Darjeeling to Dhaka: Bangladeshi Hospitality

Hello from Dhaka Bangladesh!

FEB 6. On February 5, I walked all over the city (Darjeeling)- maybe more than 15 km (9 miles)! Not sure the exact amount, but I was tired at the end of the day. On February 6, I wanted to get up early to see the sunrise over the Himalaya mountains (common tourist attraction). The jeeps (which people share rides in) leave at 4:30 to go to Tiger Hill - the tallest peak in the area. I don't have an alarm clock - only a wrist watch with a very quiet alarm that goes off after 1 minute. So I didn't sleep well - I can't waking up in anticipation! I woke up at 1am, 3am, 3:30am, 3:50am (my alarm was set for 4). Then I fell asleep and woke up at 4:30. I hurried out of the hotel quickly (I had prepared the night before) and wandered around in the dark in a strange city but found several jeeps waiting. After some time, our jeep left and we got to Tiger Hill around 5:20. More and more jeeps came later. At the top there was one jeep playing Eminem (American rap music) very loudly. So we all watched the sunrise over Darjeeling (the city) and the tallest mountains in India (K...) and China (Everest) to a beat! Very beautiful view. Afterwards, the jeeps took us back. I got out of the jeep in the city of Ghoom (8 km south of Darjeeling) and visited some monastaries and other sites and then walked back to Darjeeling.

The next mision for the day - get a permit to visit the Indian state of Sikkim. Sikkim is the land north of the Indian state of West Bengal, east of Bhutan, south of Tibet, and west of Nepal. Most people in India are Hindu, but in Sikkim there are many Buddhists. Also, some of the people there look more Chinese than Indian. India claims this land but China has never recognized India's right to own Sikkim. I'm not sure about a lot of the history, but I do know that in the past the government in Tibet (maybe in the 1800s?) invaded Sikkim to control the government there. So perhaps Tibet has some old claim to it and through that China claims Sikkim? Anyway, China and India have a not so friendly relationship due to land border issues (another dispute is the Tibet border with the Indian state of Kashmir). This is why China and India fought a war in 1962. Because of this, China and India have no border crossings between the two countries and Air China does not fly to India and Air India does not fly to China. To cross by land, one must go through either Pakistan or Nepal. However, I've heard that both countries are trying to repair the relationship and solve the issues. Anyway, because of the political situation of Sikkim, India requires that all foreigners get a permit to travel there. That permit only gives one permission to reach Gangtok (the capital) and the surrounding area. Once there, you need additional permits (and sometimes supervision) if you want to go further - especially near the Tibet/Sikkim border. India has military posts along the border.

So my next step was to get a permit to go to Sikkim. In Darjeeling, it is free to get one - but it takes some work. The office is open from Monday - Friday but the previous Friday was a holiday in India so the office was closed. It did not affect me directly, but there were more foreigners applying on Monday because of the Friday closure. I met some girls from the UK and France who had been waiting since Friday because of the holiday. Anyway, you have to go to one office (2 km north of town at the bottom of the mountain) and get a form. You have to take the completed form to another office - in the center of town on top of the mountain to get it stamped. Then you have to take the stamped form back to the first office (2 km north of town)! Afterwards, I went back to my hotel (1 km south of town on top of the mountain) to get my bags and then to the jeep station (1 km north of town at the bottom of the mountain). So I went up and down the mountain several times! It took about 2 hours to complete everything. Then I took a jeep to Gangtok. In the jeep, all were Indians (who need no permit) except me and a woman from Switzerland. The Indian man (in his 50s) sitting next to me had an MBA and wanted to discuss my teaching in China - the 4P's of marketing, management, inflation, net present value, etc. Upon arrival, I got a hotel room (on top of the mountain -- that's where the budget ones are located!).

FEB 7. I walked around Gangtok in the morning and climbed a big hill to visit Enchey Monastary. Interesting place, but not a good view of the Himalaya.Actually, I could never really see them so well while I was there because it was so cloudy. Around 11, I walked to find a share jeep to go to Rumtek monastary - the most famous one in Sikkim. I walked down the mountain and down the hill down the road to Rumtek and tried to flag down a jeep or taxi headed there but the only ones that would stop were empty and expensive. So I had to walk back up the mountain into town and finally found the share jeep parking lot (after asking several people). It was well hidden - but it is 20 times cheaper than going alone because they stick 20 people in there! Along the way to Rumtek, the driver stopped the jeep two times and got out to chat with local people. Then after 5 minutes or so he would come back to the jeep and we would go again! Not very fast - it took more than 1 hour to go 26 km (16 miles). At the monastary, I met the Indian guy with the MBA and his wife. After seeing the monastary, I went back to Gangtok, climbed the mountain, got my bag, and then got a share jeep for Siliguri. After 4 hours, we reached Siliguri (arriving at 8:30pm). Once there, I was able to find a night bus headed to the Bangladesh border (leaving at 9pm - arriving at 6am). Great - I am short on time so I took it. The bus cost 140 rupees (Y26 or $3.26) - and it was a pretty nice bus for India! (My hotel costs had been 125 in Siliguri, 150 in Gangtok, 100 in Darjeeling -- so this was about the same as a hotel).

FEB 8. We arrived at the Hili border of India/Bangladesh around 6:30am. Almost everyone on the bus got off in the city just before the border - only a few of us were going to the border. Once arriving in the border village, I was informed by the border guard that the border doesn't open until 8am. So we waited for 1.5 hours with the misquitos. Hope they don't have dengue or malaria! At 8, the border guard called me into his "office" - a small dirty room with a table. He looked through my passport several times and then started staring at my Chinese visa from last year. After looking at it for a while, he asked what country are you a citizen of? Oh my - it seems he doesn't know what a passport is! I showed him the front of the passport, which clearly states USA. "Oh" he said. He kept staring and flippling through the passport for a while and then started copying everything he could out of it. I guess they never (or rarely) have anyone cross the border here other than Indians and Bangladeshis. He copied all of my passport information, my Nepal visa information (because I entered India from Nepal), my Indian visa information, my Bangladesh visa information, my home address and telephone number, the itinerary of what I would do in Bangladesh, the hotel and phone number of where I would stay in Bangladesh, and much more! This guy did not work for Bangladesh immigration - only for India. He obviously had never dealt with this situation before and so was nervous and wanted to write everything down! After telling him my favorite color and my great grandma's name and birthday, he finally stamped my passport and let me go! Next up - India customs! Similar routine there. They were dumbfounded. Instead of dealing with me, they put my passport down and worked with the other people first. Then they flipped through my passport and found my visa to Cambodia (last year). They asked me "Are you a citizen of Cambodia?" Oh, no - not again. So I kindly showed them the front of my passport and the first page with my photo that both say citizen of USA. Finally, we took care of everything. Next up - India guards/army. They were slow too but not too bad. Now I had permission to cross into Bangladesh! Next - Bangladesh immigration! Actually, they were pretty quick and reasonable. Afterwards, I went to Bangladesh customs where they wrote down my passport number and visa information and let me go without asking any questions. Aren't they supposed to ask me if I'm carrying valuables, weapons, drugs, etc? I guess I look nice and my backpack is pretty small. Anyway, after almost 2 hours I was free to move about Bangladesh. It was now 10am!

I got a rickshaw ride to the bus station and then a bus to Dinjapur. After a slow ride (the bus slows down every 10 feet to pick up people but doesn't stop completely - they have to jump on!) , we arrived. Then I got another bus to Kantanagar to visit a famous temple. After 30 minutes, they told me to get off the bus. I was in a small village with stands and a dirt path. I followed the path for a while and came to boy holding a stick across the path. "Toll" he said! So I had to pay a toll to walk down the path. Actually, the path led to a shaky wooden bridge which I wasn't sure would hold me! But I guess it is pretty strong - there were tire tracks on the other side! After the bridge, I was walking across a field of sand. It appeared I was in the desert! After 2 or 3 minutes, I climbed a small hill and was back on a dirt path again. Everything is agriculturally focused here. Around me - corn, banana trees, chili peppers, rice, etc.? May different things. After about 15 minutes since I left the bus on the main road, I reached the temple. Wow. It had amazing carvings all over it. What was amazing was that it was located in the middle of nowhere. Literally!

I met lots of people who liked to stare, chat, follow me, etc. I should talk about this a little bit. Sometimes foreigners complain in China that they are stared at. That is nothing compared to Bangladesh. Because Bangladesh is not so famous, is more remote, has no famous sites (like terracotta soldiers, great wall, Hong Kong, etc), is predominantly Muslim, and extremely poor, no tourists come here. In China, it is common to see other foreigners from time to time. Here, I've seen only 3 in the 4 days I 've been here. And those were only in Dhaka - not in the countryside. In comparison to Bangladesh, China is extremely wealthy. I had to search for 1.5 hours to find a net bar. 85% of the population makes less than 80 taka (11Y or $1.38) per day so they have so little. I feel guilty to spend even a small amount on bottled water (20 taka for a 2 liter). So tourists simply do not come here. Foreigners are so rare that everyone stares. It is not a stare like we get in China. As my travel book states - and after being here 4 days I completely agree - you would not get worse stares if you dressed in drag and danced in the street howling at the moon. Some people stare like you are really crazy. If you try to engage them conversation, most will stop and actually talk back and are nice. However, some are just crazy! They follow you around continuing to stare awkwardly! Usually, they engage me in conversation before I reach them. In China, most people do not speak English, so all I get is "Hello!" And those who do speak English are usually nice students who are not rude. Here, most people do not speak English either. However, here I think all who know it try to speak to you! Usually the conversation begins with them yelling "Hello brother" and then they either block your path or follow beside you and then say "What country?" "What is your name?" "Are you student, journalist, or working on a project?" The concept of tourist is totally foreign - there are very few. They just assume either you are studying here, you are a reporter, or you are working for some charitable organization. One guy started the conversation with me like this -- What country? (America, I said). Are you a graduate student working on your thesis project? (this was actually his second question!) For those who don't speak any English (and I know very little Bengali) - usually they just follow behind me. Anytime I turn around there is a crowd. It is sort of like being a celebrity I guess! They are so fascinated by my digital camera. Children (and even some adults) run down streets to meet me and say please take my photo! Those who don't ask for a photo can always be found behind me watching the process! It makes it very difficult for me to get photos with no people in them. I usually have to do tricky things like aim the camera in one direction and then everyone runs and jumps in front of the camera and then I quickly point the camera towards my target (church, mosque, temple, monument, etc) and take it before they can run back! So it requires a lot of patience! Some of the people are annoying, but most are extremely friendly and nice. Very generous - giving me food, etc. A few more facts about Bangladesh - it is 54 times smaller than Australia, but it has 7 times more people! It is the densest (most people per area) country in the world. Bangladesh is the 7th largest country in the world based on population (140 million). In comparison, the US has about 300 million. Based on current statistics, Bangladesh's population is estimated to grow from 140 to 180 million in the next 20 years and Dhaka (the capital city) is expected to be the world's most populated cityin 40 years. Lots of people here!

Afterwards, I rode the bus to the town of Jaipurhat. There is no information at all in my travel book about this town so I asked a man on the bus and he told the driver and they pushed me off the bus and pointed at a hotel there. Signs are not in English - so I could not tell it was a hotel! I went in and the man behind the desk spoke English and I got a room.

FEB 9. The reason I came to Jaipurhat was to visit the ruins of an ancient Buddhist monastary from the 6th/7th century in a nearby village called Paharpur. I waited for 30 minutes for a bus and finally it came. The bus went for about 5 minutes and then thd driver and everyone got off. The driver went into a restaurant and ordered food! I had not paid yet, so I took my bag and started walking. The driver said -- time, time, maybe 30 minutes! So I told him - I will walk and you pick me up later when you decide to leave! I walked and walked. I passed a World Vision school/work center as well as a number of other charitable organizations and a church. After an hour (maybe I had walked for 6 km (3.5 miles?), the bus finally caught up with me! So I got back on. I had hoped to go see the ruins and then get out of there and on a bus by 9am and so this slow bus really frustrated me. But that is life in Bangladesh - you have to learn to deal with the things you can't change. I got to the ruins and they were amazingly still intact to be so old. There was absolutely no transportation back to Jaipurhat! So I started walking back. After 10 minutes, a man riding a 3 wheeler (here 3 wheelers are bicycles!) with a cart behind him came by. So I rode on the back of his cart for a while (he offered to do it for free!) until he turned off to go to his village. So I started to walk again! The "road" we are going down is dirt and rock and very bumpy. Along the road were fields of banans/rice/other with water buffalo being used to plow. All farming. Soon a truck came by. Trucks do not stop to pick up people here but since I am a foreigner they stopped and let me climb into the cab. That was nice too. See, I told you Bangladesh people are very nice/friendly! :) By the time I reached Jaipurhat it was after 11am! I had hoped to be back before 9.

I got a bus and was on my way to Mahasthangarh - the remains of the oldest city in Bangladesh - from the 3rd century BC. Same situation - another road - more farming - more interesting transportation - more friendly people following me around and asking me "which country" etc. One interesting encounter I had - While walking across a field of ruins, I met what appeared to be a class of college students and a professor (man appeared to be about age 55). After I passed them, I heard shouting "Hello, come here!" I turned around and the man was yelling at me. I went back and, sure enough, he was a college professor. We talked a little bit and then he said to me, "Thank you thank you thank you for visiting our country. We have so many interesting and beautiful sites and people don't come here because they think we Muslims are terrorists. We are not. People in your country have the idea that we are hate you or do not like you, but that is not true at all. We are very friendly and we welcome you to come and stay in our country. Thank you for coming. I really really appreciate your coming to my country."

Afterwards I went to Bogra and then got a bus to Tangail. I have no map of Tangail but do have information on 2 hotels there. The bus let me and several other people out on the side of the road in the dark around 7pm. There was no city in view! Another bus came by and we all got on and after 2 minutes we were at the Tangail bus station - which is on the edge of town. After arriving, I started walking. I walked and walked looking and asking for hotels. It is really a disadvantage not being able to read Bengali script (similar to India - it looks more like Arabic than Chinese). Finally, I found the street with the hotel I have information about. My travel book says rooms should be 100 taka. I went in and they said we have 1 room left - it is 600 taka ($10.5 or Y84). This is a good price for China and a very cheap price for the US - but I stayed in Jaipurhat for 70 taka ($1.2 or Y9.5) - a room with a private bathroom attached. Not the nicest room but at least it came with a misquito net. So I left and found another hotel - 400 taka! I asked to see the room. It was pretty nice (much nicer than the ones I had stayed in before - couch, TV, etc). I told the guy I would think about it but look for a cheaper room. Finally, I found the Sagar Hotel which had a descent room for 120.

FEB 10. I had come to Tangail with the hope to see a famous mosque (Attia) which, according to my travel book, is 4 km south of town. I had hoped to see it early and then take the bus to Dhaka and get there early. I found there is no public transportation to the mosque, that the road there is narrow, dirt, and difficult to travel down, and that it is a lot further than 4km! I took a bicycle rickshaw there - I usually like to walk but since I was not sure of how to get there I had to take one. I took more than one hour to get there! Once there, I met a man - who like 83% of the people of Bangladesh is Muslim. Like many Muslim men, he was wearing a white robe with a white hat. He was probably about 50. He watched me take photos of the mosque for a while and then asked the normal questions - country, name, etc. Then he invited me to his home! So I went with him down a dirt path into the forest and to a small house. There I met his wife and kids (and maybe other people too - not sure if they are related) and had some cookies and an orange. Very friendly. The kids knew some English, the wife knew none, but he knew quite a bit. After the rickshaw ride back, I got back to Tangail at 10am. After the bus to Dhaka, I arrived a little after noon. I walked around and took photos. One boy (about age 20) followed me around for a while asking annoying questions. I felt bad to tell him to go away so I did not. He asked, I can help you right? I was annoyed, so I replied, "How? I have a map." He didn't get the hint. He kept following me. Later he said "You are a very handsome man. We are great friends." I asked him, why do you follow me and not that (I pointed to someone else) man? He said - well you are a very "well man". I said that man over there is "well" you can follow him! He kept asking me to stop and buy him food but more annoyingly - asking stupid questions. When he was asking for money, a Bangladeshi man who works at the US embassy happened to be walking by and overheard the conversation. He asked me - do you know this guy? And I said, well I just met him on the street and he is following me around. Then the embassy guy got rid of him and shooed him away. I felt bad that the boy got sent away like that but afterward the embassy man told me to be careful because there are many pickpockets in the city. Anyway, I walked around some more and took photos (always attracting crowds - and questions - country, name, academic qualification, etc). What I found is that the more devout Muslims (those in costume - robe/hat, etc) do not stare as awkwardly, are more friendly, and ask intelligent questions (as opposed to supid ones). Those wearing regular clothes (but who are probably also Muslim since 83% of the country is) are usually more annoying to me. Anyway, I met a young Muslim guy (robe/hat) at a mosque who was really helpful and friendly. Later, that evening, I met a boy (age 25) wearing nice clothes (looked professional) who is an MBA student studying marketing. He was very helpful and gave me a tour of Dhaka University. Finally I found a hotel and went to bed.

FEB 11. I got up this morning and walked around Dhaka all day. Saw many interesting places. Lots of questions, lots of people wanting photos, lots of nice helpful people, and a few annoying ones too. Now I'm in an internet cafe. It took me 1.5 hours to find one - there really is not much "upscale" here. Not even McDonalds. I found it by walking to the nearest expensive ($100 USD per night) and asking them. They pointed me down the street and I found it. It is interesting because the owner appears to be a Christian - which is very rare in Bangladesh. 83% are Muslim, 16% Hindu, and 1% are other. He has a big sign about Jesus in the net bar and was watching the Jesus film on his computer when I came in. Anyway, now I plan to leave here and catch a night train to Chittagong. So I need to leave the net bar now.