Or ... how to get to Dhaka - the long way...
After
our little altercation in the Laundromat, we were relieved to get out
of Medan. Our final destination was Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, but
we’d booked tickets to Kolkata because it was cheaper and had planned to
go overland. Our flight actually stopped in Kolkata first, then flew to
Dhaka - so if we’d stayed on the plane we could have gone directly
there. D’oh!
We were a bit worried because we were
totally unprepared for our arrival – we had no information or money and
didn’t know the best way to go – stay overnight in Kolkata or go
directly there? We both usually do our research beforehand, but in this
case we’d both been slack/too busy in the lead-up and hadn’t even got
any maps or guidebooks to help us. So when we arrived to no money
facilities at the airport and a dodgy-looking taxi driver who wanted to
put us in his van and drive us to the border, we were pretty reluctant
to do so, especially as it seemed very expensive (and we hate getting
ripped off!), we’d arrived later than expected, his van looked like a
piece of crap and we didn’t know if we could get a bus over the border
that night. But in the end, we decided to trust the driver to not kidnap
us and get us to the border.
It was strange to arrive
at night because we didn’t really get a good idea of what Kolkata was
like, except for the lit-up billboards and traffic around us.
Interestingly, but to our detriment, there was a Hindu festival
happening to honour Shiva, and involved pilgrims walking on foot for
50km to Shiva’s temple. They were walking along the road carrying metal
containers of water on the end of poles. Not the easiest thing to carry
for 50 bloody kilometres! But it gave the journey a nice carnival
atmosphere. Unfortunately it also made it verrrryyyy slow, and by the
time we got to the border it was too late, the border was closed, and
all the bus companies had shut up shop for the night. So we had to stay
in (what we thought was) an overpriced hotel nearby and cross the border
the next morning. All in all, we started off our journey feeling like
everyone was trying to rip us off!
We crossed the
border the next morning and jumped on the first bus to Dhaka. We shared
our journey with a lovely man called Hossein, who befriended us and
helped us out with directions to our friends’ place in Dhaka. He was so
helpful and friendly, and even invited us for a meal at his family home –
a common thing for Bangladeshis to do, as we soon learned – which we
accepted. He even accompanied us to our friends’ house, and then made
his way home from there, which we later found out was quite far, so we
were very appreciative of his help. The bus journey was massive, taking
the whole day, especially because the traffic was so shite when we
reached Dhaka city – we sat in it for over an hour, as well as in the
line-up for the ferry which we used to get across a huge river before
reaching the city; it was amazing to get out and stand on the top of the
ferry and look out over the water; the biggest river I’ve ever seen. It
was like a huge muddy ocean!
The scenery of rural
Dhaka was beautiful. LOTS of water: rivers, creeks, ponds, and very
green. Fishermen in canoes, working with nets. Brick kilns with huge
chimneys scattered around the countryside like archaeological digs.
People slowly riding along the road on bicycles, hitching a ride on a
rickshaw, or waiting on the roadside for the next bus. Small towns with
busy local markets. Rice padis, cows (no water buffaloes) and goats.
Crops of cassava and jute. Interestingly, jute is prepared by soaking it
in huge ponds; after stripping the stalks from their sheaths, it is
arranged in tee pee-style bundles to dry before being processed into
products like rope and furniture. It was a great introduction to the
country, and in the end we were glad we’d taken the overland route.
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