Floating Market and Way Back to Dhaka

As our time in Bangladesh was coming to an end, it would be ever so fitting to spend most of our last day on the water, as this country does have over 700 rivers .

We got up early and made our way a couple hours to a floating market in which local farmers jump in their boats and sell whatever fruits and vegetables they have.  This was an experience as I have been to other floating markets, but most of these are very touristy with people trying to sell you all of their items.  Besides the fruits and vegetables, we spent the morning at the boat making market in which we saw excellent craftsmanship and most of the boats cost as little as 20 USD!!!! 

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We spend the rest of the morning going up and down the canals and tributaries to check out the way people live as well as some of the pottery and shelves they make to be sold around the country.  It seems that every family has a part in selling an item and they work hard every day in the sweltering heat and humidity to do this.

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At last we jumped on our six hour ferry back to Dhaka, not before we were able to snap off a few last pics of the beautiful landscape as well as a better than average sunset…….

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 On the road and water to Barisal

Leaving the Sundarbans area we headed in NE direction to Barisal, and of course there was a lot of color on the road with people living there everyday lives in small villages that we drove by and also walked around….

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We had the chance to stop by one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites which is aptly named Mosque City of Begharat and was a mosque(s) from 500 years ago in a small village that was nicely preserved. There are different smaller mosques in the surrounding areas that are built into neighborhoods and has been given the name by Forbes as one of the “Lost Cities.”  The architecture was from the Mughal Empire who ruled over this region and India and shows a Bengal variant of  Indo-Islamic architecture.

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While waiting for the passenger river boat, I noticed a baby kept staring at me through some bars, so I took it upon myself to take some pictures of the little guy with his mom and some other onlookers that came out quite nice as I finally got him to crack a smile.  If you notice the mark on his forehead, it is an old superstition that says this mark will protect them from bad things in life….

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The highlight of the day came with a cruise on a local passenger ship on the river Morolgonj.  We boarded at a small station with many locals and talked with many people (or tried to have conversations).  As we boarded the ship we were on the top deck away from the massive crowds as we saw how people lived on the river banks as well as the fishing they did in their daily lives.  We met a Bangladeshi family that lives in the US that had two kids who attend school there and talked with them for the ride as we took pictures of the land and the water

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The sunset was a lovely one from the boat deck as it had rained for a couple hours very hard (as this is monsoon season).  As we got close to docking, the rain and the dark clouds disappeared as the sun slowly setting off in the distance gave us a great glimpse of a beautiful sunset

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The Largest Mangrove Forest in the World

The Sundarbans is one of the natural wonders of the world as it is the largest Mangrove Forest in the world that spreads across Bangladesh and West Bengal in India.  About 2/3 of it is in Bangladesh while the remaining 1/3 is in India and it draws people from around the world to see its vast magnificent beauty.

With our luck, it rained for half the day as we were on an open boat with rain hitting our face, however it did not stop us from looking around and noticing the villages on the bank still working as if a little bit of water will stop them.

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The forest is lush with vegetation and wildlife.  Even during the dry season it is still green and animals and birds are seen far and wide.  Some animals we saw were crabs, frogs, hawks, mud skippers, snakes, spotted deer, Gangetic Dolphin, and Crocodiles.

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Of course you can never leave out the Rhesus Macaque monkeys.  These monkeys are seen all over Asia and are some of the most photographic.  However it is not smart to get to close to them as they will bite….

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Leaving the Sundarbans, we stopped by a small village right across the river (as people are not allowed to live in this protected area).  The village relies mostly on fishing as they cannot grow to many crops because of the salt water.  The people are quite friendly, however after the rainstorm we found it difficult to walk around as easy as the locals in the mud……

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Getting back to Khulna at night, has some great photo opportunities of street life after dark.  Markets are still going on and people running around from place to place in Tuk Tuks and Rickshaws…….

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Banana Markets, Off the highway villages, and goats on top of buses

The Road to Khulna was filled with different types of people from banana farmers to people waiting on the road for their rides, and even over-packed carts full of people waiting to be dropped off to their villages.

This seems to be banana season as most of the bananas are being picked then sent off to various places around the country.  The side of the road proved to be the hot spot where people were bringing the fruits (no pun intended) of their labor ready to sell.  Everyone seemed pretty happy and willing to give us free bananas every chance they got as you can see below:

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Taking a stop to a village that was literally off the highway proved to be a major highlight of the day.  We walked up and down the village road accumulating people wherever we went.  We had a chance to talk to a local boy named Imran who took us around the village as they had the most amazing and welcoming people and were definitely not shy…..

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As we stopped to get some samosas for lunch, we ran across a passenger bus with goats on the roof.  It seemed this was their drop off point, so they goats were handed from the roof of the bus to people below, as this was such an amazing site to see, especially with the loud bleats of the goats….

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The rest of the day was a long drive day with a few stops for food and just watching people on the road go about their everyday normal life…….

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A country that will surprise even the most skeptical traveler

For Bangladesh in Winter of 2019-2020 click Here

For Bangladesh Eid Summer of 2022 Click Here

Bangladesh is a country is South Asia sandwiched in by India, Nepal, and Myanmar with an outlet to the Bay of Bengal and the mouth of the Ganges River.  As one of the most densely populated places on the planet with a Muslim majority and Hindu minority, I did not know what to expect traveling here but what soon surprised…(YOU WILL FIND LINKS TO THE PEOPLE AND AREAS VISITED AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE)

A great company to get in touch with to help organize your travels and places to go is Dhaka Holidays.  Even though as mentioned below, Bangladesh is not a big tourist destination (YET), they know what most people like to see and are most accommodating.  To add to that, our guide and driver who are both Bangladeshi are very caring about their customers and quickly understand what you like to see or photograph and can change any itinerary based on your likes.  Mr. Azim (our guide) is very knowledgeable of the history and culture of Bangladesh and has made our stay here most comfortable.  Mr. Shohag our driver is not deterred by the crazy driving conditions here and can weave in and out of traffic with no problem.  When you come to Bangladesh, it is imperative that you request these two gentlemen. 

This is not a major tourist destination by any means at all as we saw almost no tourists the whole time we were here.  The people are more friendly than any other country I have traveled to as they invite you into their homes or want to strike up a conversation with the little English they have!!!  With 700 rivers flowing through the country, they have enough fertile land to support generations to come…..

Getting off at the hectic Dhaka airport, I was beginning an adventure to a place that reminds me more of west Africa than any other place in the world….

Easy Links

Dhaka- Capital City

The Countryside to Tangail

Road to Rajshani- The Banks of the Ganges

Road to Kushtia

Road to Khulna- Banana Markets and Small Villages

Sundarbans- Largest Mangrove Forest in the World

On the Road and Water to Barisal- Village Walking and River Barging

Floating Markets

Tangail- The Jungle Countryside

Leaving Dhaka, we headed through some back roads on the outskirts of Dhaka through the highway to some back roads in the country.  We stopped at a beautiful pottery village (which was by no means tourist oriented) as no one tried to sell us anything at all.  Instead we were followed around by a group of kids and with gazing looks from villagers trying to figure out why we had arrived there.  Getting to the village required a bit of walking plus a small river boat with a boat man taking us across the swirling river. 

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We then went to a brass making making store that has been using the same techniques for thousands of years with molding wax into a figure, then placing clay around it, then pouring the hot metal in it and finally breaking it to get the wanted desired figure. 

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Next was a highlight as we spent hours driving through a little traveled road in the countryside to see how the people lived and worked.  As we went along we got stares and inquisitive looks the whole way as it is a fair assumption that most people had never seen a foreigner up close before. 

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As we finally got to our accommodation which is an old villa style hotel in the middle of a small village in a jungle.  We got to walk around to check out how the local people lived and how they spend months on old machines weaving different garments with no electricity….

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On the Road to Rajshani

Leaving the jungle like countryside, we headed back to the crowded highway with the chorus of big beeping trucks jamming the highway with their shipments of produce from the fertile north to the rest of Bangladesh.  We stopped at a small weaving village along the way where electric machines run by humans are replacing the old way of doing things slowly by hand.  We were met again with a group of kids following us trying to figure out who we were and why we were there.  We continued our journey over the Brahmaputra River.

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We stopped at a small village of Puthia which has remnants of an old terracotta Hindu temple that is slowly being restored from being destroyed by Pakistan with the war for indepdence in the 70’s.  We then ended our day getting to Rajshani which sits right on the banks of the Ganges.

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Dhaka

Dhaka is a massive city of about 18-20 million people.  As any big city the traffic is always a problem, however the many rickshaws (about 2 million of them) help alleviate the traffic just a little.  Dhaka is divided into two parts, the old city and the new city.  The new city lined with modern hotels with all the American fast food chains is where most of the business people and diplomats live or stay. 

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The old city which is the colorful part of Dhaka is the place we spent most of our time.  We walked up and down the streets photographing the people and the vibrant colors all around us.  Going to the river port was amazing as many people were lined up ready to take boats to their villages for the weekends. 

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A walk through the rickshaw street to see the massive amount of rickshaws was amazing as they seem to be endless….as well was the oldest street in Dhaka with its maze of alleys…

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 A walk through the local market with instead of people yelling at you “NO PHOTOS”, we were hounded by people “TAKE MY PHOTO”, was defiantly the highlight of the day.

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Dahka by Night

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The Countryside road to Kushtia

As we start off our morning on the deserted banks of the Ganges, we moved to a SW direction of the country to the city of Kushtia. 

With more fertile farmland that anyone can imagine in one country, most of the people in this area seem to farm Mangos as a profession and the towns have small markets set up everywhere.  The photos of the people in each of the small villages was amazing and so was the landscape.  People are still very friendly and give a stare when you wave at them.

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We had a chance to stop by the tomb of Lalon Shah who is one of the most famous philosophers and folk singers in Bangladesh.  We had a chance to hear some of his music at an academy that is still run by some people who follow him as it was amazing to hear the music and see how much people really adore him almost 130 years later.

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