Understanding Bangladesh

'Weather is not favorable'

We left Dhaka this morning at 8:30 with an estimated travel time to Chittagong of 8 hours. With a “weather is not favorable” warning we expected a much longer journey.

We were soon out of Dhaka, despite heavy rain, and crossing the Sitalakha River near Demra.

There was a lot of flooding as we drove along. We saw small villages surrounded by water with a narrow bamboo bridge for walking leading up to the embankment we were driving on. Many men and boys were fishing with nets in the water.

Our first stop was the Miami Leisure Spot advertising Uro Cola and sweets, turned out to be a nice shop for additional souvenirs. Some globes were distributed to the local children.

Luke and George topped up their mango bar supply, and we were once again on our way. Lunch was at a Chines (sic) Restaurant, fresh pineapple juice, chicken, beef, rice, vegetables, soup, wontons and excellent coffee. We are not going hungry in Bangladesh.

Closer to Chittagong the hills begin to rise in the distance. We glimpsed the holiest Hindu temple in the hills by Sitakunda. It’s the historic Hindu Chandranath Temple an hour's uphill climb from the road.

We entered the Chittagong coastal plane with hills to our left and the Bay of Bengal on our right. There are many industries in Chittagong because of its access to the bay. One of the major industries is shipwreck salvage.


We begin to see more thatched roofs on houses and walls and fences made from woven coconut palm fronds. Sarah remarked on the advertising on buildings, the same ads repeated over and over like Andy Warhol Campbell Soup cans.

We arrived at the Agrabad Hotel around 4:30. It was a very speedy trip without too much traffic. We were greeted by doormen with small feather dusters on their hats. All were happy to see their rooms and have time to “get fresh” before dinner.

--Maureen Smith   |    Login or Join to Post Comments