Understanding Bangladesh

July 28: Cruisin' in Rangamati

When looking over my notes for today one word stands out: epic. This is the story of our epic journey into the Rangamati area of the Chittagong Hill Tracks.

The day did not start off too great. Several of us have the sniffles and coughs so we had to stop at the local pharmacy for menthol and cough syrup. However, we got a good laugh out of the situation; when someone mentioned hearing George loudly blowing his nose that morning he quipped “Yes, and when I opened my door there were 2,000 Muslims outside who thought that I had done the call to prayer.” I have quickly learned one must have a sense of humor to survive four weeks in a van with sixteen other (sick and sweaty) people.

Soon we began to notice a steep rise in elevation and a tightening in the curves of the road. We had entered the Hill Tracks. For those who do not know, the Chittagong Hill Tracks span the length of the southeast branch of Bangladesh and are a notoriously dangerous place for tourists, especially after the recent kidnapping of a Danish man. In short, the trouble in this area is mostly due to conflict between the tribal groups and the plains people. Although Rangamati is the safest area of the Hill Tracks, foreigners are still required to stop at several checkpoints and have armed guards while in certain areas.

Once in the city of Rangamati we arrived at the Rangamati-Kaptai Lake. This lake was artificially made in 195 after the damming of the Karnaphuli River. Unlike the Coralville Reservoir, the Karnaphuli River was dammed for generating power. During this process many people were displaced and live scattered about the region.

At the lake we boarded a boat for an afternoon tour of the massive lake. The scenery was astounding. The giant hills were covered in forests of teak, banana, and other tropical plans. Portions of the land were cultivated with various crops (such as ginger, tamarack, and pineapple) often as thum or shifting cultivation. The sky also played an important role in the area’s beauty. A panoramic picture would include giant white cumulus clouds against a royal blue sky that contrasted with low grey clouds that misted rain over mountain tops. A picture does not even come close to portraying how impressive the scenery was.

For lunch we stopped at the charming Peda Ting Tin Restaurant where we were served the local treat- bamboo. It was served in cooked in a vegetable dish with gravy and breaded and fried. It had the texture of a dense mushroom and is a vegetarian’s delight! We were also served chicken that was cooked in large bamboo shoots and fish from the local lake.

The next highlight of the cruise was stopping at a large waterfall. There were disembarked and climbed the slippery rocks to stick our hands in the falls.

We were out about ten minutes when the wind suddenly picked up and we heard frantic calls to come back to the boat- the monsoon rains were coming.

I was surprised at how quickly the sprinkles turned to a heavy downpour. I was not the only one to come back to the boat drenched!

After our cruise we headed back through the beautiful hills towards Chittagong.

Although the roads were not as busy as Dhaka, this ride was still nerve wracking. It probably had to do with taking hairpin turns at thirty miles per hour in the wrong lane with no idea what was around the turn!

But our wonderful driver got us back safe and sound as always.

-- Sarah Dorpinghaus   |    Login or Join to Post Comments