Greetings from Bangladesh – Day 6

Most of today was spent driving from Dhaka to Barisal, in the south of Bangladesh. We were told the trip would take eight hours so of course we planned for 12 in our heads, but the good news is it only took eight.

I am quite sure I have now witnessed my first traffic fatality. About half way into the trip we came up to a busy intersection where there was a woman lying in the middle of the street. From the angle of her head and body, I don’t see any way she survived. The chances of her (or anyone in a remote area) getting medical help in a timely manner are nil. There don’t appear to be any hospitals outside of the main cities, and even in Dhaka there are not a lot. For day-to-day illnesses, most people rely on the local pharmacist to help them out, and from what I hear they are quite knowledgeable. Still not a place you want to get sick or worse.

The one part of the journey that we had all been joking about, the ferry crossing, went smoothly. The ferries come every 15 minutes, so you don’t have to wait very long if you are in a car or on foot. If you are in a bus, or a truck you could be waiting for hours as those lines stretched back a few miles. The ferry looked like a well used version of the ones you see in the US. During the crossing, we got out of the car and went up to the deck where it was a little cooler and checked out the view. Because it was the weekend the ferry was not overly crowded. It was full, but not dangerously full. We were told that the pictures you see on the news of thousands of people hanging off the sides only happens at festival times.

Barisal is basically a very small version of Dhaka. Our guide was asking us if we saw any difference and the honest answer was no. Same buildings, same crowded streets, less cars but just as many rickshaws. We ate at a local restaurant that was pretty good. You could tell they have had westerners there many times, because as soon as we sat down they swept away the water jug and brought bottled water. Also, the music changed from Bengali pop to Phil Collins, which I am sure made the locals really happy. We ordered a dish called X, which is a thick vegetable mix that you pick up with flat bread. I utilized the skills I have acquired from many years of eating Mexican food and rolled up the veggies in the bread like a burrito. The one thing that is a little strange about eating in local restaurants is that the waiters just stand there and look you all through the meal. Staring is not considered rude in Bangladesh, but it makes you feel like you should be more entertaining all the time.

One thing I was a little worried about was what our hotel would be like. I have to say it is a big step down from the Westin in Dhaka, which had become the oasis after the craziness of Dhaka. The Hotel Ahtena International is the nicest hotel in Barisal, but that is not saying much. The hotel is more like a hostel. I have stayed in much worse places as I travelled through Europe, but I was younger then. Truth be told, the hotel is fine. You just have to adjust your expectations a little. There is a/c, a real bathroom and a TV. The thing with the bathroom is that the shower is right in the middle between the sink and the toilet. There is no shower curtain so when you turn it on everything in the bathroom gets wet. So before each shower you have to move everything out that you want to keep dry, like toilet paper.

I have been taking my anti malaria pills for a couple of days now and I heard you are supposed to have really vivid dreams. The dreams kicked in about 2:00 a.m. last night. They were so real, that you don’t feel like you have slept when you wake up.