On Saturday we went on a boat cruise outside of Dhaka. It was so nice to get out of the bustling city and enjoy a relaxing day on the water. The weather was beautiful, the air was clean, and there were no honking cars or loud noises.
A river boat tour was a perfect way to get to know Bangladesh. The country essentially is the river delta of the Padma (Ganges in India), Meghna, and Brahmaputra Rivers that drain the Himalayas, the second largest river delta in the world behind the Amazon. The river we were on connected to the Meghna and eventually to the Bay of Bengal. As you can see, rivers and boats are at the core of Bangladeshi culture.
It was incredible to see the abrupt change as soon as we left Dhaka. At one moment all you could see was concrete buildings, and in the blink of an eye it was wide open areas. Some of the areas were beautiful and green, while others were areas filled with massive amounts of garbage. We saw a lot of women sorting through the trash, and we passed by a recycling plant where the women were taking out all of the plastic garbage.
Below is a picture of the typical boats we saw along our trip. Notice how they appear to be mostly underwater.
When we arrived and got out of the van, crowds of people lined up to get a glimpse of the Americans.
More locals trying to get a good stare in
Our boat!
A typical Bangladeshi boat. Our guide told us that these are the types of boats they have in Chittagong.
In the first village where we docked, Murapra, they had a jute factory. Jute is very popular here as it is used in many things including handbags, rugs, etc. I was surprised to see that it very closely resembles my hair :)
Below is the Hindu Zamindars Palace that has been converted into a government college.
A close up of the palace
There are ponds in the front of the palace and in the back. The pond in the front of the palace was where the men bathed (which doubled as a toilet!), and the pond in the rear was where the women bathed. Below is a boat in the men's toilet.
Squash!
Big squash!
These kids were running around the area playing when I asked if I could take their 'chobi'. They all stopped and smiled for the camera. The guide told us later that they didn't believe I had taken a photo because there was no flash. When I went up to them to show them the photo they all laughed and smiled.
Check out the English words in the middle - we think they were going for 'sheet'.
Planting rice along the riverbank (at least we think it was rice).
A boy asked for his picture to be taken and proceeded to pose :)
The river tour lasted all day, and I have many more pictures to share. After leaving this village, we cruised for awhile longer before docking at a sari weaving village. Stay tuned for some more Bangladeshi culture!
10 comments:
This boy at the bottom who asked for his picture to be taken...are his fingernails painted? At least I hope thats what that is!
Kris
It's actually henna. A lot of adults and children (male and female) put henna on their nails as decoration, along with their hands and other parts of their skin. I haven't figured out the reason yet - I assumed it was religious, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Incredibly interesting! aida
Also, henna is used very frequently as a hair dye to mask the grays. Don't want to call attention to your gray beard? Don't use black dye...fluorescent orange henna is much more subtle!
I love the bird on the front of your boat. A peacock, right? It is beautiful! Thanks for the great pictures once again! Love, Mom
This has been one of my favorite posts. Were the other people on the tour boat with you guys? Tourists? Also, I think it's funny you didn't mention anything about the cow in the foreground of the photo of the government college. It seems you have become pretty used to seeing stuff like random livestock in front of large government buildings.
The tour was actually arranged by someone at the US Embassy, so everyone on the tour was American. The US Ambassador also came with us - but that's another fun story for another blog post.
The cows don't really compare to everything we've seen around here - that was the last thing I was thinking about! Dhaka will definitely change you :)
Wow, this whole series of posts is really fascinating!! This eboats really do look like they are going to tilt and fill with water, then sink. Also, the jute does look like your hair!!! Is it some sort of plant fiber? Soo interesting! Miss you!
Aaron - that cow pic is the only time in our 3 months where 40 people were not in view. It was eerie.
Marissa - Jute is a plant fiber, like cotton, and used in all sorts of materials. Primarily, they weave it to make chair, bags, and rugs. It kinda reminds of hemp but is much more widely used. It's basically from Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, and is one of the main industries here. Our Embassy newsletter is actually called "The Jute"!
J.B We are all learning a great deal Pictures are beautiful I was suprise to see only a cow at the college also. Have you met anyone from the college and can you visit ? Each time I read your blog I look forward to you next adventure Again thanks for sharing Stay well
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