Bangladesh does irony: the Rocket

One of the highlights of my time in Bangladesh was the few days we spent in on a river cruise to a town called Khulna, about 4 hours SW of Dhaka. Not long after we got back from Srimongal, mum, Lucy, her flatmate Shelley and I took a 30 hour boat trip down the many waterways of Banga to Kulhna - famous for its prawn farms. The boat trip was amazing - one of the best things I've ever done! The boat was an old paddle steamer, ironically called the Rocket as it takes more than a day to travel what would take 4-5 hours in a car! It was so incredibly relaxing though, especially after the business of Dhaka.
The boat left Dhaka at about 6pm one night and wound its way through hundreds of little villages and ports, arriving late the following evening. We spent a good part of the evening and the next day sitting on the front deck reading, relaxing and playing scrabble (much to the amusement of the other passengers).
When we got tired in the evenings (or sick of talking to our guide Razu aka Brass Razu or Razzle Dazzle!), we would "take some rest" - code for moving to a more private side balcony to drink some wine!
We might have been travelling first class, but it was no QEII - our cute little cabins were cosy and clean, but the toilets got progressively dirtier as the hours went on and there were no showers. And our cabins were luxury compared with the rest of the passengers. We took a tour of the boat and saw many people curled up on a sari on the hard floor - some right next to the engine!

I just loved being on the boat though - watching the villages go by on the shore and seeing the frantic loading and unloading of the boats at the ports.
And once we arrived in Khulna we had a great time too. We were taken to see the famous 60 dome mosque (which actually has 77 domes....??), a hindu temple open to all denominations,
a pan farm, (this is what the pan leaves look like when they sell them) and a fabulous prawn market where they sell prawns for export to countries like Japan and the US. The prawns were enormous!

(Weighing the prawns)
And we drew quite a crowd where ever we went!!

And this is Lucy multi-tasking Banga style - talking on the phone and taking pictures of some kids in a village and showing them the pics!

A tea resort in Srimongal

The day after mum arrived in Banga, the three of us were whisked off in a lovely airconditioned car to spend a couple of days in a tea resort in Srimongal, about 200km east (and slightly north) of Dhaka. It was great to get out of the city and see some village life. We spent about 3 days in this old colonial tea resort and each day did tours of different types of tea plantations (hilly and flat!), various villages where interesting ethnic minorities live and, most importantly, we got to try the famous Srimongal 5-layer tea....

Hilly tea plantation

picking tea

Carrying the tea to the trucks

A puja (festival) at Monipuripara village

Special Srimongal 5-layer tea

Resting at a lake

Some little boys I met at the lake who picked me water lillies

Mum and Lucy at the lake

In a village, feeling hot

Old Dhaka: A Puja on Hindu Street

On the afternoon of my second day in Bangladesh, Lucy and I caught a cng across town to Hindu Street in Old Dhaka. Hindu Street is thus named because it is full of Hindu people, temples, shops etc. It was great! In Old Dhaka people don't seem to be as used to tourists as in other parts of Banga, so we managed to make lots of friends, especially with little kids who wanted their picture taken over and over again!

Women collecting water from the pump

Misti (sweets) on display in a shop

We also managed to be in Hindu Street at the same time as a Hindu Festival (a Puja) where lots of young women carried spices on their head while in some kind of trance.

So, we spent the afternoon wandering around, studiously avoiding live chickens (bird flu was found in Banga about a week before I arrived!) and watching everyone busy busy around us. Just as it was getting dark, we met up with Lucy's friend Cate (another Aussie) and the three of us caught rickshaws through the dusky streets to a special Bangla restaurant where they serve good borta (kinda mashed up food you eat with naan). It was really tasty, and my first proper go at eating with my hands.
Later that night, we took a car out to the airport to pick up.........mutti!

Visiting Lucy in Bangladesh: part 1 of many

Most of you probably already know that I've spent the last three weeks in Bangladesh visiting my sister Lucy who is working there for a year with an NGO. (there's a link to her blog on the side of this page). I had the most amazing time! I think it must qualify as the best holiday I've ever had, especially as I got to spend so much time with Lucy and with mum who was also visiting. I have hundreds of photos and heaps of stories to tell, so, over the next few weeks, I'l l try and put some of the highlights on this blog so you can appreciate what an amazing time I had.

Dhaka: Dhanmondi

I arrived in Dhaka in the middle of a Thursday night to be greeted by Lucy and a bevy of armed policemen she had befriended! We jumped in our car and were whisked along the relatively quiet streets to Lucy's house in the suburb of Dhanmondi. We spent the next few days before mum arrived exploring. On my first morning, I kitted up in my borrowed salwar kameeze (long top and pants - culturally appropriate clothing) and Lucy, her flatmate Bridge and I walked along the banks of a nearby lake to a local cafe for brekkie/lunch. From the moment I arrived in BD, I felt like a cross between a movie star and someone with flashing lights on their forehead - there aren't many tourists in BD, so you attract a lot of attention!
In the afternoon Lucy and I went to New Market - this massive bizzare near her house. It was chockers full of people and they sell everything from biscuits to bedspreads. Upstairs there are heaps of little shops that print and embroider cloth.

That evening we went to a free cultural performance (a dance) in a theatre near by and then had dinner at a little local place which served great BD food - these little pastry shells filled with chickpea curry.
Pics of the streets of Dhanmondi:

The entrance to Lucy's house (yes, it's the Oriental Castle!!):
The view from Lucy's house: