Hotel Media International Cox's Bazar

On the way from Chittagong to Dhaka, on the outskirts of Chittagong are a few miles of beach where they break up ships. There are lots of roadside stalls where you can buy old ships parts and components.It is hazardous work mainly done manually under disregard of basic safety for the people working there and for the environment. Sewage, oil, acid are all spilling into the ocean, onto the beach and the roadside.

May 14, 2009 Day trip from Dhaka to Chittagong: You need to get up early (Left at 5:00 am) and a focussed driver. It took about 6 hours to get there and 6 hours to get back - long day. Once you are out of the cities it is not too bad... Road fairly good, too. Once you get to the port area be prepared for some "in your face" poverty: Naked children, yes barefoot, going through garbage heaps, lots of dirt, not pretty!

In the end we decided to stay in Dhaka for Christmas, due to the uncertainty of the next leg of our trip and the fact that we'd been offered Christmas lunch on the day. Having been to church here a couple of times we'd met some nice families who decided to adopt us over the Christmas period and bless our time in Dhaka, cheering us up from our failed Burmese border crossing. It was actually at one of these chance dinner encounters that we were given the ...

After a trip back to Dhaka to tie up some loose ends, we decided to try and grab some beach time Bangla-style and took the long trip south to Cox's Bazaar, close to the Bangla-Burmese border.  The arduous journey down to Cox's via Chittagong, was offset by the multitude of photogenic scenes that confronted me out of the bus window. Fresh from witnessing a street festival during the 20 minute layover in Chittagong, we were treated to some ...

As we has seen all the sites in Chitters, we decided to take Andrew for a quick visit to Cox's Bazaar. It was meant to have a beach, but according to the LP, Lucy would be unable to wear her bikini, so it seemed like the place to be. What started out as a little trip for the three of us, moved to eight. Pete, Mel, Bernie, Paul and Tim, all Aussies, decided that they needed to get away as well. The bus took off, and we were down the back, and within the first ...

Eight of us ended up getting the early morning bus down to Cox's Bazaar, supposedly the longest beach in the world and THE most popular beach resort in Bangladesh. That's what people kept telling us anyway. The bus driver was a hoon and had us bouncing around the back of the bus as he speedily swung and swerved his way to the coast. It was such a rocky ride that we had a couple of chuckers behind us that made good use of the spew bags! Yuk! The rickshaw ...

Never a dull moment in Bangladesh! I arrived back in Cox's Bazar the previous evening, and after dinner I met Abu and a friend of his for some tea. He invited me to another friend's place for lunch which seemed like a good plan as the bus to Dhaka wasn't until 8pm meaning I had the entire day to kill. After a reasonably quiet morning spent either on the beach or in an internet cafe I met Abu who took me to his Awami Students league office ...

I left Dhaka on a huge air conditioned bus at around 10am, bound for Cox's Bazar. After a number of long uncomfortable bus rides in Burma I couldn't see the point in subjecting myself to more pain when there was a first class option! The drive down the coast was quite pleasant through some beautiful green countryside, and the bus steward seemed very excited to have a foreigner on board. We arrived in Cox's Bazar around 8pm, although no-one seemed to have any ...

... only man we've ever met with a work ethic more lax than Mr R's  - Mr Moeiz - and back in our seats at the M A Aziz stadium to see the England U19s' first game against Nepal.  From the bottom of the rucksack, we've dusted off the best-looking flag on the Indian sub-continent, which has been witness to two England wins and one close loss.  Being the only St George's cross in the stadium, it's prompted complimentary VIP tickets from the team manager and a private round of applause ...

... as providing us with accomodation and the cleaning services of his maid, he's ferried us from home to cricket to local places of interest in his brand spanking new car.  He organised seats for us in the elite Chittagong Club enclosure at the M. A. Aziz Stadium.  And has generally, provided more hospitality than Soft Mick.   All that's been asked in return is the occasional cuisine a la Mr & Mrs R.  We've cooked ...