Bangladesh is not really your 1st option ,when you are going through a world map thinking “where would be a good place to visit?”but for me it was the best option since Bangladesh had a few people that I loved.i m a fanatic of travel ,it makes me feel free as free could be.but what drove me to come here was those few that I cared for.Ovick ,Raka,Sadman and Armin to be more precise:)
But as life offers pleasant surprises ,Bangladesh the country it self had some amazing things to offer.the best being not touristy and the culture and it s food was off the hook.Ovick Alam my good friend,well more of sibling to me he is now ,grew up here in the dusty busy city of Dhaka learning about every thing every street corner had to offer.he had a good knowledge about the country .he was the best kind of guide one could ask for.
Dhaka is a pecuilar place.the 1st few hours that I spent in the city just walking around with my friends it made me wonder,why do people spit so often.people seem to spit every few seconds between a conversation.I was talking to ovick and I suddenly felt it in my mouth.something that tastes of dirt.its the dust.the city is so dusyt your mouth gets filled with dust everytime you talk.and to clear that bad taste off your mouth you HAVE to spit.!!
It was 7th January 2012.I was more than looking forward to getting out the dusty busy city.we were headed towards the north east part the sylhet division of Bangladesh. We took a bus from Dhaka to a place in shylet.i m sorry I do not seem to recall the name of the place since I m writing this after two and a half months.anyway we reached the bus stop around 0500h and we had to get a CNG(a tuk tuk) to a place called molovi bazar.my friend thought that its just about 50 taka distance from where we got down but turns out its more than 500 taka.and yes it was a very long cold ride in a CNG but the view was priceless.
Sunrise Beyond the Tea Estates.
Do you know the amazing feeling that you get when you have been carving for years to know what it would have been like to live 40 ,50 years back.yes that's what i felt.chilly as chilly could be and my friend telling me that we had a walk of 12km to get to this waterfall known as "HUM HUM" was not the 1st thing i wanted to hear.but i was all excited to know that the walk is through a forest and there is a high chance of getting lost if we went without a guide.so we had to hire a local guide.i was pretty pumped up to get in to the woods and start the real journey.
The Path Through The Forest
The atmosphere is delightful specially when you come after staying for a while in the dhaka city.i was simply feeling like mowgli,it felt as if i belonged here.well i sure do,i m quite sure that i do not belong to this rat race world we live in..anyways the walk through this path was fun.of course it would have been much more fun if it was not already cleared but hey whos to complain,i already had quite a backpack with me to Carry around.the path had many obstacles ,we had to cross a small streams of water over bamboo bridges ,well to be more precise it was just a few rods of bamboos loosely connected where you had to walk over very carefully.it was good fun watching my friend fall every now and then.aapon our guide was quite a fun guy,i couldn't talk much to him but he always stopped now and then and picked up some native fruits and gave them to me to try.well was not exactly the best bite but it was something.
The path was exciting since it always took dramatic changes.one moment we will be walking through a water stream and jumping from rock to rock the next and skiing down a platform of clay another and more.i lost the track of distance until one point my friend broke down and started complaining how he would have never even thought of coming if he knew it was this tough.(excuse my friend he is not quite the outdoor guy oh and check out how much it meant to him on
you tube,)but it made the our endeavor more interesting.i would take some tricky steps and so will and aapon and ovick will fall down trying to do the same.yes i m quite an asshole but it was entertaining.
Aha that magnificent view!!
Though this trip was to see a waterfall,the waterfall it self was not very significant.well not as significant as we anticipated.but the journey here was absolutely entertaining ,much more entertaining than i ever expected that 12is km walk to be. isn't this quite a lesson to our life's???we focus too much on a goal or a dream and we forget to enjoy the path that gets us there.but the ride is the best part.and we often seem to forget it and get quite depressed when it doesn't feel like what we thought it would be once the goal is reached.
there is a saying happiness is a journey not a destination.
Ovick was more than happy to have reached the waterfall,so was i.i couldn't wait to take off my clothes and jump in to a freezing bath but well the water was not in best condition for a swim.and also i do not know if this is because the no of uneducated people are high,but it was full of plastic bottles and polythene.and also to my surprise no body seem to care about it too.
After resting for a while we started making our trip back.interestingly the forest had quite a lot of bamboo and the villagers would come to the Forest ,cut long straight bamboos and Carry more than 15 bamboo piled up at once through the path we went as if it was just a walk in the park.it was amusing how relaxed they kept every step even with all the weight on their shoulders.
Aapon told us about his life in the village,how he takes care of his cattle's and works in the fields .having 6 members in the family including the parents he claims his cost of living is only 15 dollars a month.now thats how simple their life is.peaceful,relaxed and content with what ever little they have.
We came back to the city after several long rides of CNG.the good thing about the village was they had per person CNG where you pay per person not for the whole ride.it helped to save us quite a lot of money.we were able to find a an average guest house at 350 taka per night.and we both fell in to out beds like logs after a cold bath.
8th January ,we were already late .1100h and we set out for our breakfast and the food just blowed me away.it was delicious.my friend constantly kept telling me how awesome the food in shylet is but having tasted quite a number of varieties of food around in dhaka i thought i had an idea what it would be like.but i was wrong, very very wrong.the food was so good that i might make a trip to shylet just for the food.
We set out to see another water fall called madhu pundo.,this time a much much more crowded place.here is an amazing thing about Bangladesh.the city people travel mostly in the winter and these destinations are their favorites.so its not quite enjoyable and peaceful as you would expect a waterfall to be but hey guess what the water looked clean and nice.i wanted to jump into the water 1st hand but ovick said since its a Muslim country and its not ethical to take off clothes and jump in to water.so i decided to jump in to water with clothes(pants and t shirt) and go for a swim.well i was the attraction of the evening .every camera possible was focused at me.i thought i would freeze to death but didn't,all in all it was good fun even after it has turned my body into a Popsicle.
We came back to shylet city where we had the best meal in all of Bangladesh and the best part of it was that it was cheap.we ate much more than we possibly could since the food was too good just to stare at.after dinner we were thinking how we should go back to dhaka in the train or the bus.bus was quite expensive ,it was 600 taka and the train was just 180taka but the issue with the train was the tickets were sold out.we started walking in the station and we ran in to this street kid who was quite enthusiastic about life and to our own surprise had just run away from home that day it self.the story of the boy is quite long to write but i will write it hopefully soon
Jibon
There were many interesting incidents and realizations that came out thanks to jibon.he was a nice kid .the name jibon means life and he of course was full of it.we got on a train that night and was headed to dhaka with a new point of view on life in Bangladesh.
It s been almost a week here in the city but i still haven't got used to the city life.the situation of street children is just unrealistically bad and the disturbing fact is that the common people doesn't even seem to care.poverty is at every corner but the price those kids pay with their lives is just too much.
14 th January we have decided to go to bandrabons .we were four people.me,Ovick,Asad and Sujat.we got on a bus to bandrabons from dhaka and headed out at 0030h.it was going to be quite a dodgy bus ride .we went in a hanif bus ,hanif has a good reputation for crazy driving and yes , quite a ride it was.we rode the bus for a few hours until it made a stop in a check point.they had a policy where any foreigner needed a permission letter from D.C to get to bandrabons since it was named as a conflict zone due to several hostage situations.i was completely unaware of this and i produced my passport and was asked to produce the letter of the D.C.with the failure to produce the letter and several minutes of discussion with the army i knew i had no option but to head back and get the letter and come back again.well for me this was the best thing that happened ,we instantly decided that we can go to cox bazar and st martins since bandrabon was kind of on the way to cox bazar.the only problem between us and cox bazar was we had to wait for a bus or any kind of transport o get us to a junction that will allow us to get in to a bus to cox bazar.and yes we hitched a ride on the back of a truck and man it was like riding on a motor bike on a cold windy night in alaska.
lets hitch a ride now shall we???
Well the longest beach in the world and yes it would have been a magnificent view if not for the freaking tents that they have put up so close to the sea.there were miles of beach and people had to put it right after the sea blocking the view of a sunset or the beautiful sea that runs forever.i was born and raised quite close to the beach in sri lanka.the beach used to be the solution for my bad days.but this beach was disappointing.too crowded in the 1st place.but just like every dark cloud has a silver lining ,the beach had some abandoned areas.the walk was long but the walk was good.
We walked back until the sun was down and we decided to jump in to the water.the beach was quite muddy and this was my 1st encounter with such a beach.i didn't even know that such beaches existed.even the idea of having mud in the sea was strange to me,so it was fun to jump around in a muddy beach.
My friends told me about this awesome lounge called the mermaid lounge and we also paid it visit.well yes the lighting the atmosphere and everything is the best i could have asked for and above all the music.yes yes the music was good.we were joined by our good friend Armin.who is always has something to talk about ,well mostly its about marriage.she is quite enjoyable company.we had a few games of foofball.we had plans to explore more around the cox bazar but hey who wants to leave a good place to chill when you find one in a busy restless place.yes "chill" that's what we did that night.
Mermaid lounge
Well the night didn't not go as smoothly as i expected but i guess that's how life is.the only certain thing about the future is that it is uncertain.anyways i didn't sleep the whole day and we packed and left our hotel on 15h t January 0050h.we got in to a bus headed to teknaf.the point where you get in to a ferry to go the St martin islands.we were lucky enough to make it in time to get on the ferry.the ferry cost us 450 taka per person but it was a two and half hour ride on the ferry through the river to the sea and to the island.
Well yes it was one of the most striking views to see the island at a distance and the sea making a perfect background for it.the sea water got bluer and clearer as close as we got to the beach.the process of docking the ferry is quite exciting to watch.one guy jumps in to the water with a big rope while a few on board make loop on a very heavy rope and try to put them in to strong rods on the port.this was the park for the kids.they would jump all around trying to help this process and a just as we hit the docks a bunch of kids would jump on board escaping the guard in order to carry our baggage's.yes once again the kids are more than underprivileged but if they do not do this it will not be just them ending up in hunger but their whole family.
once again this was a one of the hot spots for locals and yes it was crowded as crowded could get.it was much commercialized and everything but not as commercialized as the touristy places in sri lanka.it was good fun watching how the local people enjoy the sea.it s always good fun to see anyone happily enjoying their days,kind of lights you up as well.the best part of this came as a surprise for me after around 1600h i realized the number of people in the island has significantly dropped.turns out that people make one day trips to the islands.come in the morning ferry and leave in the afternoon one.we had a whole island for our selves.and yes i was looking forward to seeing the island and went for a little walk.the weather was perfect .sunny but not hot,windy but not too windy that i would have to wear a wind breaker and quiet ,just letting me listen to the songs that the sea was singing.i found the ultimate spot to watch a sunset.an old boat and a view that was clear for miles in all direction.i watched as the sun spread it colors in the sky,prepared it self to go for a dip to come back tomorrow once again to do the same.
you are young and life is long ,and there is time to kill today.
16th January,i woke up late 1000h and the morning ferry has already reached the island so it was full of people.we decided to take a walk to the other side of the island which was much more isolated.we were headed towards a separate small island called CHERADIP,two of our friends were trying to catch the ferry back home so we had to hurry up.we hired a boat to get to the island.cheradip its self was a part of the island but the water in cheradip had a significant difference it was the ideal water to go snorkeling but the sad part was that i have left my snorkels in my bag.cheradip was a very small island the most interesting thing about it was the cheap crabs and the cheap lobsters they had.70 taka a fried lobster and 50 taka a fried crab.and yes it was fresh and the best sea food meal i have had for that price.leave the price, the food was good much more worthier than the price we paid .
Asad and Sujat left and it was down to me and Ovick.we took a long walk in the shore and found another amazing spot to gaze at the sun set and this time it was from different spot but still on a boat turned upside down.the wind was a bit heavy we watched as the wind blowed away the sand on the beach creating millions of patterns making it infinitely interesting to watch.the golden sunlight reflecting back from the sand made that whole moment picture perfect.
but the best part of st martins was none of the above.it was the night.the thing about the st martin island is ,it turns off all the lights in the island by 2200h and then you can see the starriest sky you have ever seen in your life.it was as if the universe was served on a plate.so clear and precise.there are many large boats dragged and anchored in the beach.we got on to one of them with our sleeping bags so that we could watch the sky through out the night until sunset.for the 1st time in my life i saw a shooting star.yes not the kind of illusion of a shooting star ,a bright yellow shooting star that was visible for few seconds . i was shouting and jumping up and down out of joy like a man who has been blind for years and gained vision seconds ago.it was the most memorable moment in this trip.with all this joy we forgot one thing.that the tide has moved in on us and yes we were in the sea now and the ship gently waddles.i knew the worst thing that could happen is us ending up in the middle of the sea but hey it would have been an adventure to write a book about.
Reflections... how often do we look at them???
The wait to see the sunrise was fruitless .the sky was all covered in clouds.some times it makes me wonder.is hope a good thing or a bad thing?hope helps us move forward at the same time it prolongs our torments too.
There is a place that we normally take our meals near our house.its a roadside restaurant and well the food is good for it s price but that is not what i m going to talk about.there are more than five kids who work in this restaurant,two of them wait tables and the other three works inside.our meal normally consists of a coke which my friend loves.we never really finish it but drink much more than half not leaving enough even for one person.we gave the remaining coke to this kid who waited our table and he went back and kept it on the side of the table where he cuts vegetables to make salads.his friend also came to work on the salad and this kid less than 10 years old takes the coke adds water until its enough for two people and shares it with his friend.
now that's humanity at its max,he doesn't have anything for him in his life but still shares what ever little he has.if we all could make an example of this child this world would be a much better place.
20th january,me and Sadman got on a bus to Chittagong at 0030 h,we reached Chittagong around 0730h.Chittagong has a quite a Buddhist population,and our 1st visit was to a temple.it was nothing much but it contained a very peaceful atmosphere.opposite to the temple was a small park called the D.C hill which was used by the public for exercising.its good to see active civilians contributing to their health.
we were joined by three locals,well friends of ovicks actually,they were to show us around in Chittagong.the most awesome thing about Chittagong is the boat rides.yes yes the awesome boat rides are awesome.we got on a small boat ,the kind of boat that could flip in a small wave and it was a joyful ride.the boat took us around the harbor of Chittagong and the best part was the boat guy allowed me to navigate which kept all the other passengers screaming for their lives.we were cruising next to enormous ships which the waves created by them almost flipped us over to the water.Imam bhai,jahid and aiman ended up being good friends with us at the end of the day.
Our next stop was parki beach,just as most things in Bangladesh it was crowded as well but not as crowded as cox bazar.the beach it self has some interesting business practices run by the locals.one of them was the beach motor bike rides.a number of bikers will come to you and offer rides on their bike and well just as all sales men they are very good at convincing us about a ride.i wanted to ride it by myself but well i had to be accompanied by the owner so yes we went for a ride too.it was fun it was more fun when i was not letting the accelerator go and the owner was shouting telling me to slow down.it was hilarious to see his face after our ride.i don't think he liked me that much ,went away cursing in bangla.we came back and had our lunch in the town,well it was almost 1700h ,cant really call it lunch.me and sadman checked in to a guest house and rested for a while.we went out to the city again for a walk.the chittagong city is much peaceful than dhaka but it s also headed towards being just as busy as dhaka with the increasing population.
21st january ,0800h Sadman has left back to dhaka,and i got in a bus to heading to bandrabons.the bus ride is quiet a tough ride,the bus bouncing off up and down ,breaking instantly and racing the wind at another.its the kind of ride that could give a nice lady an orgasm.once again the bus was stopped at the army check point and this time i had the letter.after another few hours of this virtual roller coaster bus ride i got down ,hoping to find a place to stay the night.well the sad part was that my Bangladesh lonely planet did not have details of many hotels so i asked a local who also traveled with me in the bus for some help to find a hotel.he couldn't speak much English but he understood that i was looking for a place to stay the night and we got in to a rickshaw and went to a place that give out rooms.like all sales men after realizing that i was a foreigner ,offered me ridiculous prices on the room.he demanded 800 taka a night when the cost would actually be around 200.i was constantly persistence about getting the owner to drop the price.
while this was happening a Buddhist monk came to buy something from a near by shop and the local knew the monk.he spoke to him and explained the situation and the monk asked me which country i was from and he was delighted to hear that i was from sri lanka and asked me if i would like to stay at his monastery.now being on the road for a while and one thing i have learned is to listen to my heart,and my heart said why not.so yes he showed me the way to his monastery which wasn't much and was also under construction.but i was more than happy to have a roof above my head.i have always been a fan of the atmospheres at temples,peaceful quiet and blissful.i m not a very religious man,though i was born a Buddhist it is very rare i practice my religion but this was a good opportunity for me to take a break from life and embrace the spiritual side.i meditated for quite long that night,embracing the delightful silence immersing my self into a blissful world.
the next morning i woke up after a good sleep,i wanted to take a good tour around bandrabon and the monk and the local guy,papon who was now a good friend of mine has offered me a tour around the place.our 1st stop was the royal golden temple.i should say the name it self describes what it is.it was a majestic view to watch the sun falling on the golden temple and being reflected back giving out a glowing shine to the temple.the site of the temple was heavenly.
The moment you step deeper in to the villages of bandrabons it feels like as if you have stepped in to a complete different country.the people in this area have the features very much similar to that of Mongolian ancestors and also they speak Myanmar and the majority of this area is Buddhist.a common view of the area is the hard working women,its almost never that i saw a man working on the field and also these women were pretty cool smoking a pipes and everything not caring much about the weird black guy who kept on taking photos of her.another interesting thing is you will see, are the tribal men and women ,with a significant amount of piercings and breads covering most parts of their bodies.it feels as if a museum came to life,or that you have traveled back in time.
Well beware when you are taking a photo of the tribal lady,she asked 500 taka from me.got away giving 50 which ended up with a lot of curse words coming from her.we traveled a few more miles in a CNG ,climbing up and down mountains and we finally reached the rama temple.now this temple is specially made in the memory of the king rama and on the entrance you can see a number of caged monkeys living a very lazy life .i later learned that this is in respect of the legend hanuma.the temple was still under construction but it still was magnificent.it had it own exquisite beauty and a feel of its own that was able to create a breath taking moment for the visitors.
The Rama Temple
Having left the Rama temple we arrived at the shaylo propath,well at 1st i was wondering ,how in the world did this place ended up being a tourist attraction.but then i figured out that i t would have been a breath taking place during the rainy season.i was just there at a wrong time.it was still fun to get down to the flat rock surface and jump around.people in this area believe that this small rock pond have amazing powers,and they practice a small custom by rinsing their face with the water and drinking some of it too.i did wash my face as well but drinking water from such a place was a bit too risky.
Our next stop was nilachole,a park on a mountain top ,with a magnificent view of the mountain ranges that spread out infinitely.nilachole was the major attraction for the rich dhaka city crowd,since it was the only place that could be reached by a car without having to walk a even few steps.it was quite a romantic place with nice seats looking over the mountain ranges.we waited there for a while enjoying the breezy wind and started heading back.
Megla was our next stop ,well i should say megla is a mixed experience of lakes ,mountains and a bit of a zoo as well.the megla walk was quite enjoyable ,spotting butterflies and the deers in the reserved forest.there was a beautiful radiant atmosphere all around us and yes the couples cuddling their souls off added a bit of love to the atmosphere.we reached the megla lake and that my friend is some view,well sadly i m not good with words but if the view was a sandwich it would have been delicious,orgasmic in deed.
The Megla Lake
We returned to the monastery after a long day on the road.the monastery is quite a gathering place.its small garden was used as a badminton court and all the boys around this area use to gather around to take turns to play badminton.well i was never a fan of badminton but hey it was quite an enjoyable game.even after a tiring day i was still up for a few games and of course the boys were more than excited to play a foreigner.i wanted to climb the mount keokradgong and go to nilgiri as well but i learned that both of these places are quite far apart and also that it s very expensive to travel.i went to bed after a light meal.it was a good day busy but still peaceful.
There is no better way to get an idea of a country side other than using their transport.local buses traveling through rural villages stopping for a few hours to load all sorts of things on the top of the bus and the conductor managing the roof was an all new experience for me.i wanted to go on the roof quite badly but the conductor did not allow me to and well it would have been very risky ,well that's why i actually wanted to do it.the bus came to a stop and then we had to cross a lake in a small boat,on the other side i had to take another bus.after a few hours i reached rangamati safely.
I do not know if everybody loves the waters as much as i do but nothing makes me more calm than being on water,be it sea, be a it a lake, river or what ever.water has been the drug that settles me for years.living in a coastal town spending every bitter night at the beach has some how made quite a connection between me and the water and yes ranagamati for me was all about the lakes.rangamati consists of the countries biggest artificial lake the kaptai lake ,now one would assume it to be a few acres ,wrong its spreads over a wide range of the country ,the lake gives a sensible feeling similar to that of being at the sea.the lake consists many habitats,small tribal groups who has made these small islands their territory.the bamboo houses and the culture around it was a pleasant surprise for those of us from the city.
A woman is like a tea bag. It's only when she's in hot water that you realize how strong she is.
I had the most awesome boat man by far,his name was habib he was not more than 16 and was enthusiastic about every thing around him.he had a smile that never faded and also had something to tell me all the time though i did not understand.he taught me how to ride that small boat we were in and trust me it is quite a task to pull off.he was telling me to visit more islands but i just wanted to go to the middle of the lake find a nice spot to watch the sunset and that exactly we did before the sun started spreading out its softening light of the afternoon.habib put a new thought to my mind,to go for a swim in the middle of the lake.i asked him by hand gesutre if there are crocodlies and he said no and the next moment i was floting in the middle of the kaptai lake happy as happy could be.i came out of the water put on some fresh clothes and settled down.the surrounding was immaculately silent ,the smooth soft wind warmed my heart,i was all set to watch a beautiful sunset it was just a matter of time.
i was enchanted by the view ,dazed by the beauty of the golden waters i was floating upon.there i was listening only to my own breath ,my mind consuming every little detail of that sunset.my face covered with a smile, eyes gazed upon this heavenly moment a memory that i would cherish in the years to come.
A lake carries you into recesses of feeling otherwise impenetrable ~William Wordsworth
All in all Bangladesh offered me more than i expected.Memories ,experiences and a few people to live in my life forever. :)
All the Above Photograph's were shot by Me,using an A590ls cannon.
Blogged by,
Malinda Senanayake,
Sri Lanka Scout Association,Sri Lanka.
malindamax91@gmail.com
