A flavour of the Orient
Rai & Stephie in Asia

They are literally fishing in the mud !

"Come to Bangladesh before the tourists come" is the new advertising slogan from the Bangladesh Tourist Authority. We  managed to get a tiny 15 day visa and spotted only one goofy looking French tourist. Good stuff !

So if your idea of a nice adventure is to see no foreigners in a country cleaner than its neighbour India; to relax on atmospheric trains as you zoom past lush rice paddies; to travel by slow ferry along the delta and mangroves, to eat lots of cheap rice-dhal and drink a "7 layered"  tea; to rent bikes and visit picturesque hilly tea estates in Srimongol and have excited school kids chasing you; to go on jungle treks with big mean spiders, hungry blood sucking lychees and see the screaming Hoolock gibbons (endangered ape); to see the remote Burmese hill tribes around Chittagong province even under some heavy handed Bangladeshi  military presence (shame), to surf the tiny brown waves in the Bay of Bengal at Cox Bazaar and to be in a traffic jam of multi coloured cycle rickshaws in smogy Dhaka then BANGLADESH might be the next destination you are looking for !

 English is not widely spoken here so it's back to basics. Locals are super friendly if you don't mind the persistent questioning: which country, your name, do you have a problem, your occupation, your husband?  Stay still for less than a minute and you will have 40 or so locals surrounding you! Also enjoy some of the funny bangla habits like getting the knock knock after midnight to have your hotel room sprayed with insecticide! 

And you might be lucky enough to spot the bengali tiger in the Sundarban national park...one of the 8 new natural wonders of the world.....! With a tiny visa we had no time for tigers but we will back I am sure! Bangladesh is really a gem of a country. Maybe I should go and work for the Bangladesh tourism office?!!!

http://www.stephieandraigoasia.blogspot.com

Photo 1: Yellow cabs of Kolkata.
Photo 2: Tourist can stay at this MODERN Hotel, New Market, Kolkata.
Photo 3: Fish or beard trim?
Photo 4: Maybe I should become a vegetarian?
Photo 5: Siesta time!