I went on vacation down the Chittagong area for Christmas. A group of 8 of us went down south to find warmer weather for a break. 6 of us were Ex-pats and we also had 2 Bengali friends with us. The Bengali friends were the ones that invited us to begin with. The adventure started off with a night bus to the Bonderbans. That’s the home town area of Joyce one of our MCC co-workers and a Bengali friend. It also happens to be a place that all foreigners have to sign in and out of due to some gorilla fighting awhile back but that’s not really an issue anymore (or at least that’s what I was told). We left at 10pm from Dhaka and got there at 7am. The bus ride was actually pretty good other than the fact that they insisted on running the air conditioning all night long. I guess the concept here is that you have to get everything that you pay for, and we paid for air conditioning on the bus so we get it regardless of whether we needed it or not. Upon our arrival we got a dormitory room to use as housing. (We did vacation the cheap way by staying in dormitory or guest housing rather than staying in hotels.) Many people in our group took naps while 3 of us headed out to take a hike. We hiked about 45 minutes up to a local lookout spot on top of a hug hill. Walking up the hill was a daunting task but it was really good exercise. We saw some pretty good views from up there. Pictures will be posted later to verify. Then we went back and had lunch. Most of us ordered Indian, Chinese, or Thai food for lunch. Then we literally went on a crazy hike through the jungle. We had a guide take us down to the river for a boat tour and he took us on a path that at times had us walking through creek beds with slippery and very steep slopes. It also wound up and down hills all the time. It was quite the Indiana Jones-esk adventure. After that we went on a boat ride up the river. It was neat to see how the traditional people lived off the surrounding land along the banks of the river. We stopped for a swim. Nate saw a water snake. We didn’t tell the girls until after they got out. We then stopped by a local village and talked to them. They are a people worth talking about but not for the purposes of this blog. Afterwards we headed to town to have supper at Joyce’s mom’s house. It was a bustling household with a warm embrace that seems so befitting of what I would have anticipated Joyce’s family being like. We had a wonderful traditional Bengali meal and spent some time helping them make deserts for their Church’s Christmas meal the next day. It was also hear that I had my first and so far only pork since arriving in Bangladesh.
The next day we got up and headed back to town for the local Catholic Mass. Sarah one of the MCC workers is Catholic and we made this trip for here but I think we all enjoyed it. I had never been to a Catholic Mass before and it was definitely interesting that my first one was in Bangla. They decorated quite vibrantly. After mass we headed to Cox’s Bazar. It is the location of the world’s longest unbroken all-natural sand beach. We got there at around 2? We went to the beach for a late lunch at a restaurant that ended up turning into an early supper. We didn’t end up getting our food until 5, so we just ate a ton of it and called it a day. A couple of us ran and jumped into the Indian Ocean while our food was getting prepared. It is so warm at this time of the year! It was awesome and really salty. After supper we went on a nice walk down the beach in the dark before heading to our guest house to stay for the night.
The next day we hopped on a bus and headed down to a port so that we could board a boat to St. Martin’s Island. Sarah left us the previous night on a bus back to Dhaka, she preferred to spend some quite time rather than doing the full crazy trip. So the remaining 7 of us got on a boat and headed out to the Island. We saw lots of the coast of Myanmar at this time as the boat followed it for a long time before heading across the gap to the Island. At St. Martin’s we got a dormitory style guest house room from some really nice local guys. We then ate some lunch and went for a swim. At around 80 something and sunny with a warm ocean, it was a nice time. That night we had a nice adventure finding a place to eat. Apparently you have to order your food a meal ahead of time on the Island because of the difficulty in getting to the market on short notice. We didn’t know that and so we had to go find a place to eat. We found a place that is open to everyone eventually but had to kill another hour until they were ready at that point. So we walked to the beach and rented some of those wooden bed type things that you always see on the beach. I forget their name right now. We just laid out under the stars and relaxed for awhile. After supper we all headed to bed.
The next morning I got up and went for a walk. Everyone else slept in a bit. I had a nice pleasant walk by myself on the beach, while I picked up shells and enjoyed the view. Eventually a local joined me and we had a nice (some sarcasm there) journey together that involved him trying to figure out why I wouldn’t buy anything from him. He eventually left me and I returned to join the others. We had a nice breakfast and after a little debate everyone eventually decided to go on a small local boat ride to a coral island that was attached to St. Martin’s by a long narrow land bridge. It was a good morning adventure capped by having fresh fish and crabs on the beach. We were constantly surprised by how much vacationers to St. Martin’s left us alone and didn’t bother us. That is rather unusual in many parts of this culture. After a good hike around the island we embarked back to our guest house. Some of us enjoyed another quick swim before we all cleaned up packed up and embarked on our journey home. We got on started from St. Martin’s at 3pm and got back to our house in Dhaka at about 7:30 am the next day. The night bus that we took from Cox’s Bazar was a miserable adventure that I feel doomed to repeat at sometime during my stay here. The bus driver apparently didn’t know the unwritten rule here that implies that you have to use your horn during the day and your brights at night to warn other vehicles you are there. He used his horn all night long. It was also kind of foggy so he did a lot of swerving. Not to mention that the bus itself was pretty bad. It was all just one miserable night. But I survived our harrowing adventure to enjoy another day so all is well.
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