Bangladesh: A Country That Surprised Us Beyond Words

OK, we are super late to update our trip here, but internet connection is not on our side… So, as promised, our short experience in Bangladesh.

As we already mentioned, Bangladesh was not on our travel list initially. We planned just to use Bangladesh to cross the border to India. But we decided that it is sad not to take this opportunity to have a small taste of Bangladesh. So, we did 2 days in Dhaka (4th most densely populated city with 18 million people) and 2 days in Sreemangal (close to the India border).

Dhaka: A World Unlike Any Other

The first thing we can share is that Bangladesh is really different than all the other countries we visited in our life. We thought we saw poverty already in some places of Asia, but we were really wrong. Bangladesh is one step ahead. And it is really not easy to see it all around…

Traveling in Bangladesh as a backpacker is tough. The look of the people is tough as well. Most of the people we crossed in our path had a mix of surprise, shyness, anger and stupefaction expression in their faces. It was rarely joy and warm welcoming. But we tried our best to smile and wave to have it in return and we got it sometimes 😊!

The main way to move in Bangladesh called CNG (Compress Natural Gas)

Second most common way to travel in Bangladesh (called rickshaws)

We walked a lot in the city, seen as we were from another planet. We met also really amazing travelers at the Golpata Guest House. A big THANKS to Joana (owning this Guest House) for the welcoming and advices :-) This woman helps children and orphans for the past 20 years in Bangladesh!

Sreemangal: The Tea Capital

Then, we took a bus to go to Sreemangal (known as the Tea Capital of Bangladesh). We found a really nice place to stay (Sreemangal Green Leaf Guest House) and we even took a day trip with them to see pineapple, tea and lemon plantations, and also to do a nice trek at the National Park.

Start of our trek with Tapas Dash in the Lawachara National Park

Augustina in the Lawachara Forest, Srimangal

Lot of monkeys throwing some fruits to us ... ;-)

This beautiful (and big) spider eating his lunch ... Lawachara National Park

Did you see this place? It's in the famous movie "Around the world in 80 days". It's more 365 days for us ;-)

Plantations and the Countryside

Big THANKS to Tapas Dash (owner of both the guest house and travel agency) who took care of us all the time. Thanks to him we discovered some amazing countryside of Bangladesh!

Pineapples in Sreemangal grows all the year

One mud house we saw in a traditional tripura village (not in India!).

Heading to the Border

But you know what? Bangladesh will be among the best experiences of our journey too. We didn't see so much in just 4 days to be honest, but what we can tell is that we saw beautiful landscapes, colorful places, a fascinating culture and history of a country that exists since less than 50 years and full of hopes everywhere. Tourism business is promising. We will be back one day for sure :-)

William and a few militaries. They don't have the right to have a Facebook or e-mail account, shame!

So, in the train in Bangladesh, you can find anything! Meals, books, newspapers and a lot of different stuff.

Close to the border, people is using the road for drying crops

April 24–27, 2018