to a pretty dingy café, but had a relatively nice breakfast, and met with Russel's next tour group - a girl who lives in Dhaka, after working in Chittagong when she came over from Melbourne two years ago, and her friend. We were then herded off to the bus station to grab our bus. We were seated at the front, so i was afforded some leg-room. People just kept piling on to the bus, until it was utterly full with locals sitting and standing in any space they could find. It wasn't what i would call luxury. The bus went on its way and i just sat, staring out of the window for most of the journey as we passed tea plantations, paddy fields and wonderful scenes of rural life. The bus stopped at every town to let even more people on, a feat i didn't believe was possible. Luckily, the men standing close to me were very kind and we exchanged the usual questions found in this country - 'What is your country', 'Why are you here' and my favourite 'What is your
religion'. Try explaining atheism to a Bangladeshi and you will be met with blank stares - i settled for Christian to avoid confusion!!!
The bus threw us off at the Military Cantonment at Comilla, with promises of a buse to Chittagong. There wasn't one to be found but, with the help of the Lonely Planet (without which we would have been utterly lost) i found that we needed to head across town for a bus. We took a CNG a distance that we though would be short but took at least half an hour!! Eventually we arrived at the Chittagong bus station and, with relative ease, boarded a bus to Chittagong. A journey of four hours for less than £1! This bus was even smaller than the first, i couldn't even consider sitting straight had to face the aisle to have any semblance of comfort!
This journey was perhaps the most terrifying of my life. Being tall, apart from being a problem with no legroom, afforded me a tremendous view of the road ahead. I could see every bus or car careering towards us and sense that my life would soon be over a number of times. At
one point the bus dived off to the side of the road and we tilted over to such an extent that i really thought we would topple into the paddy fields - lucky it wasn't a cliff. The Dhaka-Chittagong Highway as it is called is nothing of the sort, rather a small road, but which drivers treat as if they are on the M25. Horrifying. Luckily, as the bus progressed on, people left and i could find myself a double seat to stretch out on and not watch the oncoming horrors.
The bus then abandoned us a long way from the centre of Chittagong, so that required a further CNG ride. Due to it being Eid tomorrow, the streets were filled with huge cows being led to home. Some were adorned with colourful horns or garlands of flowers. Whilst an impressive sight, from a CNG their size was terrifying and, they blocked up the roads so that it took us 45 minutes to do what should have been a ten or fifteen minute journey.
Never have i been happier to be home, but that feeling quickly gave way to a considerable sense of loss. The few days spent
among the tea plantations and being out in the wild were some of the greatest and most relaxing of my life. I will forever think of Srimangal when i have a cup of tea, and will treasure the mem
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A cup of tea will never mean the same to you again - what a fantastic experience!