Radinja 9

Last night we suffered at least two power cuts and it goes off again this morning so D has to take a bucket in search of hot water. The night watchman obliges by putting a pan on the gas stove. This allows us to have what we now know should be called mug and bucket showers. We present ourselves for breakfast and are shown to a table on the terrace. D's weather app says it is 14°C in these parts. It certainly warrants long sleeves. We have ordered Bangla breakfasts and get an omelette and two substantial parathas each plus a dish of Dal with mixed veg to share. Hits the spot absolutely. Our plan this morning is to visit Lawacharra National Park, a few kilometres up the road. This is described as a Semi - Evergreen Tropical Forest and is home to a critically endangered colony of Hoolock Gibbons, the only species of ape found in Bangladesh. From the village centre a CNG takes us up to the park main gate. Here we pay for our tickets and turn down the services of a guide. A ...

Our seventh day in Bangladesh and we still haven't travelled by train. This shameful state of affairs will be put right today. Breakfast is ready on the button at 7.30 and at eight we climb onto the 'Sneegy' for the trip to the station. During our stay at the Bottomhill we have not seen any other guests at all. Our driver shuns the bypass route and drives straight down the main road and over the Keane Bridge to the station, getting us there in five minutes rather than the twenty that we expected. As per the normal arrangement R is parked on a bench with the luggage while D goes to see what is what. There is a train in the platform but the only non Bangla words visible just read 'Inter City'. The departure screens are all just squiggles as well. As D wanders along the platform looking for clues a young lady approaches to ask Do you like Bangladesh?'. Not difficult, the answer is 'Yes apart from the unintelligible Bangla script'. D asks i...

Sylhet's premier tourist draw is Ratargul Swamp Forest. It is the reason that we are here and our target today. Last night D held telephone negotiations with Sylhet's self proclaimed leading supplier of car hire. It is arranged that a car will pick us up, take us to Ratargul, wait while we do the tour and take us  back to the hotel. Money for old rope. This is followed up by a call from the driver who agrees to pick us up at 8 a.m. We have breakfasted and are all ready to go, waiting outside the front of the hotel on the hour. There is some broken cloud cover and it is noticeably cooler this morning. No complaints from us. Regular readers may recall the concept of Indian Standard Time, which dictates that somewhere between 15 and thirty minutes after the agreed time is correct. Does this also apply in Bangladesh? Happily our man turns up only five minutes later in a car rather reminiscent of a Mark 4 Ford Cortina. We climb in and D confirms ' To Ratargul'. Lonely...

Today is move on day so the alarm is set for 06.30. We quickly finish packing and head for breakfast. The hard boiled eggs are much better when you get in early. The hotel have booked a taxi for us and shortly after eight we are on the road. Regular readers might be surprised to learn that our destination is the Airport rather than a railway station. It appears not to be possible to book Bangladeshi rail tickets from outside the country and D decided not to risk being unable to get seats. Not too many photos today so here is one of a double decker that D forgot to post yesterday. Sunday is a normal working day in Dhaka and the traffic is heavy. Heading out of the city we have spells of free running between snarled up junctions. Heading in the opposite direction there is just mile after mile of five lanes across static traffic. Our trip includes a fleeting glance at a Bangladeshi train complete with full complement of roof riders. Our driver drops us at the front door and there...

Hotel 71, our base in Dhaka, has a few eccentricities. Our room is actually a suite, clean enough if overdue for a refurb. The hot water is reliable and the towels and sheets spotless so we can forgive the cleaning staff their inability to get round to our room before 3 p.m. The ground floor Reception area has been gutted and is in the process of being rebuilt, leaving the Security Staff to be the public face. A team of both men and women, they are unfailingly polite and helpful even if the do wear prominent badges reading RSS.  As they are not in either Mumbai or haph pants perhaps this is a different RSS. The population of Dhaka do seem keen on a procession, the noisier the better, if our experience is anything to go by. Saturday seems to be a big day for such events. Having breakfasted we are preparing ourselves for the day when we hear a familiar skirl. In plain view out of our window is a procession led by a pipe band. The hundred yards or so of people behind are ...

Medical bulletin - R is recovering well. Even the bruise on her knee is subsiding, which is just as well as there is a plan for this morning. No Garlic Prawns on offer for breakfast today, just Cheaf Special Mattan. After getting togged up in the bird watching gear D gets online to order an Uber. This appears to be the only cab hailing app that is available in Dhaka. The app sends us a registration number to watch for but plates here have Bengali numerals so we are no wiser. The hotel security man takes charge and our ride turns up promptly in a slightly battered Toyota. He has no English but D compares screens and the destination is agreed. The traffic is much quieter at 08.30 and possibly Friday makes a difference. We make good time on the 10km ride out of the city. The Botanical Gardens and the Zoo are next door to each other but the former is our target.  The guide book suggests that foreigners pay 10x the local rate but we are charged just 20 BDTakas each, around...