Thursday 31st January - A Bangladeshi Wedding

Another a move on day. We will be getting a train to Dhaka just after midnight so we need something to do for the day. Last night D booked an excursion to the Satchari National Park, about 60 km south west of where we are. At breakfast the staff are complaining that it is cold. The weather app says 16°C. What a set of wimps. Today's breakfast is absolutely delicious - light and fluffy luchis, vegetable bhaji and a nicely done fried egg. D tells them how good it is and gets swamped with seconds. Our bill is ready and very reasonable.

We have plenty of time as pick up is at 10.30. We catch up on the news and talk about Bangladesh so far. It is difficult not to compare with India but there is one absolutely fundamental difference. Every carrot that we have seen in Bangladesh is orange. There are two fundamental differences. People in Bangladesh are quite happy to give change.

The car turns up promptly and our guide introduces himself and the driver. Each of us hopes that the other has understood. Once we tune into our guide, who is called Panji, he is a mine of information, answering all of our dumb questions with a smile. We make good progress through the rolling landscape of tea plantations. These give way to several miles of brickworks before we are back to tea again.

As we pull up at the park gate a column of several hundred uniformed Muslim schoolgirls file past, apparently on their way to a picnic. The downside of religious education shows through when some of them stop to snap pictures of D on their phones. Our forest guide, Harish turns up, riding pillion on a motorbike. We exchange greetings and then head off into the forest. We are apparently going to take the 2 hour trail and this soon leaves the crowds and the litter behind.

This area of forest is more densely vegetated than yesterday's. The trail mainly follows dried up stream beds, filled with sand and dead leaves. We hear a woodpecker as we approach a large dead tree. We can see just the tip of the tail of a bird as it hammers away on the far side of the trunk. Harish identifies it as a Great Yellow Naped Woodpecker. We are in no position to argue. There are a couple more half sightings of birds through thick foliage but no photo opportunities.

About half an hour into the walk R decides to liven things up by falling eight feet off the path into the dry stream bed. The two guides spring into action and jump down to help her. D knows a good photo opportunity when he sees one. After a bit of huffing and puffing R declares herself to be unhurt and the jokes can begin. She dusts herself down and we continue. There are a couple more narrow ledges to traverse which make the guides a bit nervous but there are no more acrobatics and we are soon on easier ground.

As we make our way along a much wider stream bed there is a crashing in the foliage and we see a small troop of langurs above us. This time they do make themselves visible and pose for photos. After we complete the circuit D climbs the watchtower near the entrance. A different view of the trees but still not many birds. We bid farewell to Harish and set off back to Srimangal. The trip passed without incident. Panji tells us that we can leave our bags in the tour company office and go for tea, an offer accepted with alacrity.

While we have tea and pakoras Panji has a full meal. The tour company's head man, Tapas Dash, joins us for tea and has a go at booking a train ticket on line for us. He tells us that there seems to be an online problem. This ticket is required for next week so no panic yet. Tapas is easily the tallest Bangladeshi that we have met so far, a couple of inches taller than D. His best friend has just married and apparently we are welcome to attend part of the celebrations later this evening.

Panji offers to take us to visit a charity run school that the company supports and then for a tour of the local market. We are happy to do both. The school class is a mixture of ages but they are all eager to demonstrate their learning. We are told that the children come from deprived backgrounds and need to learn many basic life skills before progressing to more formal education. We thank the class for their efforts and feel a bit guilty when we realise that they have waited after their normal hour for our visit.

The market is a big one on two separate floors, totally free of two wheelers. The choice of fish is amazing and there are nearly as many varieties of dried fish upstairs. We could have dawdled round for hours but Panji wants to press on to the wedding celebration. This involves a ride on an electric auto, known here as Ezybikes, out to the fringes of the town.

The venue cannot be missed as there is a large celebration arch over the end of the lane leading down to the home of the bridegroom's family. We are told that today is the day that the bride arrives at her husband's home after several days of rituals and celebrations at her own family's place. By the time we get there they have already arrived and playing a ritual game that involves picking up small cowrie shells. We miss some of the nuances of the game but they make a very handsome couple.

Tapas arrives with two visitors from Australia who are as surprised as we are to be at a wedding. We are looked after very well. The sweet like Scottish tablet accompanied by gulab jamuns went down a treat. We exchange stories about our experiences so far in Bangladesh with our fellow travellers, as well as being quizzed by some of the other guests. The bride and groom circulate and we congratulate them before thanking our hosts for their hospitality.

Our small group travels back into town on two Ezybikes, the one with ourselves and Panji travelling on to the railway station to try booking our elusive ticket at the counter but no joy. Back at the Green Leaf Eco Tourism office we settle our debt, collect our bags and thank Tapas and Panji for a really good day. They have recommended a restaurant nearby and we spend an hour or more recovering our strength for an overnight train trip to come.