Bhawal National Park

Last weekend when Alice and I had a van we decided we'd visit a forest not far out of Dhaka. It is actually called Bhawal National Park. Although only meant to take 1 hour to get there, it took almost 2 but did take less than 1 to get back. It is less than 38 km!!
A forest?? Not exactly what I would call a forest in Australian terms. Yes it was a collection of trees but I actually wonder if they were planted at some time as they seemed to be quite orderly. Underneath the trees was just dried leaves, no bushes, few grasses, no flowers. Tracks and footpaths wound around the park with a lake that has numerous arms in the centre of the park This lake provides a focus with short boat trips an option, fishing rods for hire (but not sure if you would actually catch anything) plus the banks are a nice place on which to sit. There are also pony rides, rickshaws for the lazy and a cleared dirt area in the middle, which appears to be the ground for organised cricket matches.
Visiting on a Friday, it was obvious that the park is a popular picnic spot for locals over the weekend. There was bus after bus parked there. But a Bangladeshi picnic consists of taking huge cooking pots, like 1 metre across, lighting a small fire, and cooking or reheating using these pots.
It was a nice change of scenery but I would also be curious to see it at a time of the eyar when it wasn't so dry. Mind you, then there would probably be mud and leeches!
Here are a few photos.