Bangladesh - Land of the Bangla-speaking People

In 1947, when British colonial India was partitioned into the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of India, Pakistan consisted of West Pakistan, which is Pakistan as we know it today, and a separate piece of land thousands of km away called East Pakistan that became present day Bangladesh.

Bangladesh literally means: "land of the Bangla-speaking people" which is a reminder of one of the main factors (recognition of Bangla (Bengali) as an official state language) that led to the build-up of resistance to being joined as one country with West Pakistan. This resistance culminated in a bloody war that eventually led to an independent People's Republic of Bangladesh in 1971.

typical Bangladesh village scene

The Bangladeshis are very proud of their culture, language and history. There is even a Mother Language Day that has been observed since 1952, and is still observed today, to commemorate the struggle to establish Bangla as the national language. When speaking to people we've met here, we've found that, although there is an acknowledgment that they are still a very poor country, there is much pride in Bangladesh having come a long way since gaining independence. The population explosion since the 1970's is attributed to significant improvements in child mortality rates and improved quality of life. Women are still more likely than men to be illiterate and girls now have free schooling all way through senior school while boys are only subsidised for their junior school years. We have also been told several times by very proud Bangladeshis (mostly men as we have rarely encountered women who speak any English) that their current Prime Minister is their second female Prime Minister since independence and that the Home Minister and Foreign Minister are also both female too, a fact that somehow seems incongruous with the absence of women in public areas and the strict purdah dress observed by the few that you do see around (except in Dhaka).

"Okay, listen now, if you kids don't get this one right - there'll be trouble!"

More than any of the sites we've seen (and we've seen many wonderful ones), the greatest asset this country has to share with tourists is the hospitality of its people. It is not uncommon to be invited home for a meal by someone you've met randomly on the street (although the price is often being paraded around like a celebrity to meet the entire village). There are only two guide books available for Bangladesh, The Lonely Planet and the Bradt Guide, and they both list the Bangla people on the list of the country's Top Ten attractions and we concur wholeheartedly.

Tea with Rupa and Mom at their home in Srimangal

That said, there have been plenty of great sites to explore. One of our first was in Putia, near Rajshahi, that boasts some of the country's oldest Hindu temples still standing after the 1970's war.

1823 Shiva temple in Puthia

From Rajshahi we took our first Bangladeshi train journey to Khulna near the Sundarbans. Although the rail network is not huge, the trains that do operate are efficient and first class travel is comfortable with private compartments and waiters that serve tea in real china cups.

While Bangladesh is poor in some ways, it is incredible to see that unemployment is unheard of (less than 3%) and EVERYONE is doing some sort of mini-business/service. The villages are a hive of activity and you can get anything made or fixed very cheaply and quickly. The village economies are light years ahead of ours at home: in SA you can't find a tractor for love of money, while in Bangladesh most farmers share these mini-tractors that double up as water pumps, threshers and electricity generators. Villages can have a borehole sunk for less than $100 (R700) while in SA you can pay 100 times that! One downside of this full employemnt is that invariably hotels employ double the number of people they need and then you have service staff bursting into your room every hour to check if you "need anything?" or if "I can help you". We quickly learnt to lock the doors, but then they just knock loudly, you get out of bed, and they ask "need anything?" Evil glares do not dissuade them!

In Khulna our primary mission was to book a boat trip around the Sundarbans, the large delta of rivers and mighty mangrove swamps in southern Bangladesh where the water from the Himalayas flows into the sea. There aren't many boats that tour the Sundarbans and the few that do were all booked for the dates we wanted. The only thing we could do was book a private boat tour, just for the two of us. Although a little more expensive, it turned out to be a pretty good option as we had the guide all to ourselves to answer our million questions, lots of flexibility as to where we went and no other noisy guests to scare off the animals. The boat was small but very comfortable and our crew cooked up the most delicious meals while we lazed about on deck and kept our eyes pealed for Bengal Tigers. We didn't see any tigers although the fact that a person is eaten by a tiger in this area every 3 days kept us alert all through our 3 day tour. We had two security guards with very big shot guns follow us everywhere we went.

Chilling on out on our boat in the Sundarbans

The view from our boat while cruising the mangrove swamps of the Sundarbans

Let's go get those tigers! - our very brave security guards in the Sundarbans

We took some lovely, messy walks - security guards in tow - through thick, gooey, glistening, chocolate pudding mud in the mangrove forests that sucked in our every footfall. The mangrove forests were teeming with life: loads of birds, crabs, lizards and 5 different species of snakes that Dave kept trying to pick up in between (unsuccessfully) trying to catch mud skippers. We saw a green vine snake hanging from a tree while it was also trying to catch mud skippers, an unidentifiable snake basking in the sun, and a Dog Headed Water snake lying in the mud, and best of all, a Monocled Cobra swimming across the river in a hell of a hurry to get to the other side. We cooled off with a swim in the sea of the Bay of Bengal although it is not advisable to attempt a bikini-clad dip being, as we are, in a conservative Muslim country. Having little experience with which clothes are best for a fully-clothed swim, Rejane at first made the unfortunate choice of a t-shirt that became very clingy and revealing once wet and then had to quickly scramble to put on something a little more modesty-preserving.

Getting nice and messy catching crabs in the mud

Stomping around in the muddy mangrove forests

No bikinis allowed in the Bay of Bengal! (Our hosts couldn't bare to look!)

From Khulna we took the very luxurious early 1900's "Rocket", a paddle steamer that cruises slowly down the river and harks back to the days of the British Raj. Meals are served at a long, wooden, 30-seater dinner table with white table-cloths and uniformed waiters who serve your afternoon tea in delicate china tea sets (they really know how to serve tea in this country, I say, Old Chap, What?)

Afternoon tea and cookies while floating down the river on the old Rocket steamer

Just couldn't resist doing the Leonardo and Kate pose while on the steamer...

View from the Rocket...villages that dot the river banks

We reluctantly disembarked from the luxury of the Rocket in Barisal where we explored the busy markets and picturesque villages. One fun part of Bangladesh is the vehicles: the most common is the bicycle powered, 3 wheel rickshaw which are everywhere and are used by everyone to go even short distances. In Dhaka alone there are supposedly 600,000 rickshaws! Then you get the Ban which is the bakkie/pickup version of the bicycle rickshaw which has a flat bed and can load unbelievable quantities of goods piled meters into the air. Then there is the auto rickshaw (aka baby taxi or CNG) which is a motorbike version of the rickshaw which normally runs on compressed gas (CNG = Compressed Natural Gas). You also now get an electric rickshaw (see photo below) which has a battery and is charged up at night, and then can cover 120km the next day, almost silently as it has no engine. Lastly, of course, there are cars. In Bangladesh, 90% of cars are expensive Japanese models which is unusual when one considers that in India 90% of cars are cheap Indian brands (Tata, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra). The reason for this we're told is that Bangladesh has no middle class: just a very rich class and a poor class while India has a huge middle class...

Electric baby taxi - Bangladesh leads the way in green transport!

All aboard the school bus! (another type of bicycle rickshaw)

Around Barisal - busy markets

"Let's show these locals what an African man can do... ok I'm tired now"

"Haa, but can you carry bricks on your head, while walking a plank and looking cool at the same time?"

After Barisal we boarded another less luxurious cockroach boat further down the river to explore the little islands that dot the Bay of Bengal. These islands don't appear in any guide books or even on the internet so as expected this was quite an adventure. Our first stop was Hatia Island where we took on the 4 hour mission to get to its very southern most tip and cross over to the even smaller island of Nidjim Dwip. After a noisy and bumpy 2 hour auto-rickshaw ride, an hour wait for the ferry, another hour on an even bumpier bicycle rickshaw and yet another hour of walking - with our backpacks - in the sweltering heat, we finally made it to the one "hotel" on Nijum Dwip Island.

On the mission to Nidjim Dwip: "Okay, that's it - I've had it with this heat, the boats, the crowds..."

The next morning, at breakfast, we were offered a live crab by the restaurant owner. With much sign language we managed to negotiate for a crab curry to be cooked for our lunch which we ate very messily and with relish while trying to ignore the open-mouthed stares of about 30 local guys. In rural Bangladesh we've been stared at with undisguised fascination a whole lot more than we've stared at the local people and surroundings. The two most common reactions are the "stop dead in your tracks call your friends and stare" and the "stop dead in your tracks, jaw falls open and stare" - extra clever people follow these moves up with a "how are you my friend!" which means you can get invited to their house if you smile back...

On a trip where we have been more than just impressed with the culinary delights, Bangladesh wins first prize in the great food category. The Achilles heel in this subcontinent's repertoire, however, is definitely breakfast. A fried egg with a roti or chapati is the closest you can to a vaguely recognisable breakfast while cornflakes, only very very occasionally available, are a mystery to chefs (we were once served cornflakes that had been boiled up like jungle oats!). We have at times given up and gone local by ordering mutton and vegetable curries with rotis for our breakfast. Another potential minefield is ordering drinks - if you're not fast enough to prevent it, you are likely to get a dollop of salt in your fruit juice or yogurt drink - Dave has even been asked if he preferred a sweet or salty chocolate milkshake!

And the prize for the best meal eaten in Bangladesh goes to...Freshly cooked crab curry.

After a couple of days of lazing around Nijum Dwip we missioned back to Hatia to catch the steamer to the next Bay of Bengal island, Sandwip. The trip back to Hatia was crowded with people, bicycles and even a cow that proceeded to vacate its bowels in the tiny boat but Rejane was well protected from getting messy on the women's side of the boat where she was looked after like a special guest.

On the boat from Nijum Dwip back to Hatia with the cow with the loose bowels

On arrival at Sandwip Island we were told that there weren't any hotels at all and were taken to the government offices by a rickshaw driver who had no idea what on earth to do with two foreign tourists. The perplexed government officials took a few minutes to inquire as to why the hell we'd want to see Sandwip Island and, while failing to understand our explanation that it was all very interesting to us, kindly invited us to stay at the government guest house for a nominal fee, the equivalent of about R4 ($0.50). We were very comfortable at the guest house and the next morning had the pleasure of meeting the Island's magistrate who allowed us to sit in on his very speedy court proceedings (20 cases in 45 minutes!) after which we were invited to a local wedding lunch. While at lunch we mentioned that the steamer to Chittagong, our next stop, would be leaving soon to which the magistrate said, "Don't worry, relax, I am also taking the steamer to Chittagong today and they can't leave without me..."

The very photogenic villages on Sandwip Island. Every house has a pond like this used for bathing/washing (behind the orange curtain)

At the wedding lunch with the magistrate

Our next stop was the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the one area of Bangladesh that's not as flat as a chapati. The history of this "tribal" area is quite complicated and the politics is still somewhat unstable. During the war in 1970/1, the governor of the area supported West Pakistan and fled to Pakistan after independence. The indigenous people of the area are ethnically closer to Burmese people than to the ethnically Indian Bangladeshi majority. The source of the current political tension seems to stem from the influx and growth of the ethnically Indian Bangla population into the area and the displacement of the indigenous tribes by large dams built recently.

In Rangamati, the first of the Chittagong villages we visited, our boatman wouldn't take us to any of the indigenous Chakma villages as communities here have kept themselves pretty much separate from one another. It was also a little difficult to get much enjoyment from the main tourist attraction, the beautiful lake, which was created when the dam was built causing the loss of farming land and of many indigenous village communities and led to many being displaced.

On the lake in Rangamati

After Rangamati we headed to another Chittagong Hill Tract village, Bandarban. Here the communities, while preserving their own ways of life, do not seem to have the issues that Rangamati suffers from as there was no displacement from dam building. We stayed at the Hillside Resort which has lovely traditionally built bamboo cottages. We spent a few lazy days exploring the markets and the beautiful indigenous Marma villages set in the thick forests. We also indulged a few times in the number one local desert dodi/dui which is a delicious cross between creme caramel and yoghurt and can be found everywhere at giveaway prices - yummy!! Bangladesh generally has good food - the only challenge is ordering it as the Bangladeshi's don't believe in menus... you just sit down and they say "what do you want" (in Bangla), and you say "what do you have" and they look at you confused, and then we say, with our hands, "bring everything" and then all sorts of plates arrive of mostly meats and a few veg dishes and we pig out and send back what we can't eat, and after a main course extravaganza, dessert (dui!!!), cold drinks and tea it comes to around R25 ($4) for both of us! Rejane hasn't cooked in 6 months... I wonder why?!

Meeting a Marma tribal person (left) and a Bangla guy (right) in the Bandarban forests

Cruising the river on a local boat in Bandarban

Shopping for a nice fat cow for Eid ul Adha

VIDEO: A typical day in the market in Bandarban

"Tribal" women smoking cigars while bargaining at the Eid market in Bandarban

Outside our traditional bamboo hut in Bandarban

View from our hotel in Bandarban

From Bandarban, it was straight north to Sylet, the tea-growing region of Bangladesh. We didn't spend anytime in the capital city of the Sylet region but headed directly to Srimangal, a lovely village where lots of tea is grown. There we met Roni, a lovely guide, who took us around to tea estates, introduced us to Srimangal's many-layered tea and showed us around his village (if you're planning to spend any time in Srimangal, we'd highly recommend you contact Roni on: 01719239367)

The many-layered tea made in Srimangal is a well guarded secret and the layers really are completely distinct in colour and taste (see pic below).

With Roni, our guide, at a Srimangal tea estate

Enjoying 5 and 10 layer tea

After Srimangal we had no choice but to head to Dhaka to apply for our new India visas - it was the reason we came to Bangladesh, after all. We were a little apprehensive as we'd been told several times that Dhaka was noisy, polluted and traffic-jammed. Well that it is, but the craziness grows on you and Old Dhaka is a labyrinth of interesting market streets that offer a complete assault on all your senses, a real must-do experience.

The crazy streets of old Dhaka

At a perfumery in Old Dhaka

Typical Bangladesh/Indian wiring... an art not a science.

After a week waiting for the India embassy to issue our Indian visas so that we can continue our bike journey there - they turned our visa application down! Bastards! They rudely said we must go and get new visas in South Africa - and then chased us out of the embassy and wouldn't allow us to enquire why our visa was rejected.

So that curveball means we're on a flight tomorrow to Nepal to try and get an Indian visa there - apparently that Indian embassy is more helpful. And then we'll be back on our way to Darjeeling to fetch our bike and our luggage and to carry on our Indian travels... unless of course we are seduced by some Nepalese adventures...