Srimongol's beauty contrasts starkly from the ugliness of Dhaka. It's a wonderfully serene, peaceful, and likeable place.
Here is the complete set of photos, I couldn't upload them all onto blogger:
I went with two of my fellow interns, Andrea and Rosanna. We took a super luxury bus (think first class on an airplane) from Dhaka. I didn't think Bangladesh had such nice buses, since usually the buses look like they should be in the junkyard. Because of the cost (a little less than $10 USD), there were no rif raff on the bus, so the ride was nice and peaceful and comfortable.
However, the bus did NOT go direct to Srimongol, so we had to get off on a random stop in the middle of nowhere to catch a local bus to Srimongol. Yes, one of those junkyard buses that only the locals take. I always thought those buses were like death traps. but the ride wasn't as unpleasant as I expected. It was actually pretty OK. Except for the fact that it smelled like the kid next to me had peed on the seat. And the rif raff that couldn't afford our super luxury bus, yes, they were on this local bus.
This guy sitting next to me got into a heated verbal fight with the fare collector because he charged my friends 40 taka (1 USD= 70 taka) versus the actual fare of 25 taka. He wanted to make sure that because we are "guests" in his country, that we wouldn't be cheated along the way. Nice guy, but had to decline the invite to his home for lunch. While in the US that would be a way shady move, in Bangladesh, people will invite you to their homes to eat the first day they meet you. Super welcoming people.
So, once we arrived in Srimongol, we went to visit some tea estates and had some famous five layer tea. It was quite tasty actually, one layer was white tea, one was red tea, one was black tea, and two were condensed milk. I am not quite sure how I feel about condensed milk, I definitely prefer the real stuff, straight from the momma cow. That night, we were invited to our tour guide, Rashed's house to celebrate his niece's one year birthday. It was quite an ordeal, the star of the night arrived in a frilly dress and a gold crown. Everyone took turns taking photos with her. The family had bought a cake, which was quickly melting from the heat and the candles, and put up a happy birthday sign. We all sang happy birthday to her in English. It was quite cute, and sweet, actually that we were a part of their celebration. It was a bit chaotic, but after that party was over, we had a little party of our own.
Rashed had to go to great lengths to ensure that no one in his family walked in on us, and him, imbibing some illegal substances. He had to triple lock his door, shut his windows, and blast the music. Quite hilarious actually, just give the man some booze, poor boy!!! He secured us some Bangladeshi made white whiskey (I didn't know alcohol was produced in a country where its a crime to carry around alcohol), which was supposedly 75 proof, but tasted like 20 proof. Nontheless, we had our little secret party in his room in his family's house. What a day!
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