I swear I work but...
Trip Start
Oct 13, 2005
1
14
39
Trip End
Jul 28, 2006
Dhaka,
Bangladesh
Saturday, January 21, 2006
So I took advantage of the many days off, gathered some people up and we traveled to Southern B'desh. We went to Bandarban (which is in the Chittagong Hilltracks) and Cox's Bazar. To go to Bandarban foreigners need permission and there are "foreigner checkpoints." If you don't get permission, you go directly to jail... okay maybe not but you do get sent back. Luckily Reba and I got permission in the nick of time. But why did we need permission? Because the area is disputed land between the government and the tribal people. Last year some foreigners were kidnapped!
Anyways to start off this wonderful trip- I got sick! A couple of hours before our 8 hour bus ride, I started feeling sick. We got to the bus station and I felt worse. While my friends waited for the bus to arrive, I was vomiting in the DIRTIEST squattie pottie ever! I almost didn't go, but then decided that even if I stayed at home, I was still gonna be sick so off we went. NOTE: to anyone in Dhaka- DO NOT eat at Chilies restaurant.
The 2 days we spent in Bandarban were like being in heaven! It was amazing, breath-taking, wonderful, beatiful, refreshing, relaxing, and even a bit cold. I saw my first Buddhist temple! It was situated at the top of a mountain. It was golden and majestic! Then we did the usual touristy things like drive up a really big moutain that overlooked Burma, saw a small waterfall and a lake, saw a million baby pigs and met with a King and his relatives of the Marma Tribe! We also went on a boat ride but almost didn't get in the boat because we were threathened! Basically the story goes like this: we went down to the river and the 2 boat drivers wanted way too much money for an hour boat ride. So we kept walking down the beach and found another guy who would take us for less. But then one of the guys who wanted more from us came up to us and threatened us and the other boat man. "If you don't ride with me, you don't ride with anyone!" That is what he said- but in Bangla of course. What a jerk! Maybe if you didn't try to scam us in the first place we would have gone with you! Seriously I was so mad! After much arguing and heated moments, we were able to go on a boat ride- but we had to do it secretly and hide!
The next 2 days were spent walking up and down the beach. Cox's Bazar is said to be the world's longest beach (120km!)! Not only was it long but wide! And the sand was soft and golden. The sunset was extremely impressive- I took loads of pictures! The only downfalls were: millions of people and lots of garbage. Relaxing at the beach is totally different here. Everyone just stands around or walks. No one sits on the beach and suntans. It was odd and funny. There were some lawn chairs you could rent, but mostly standing was the "cool" thing. Not many people swam either. And if they did they were fully clothed! We also did some shopping, I bought some seashells and pearls, and of course I had to buy something touristy! I couldn't resist the Cox's Bazar plastic visor hat for kids! It was calling out to me! And it was only 30 cents! Probably the the wisest investment yet!
So that was my 5 day weekend. Now its back to work, back to making lesson plans for my English class and going to different meetings here and there. I must apologize for the absense of pictures. But unfortunately my laptop is sick with a virus. My friend who is the IT person at the MCC office is trying to fix it. I hope she can! I would rather not have my pictures erased forever! AHHHHHH!!! So you will have to just imagine what my trip was like! Have fun!
