A Bangladesh Adventure

Bangladesh Highlights

2011-06-16T07:07:00.004+06:00

Some photographic highlights from my time in Bangladesh

In Bhutan

Bhutan 2

In the Bandarbans

On the river

Golfing at the Army course

Moroccan dinner party

Leaving Bangladesh

2011-06-16T06:45:00.002+06:00

Today is my last Dhaka in Bangladesh as I fly out to Australia tonight before beginning a new job in Kathmandu. So here's a summary of my time here - the good and the bad . . . . .

The good

made some great friends and met some lovely people
the kids at school were generally nice
lots of nice restaurants particularly Samdado, Soi 71, Sajna, Koreana, Bamboo Shoot and Dhaba
Cheap to get clothes copies - a necessity for women as next to impossible to buy women's western clothes here
Lots of crafty and/or fabric products to buy here and often really cheap
took up golf again as it is relatively cheap to play at the "Army" course - about $20 for 18 holes (plus golf gloves were cheap to buy too)
my nice apartment with a view that I will miss although instead I am going to a classroom with a view to die for
having the Australian Club to escape to
some interesting sightseeing opportunities in Bangladesh: Sundarbans, Bandarbans and Syhlet/Srmongal
getting the opportunity to visit Bhutan
having a maid to do the cleaning

The bad

being stared at continually by males such as the guys working on building the apartment block next to mine spending 10 minutes staring at me putting the laundry out on the balcony
the very slow and crazy traffic in which there seems to be no road rules (or they are ignored) and many of the drivers do not have licences
electricity cuts: this time last year it was one hour on and one hour off but this year it is better
the difficulty of getting alcohol including not being able to get it at restaurants with you meals (lucky I don't drink much)
giving up getting home from work in the van when I have already been in it an hour, instead getting out and walking the second half
hartels (strikes) disrupting both school and out of school life
getting through immigration and collecting baggage at the airport when returning to Dhaka
air pollution and smog particularly the particulate matter. Tends to cause coughs and sinus infections a lot
Men urinating in the street all the time. Almost every time I go out I see one of more
SPITTING (say no more) as the globs are everywhere
mosquitoes and their dreaded Dengue Fever, which I managed to avoid. Keeping them outside is a real challenge
bad drivers - try reversing up the road, driving the wrong way, turning from the furthest lane and so it goes on. That is without the continual hoking of horns. Then there are the pedestrians with a death wish and rickshaws that ignore the cars . . . .

Have I enjoyed it? Yes and no but it is interesting but it is time for me to leave as many of "The Bads" are really getting to me.

Brass village shopping

2011-05-06T20:12:00.004+06:00

A few weeks ago, before the trip to Bhutan, a few of went back to Dhamrai, the brass village just outside of Dhaka. This time our aim was shopping and I bought the lovely brass elephant above. It is a tea light candle elephant that had just been released from its clay cast. This cute elephant cost 7000 Taka, less than $100 - a bargain for a hand-made, individual craft piece. Even better in my opinion is that it helps to keep the lost-wax method of making objects alive.
I had just better watch out that I don't buy another piece tomorrow at the Canadian Club!!

Paro and new software

2011-05-01T16:53:00.003+06:00

To combine some of my Paro photos plus show the highlights, I used a new program (for me) called Collage Creator.
The highlights of Paro are

the dzong - once a fortress and now a combination of monastery and municipal centre
the National Museum situated in the spiralling, shell-shaped former watchtower that overlooks the dzong
Paro airport - the place of arrival for most visitors with stunning views from the plane as it descends in. Only Druk Air, Bhutan's own airline, flies into Bhutan and has just two planes!
Tigers Nest Monastery - unbelievable location, located atop a 400 metre high sheer rock face and only accessible by foot. A tough hike to get there and some stunningly ornate and highly decorated to see when you get there.

Bhutan

2011-04-26T17:45:00.005+06:00

Been a bit slack lately but have just come back from 8 days in Bhutan and 6 days in India. Bhutan - what can I say, all of us thoroughly enjoyed it and would love to return. Fresh air, mountains, forests, friendly people, stunning architecture and great food. What more could a person ask for.

Here are a few of my favourite photos - others to follow later.

Monk at Punakha Dzong

Paro valley & dzong

Tigers Nest Monastery

Punakha Dzong

Haa Valley farmer

By the way, we travelled with Bridge to Bhutan.

Aussie Rules arrives in Bangladesh

2011-01-29T06:49:00.003+06:00

Read about the arrival of Aussie Rules in Dhaka here. Articles such as this one in the Financial Express, were published in all the English-language newspapers last week after a game at ISD that was supported by the Australian High Commission.

Sightseeing around the Bandarban

2010-10-31T19:19:00.004+06:00

When we got out and about, this is some of what we saw.

Golden Temple or Pagoda

2010-10-31T19:06:00.002+06:00

While in the Bandarban, we took a short trip through the pouring rain to visit the Golden Temple or Golden Pagoda, one of the largest Buddhist temples in Bangladesh. It was spectacular with lots of gold paint plus had spectacular views across the surrounding countryside.
Here it is:

This was taken while travelling back down the 4WD track from the temple. Not quite how it was meant to work out but I like it all the same.

Hillside Resort in the Bandarban

2010-10-31T18:57:00.004+06:00

More than a week ago, a group of us went on a long weekend trip to the Bandarban. This is a forested, hilly region of Bangladesh on the Burma border. It was so good to get into the fresh air, amongst the greenery and away from the crowds of staring people.
Here's some pictures of the resort we stayed at: Hillside Resort
Breakfast with a view

Our "home" for the weekend

What a view! This is from the verandah outside the restaurant at the Hillside Resort.

River Trip again

2010-09-18T18:50:00.004+06:00

One of the best ways to get away from the hustle and bustle of Dhaka is to take a river cruise - a chance to escape the crowds and beggars, get a cooling breeze and get further away from the stares. I think this one was cruise number three. here are some photos.

Bhawal National Park

2010-03-17T07:55:00.003+06:00

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.

The Army Golf Course in Dhaka

2010-03-09T17:33:00.004+06:00

FINALLY . . . . . . I managed to take my camera with me to the golf course, mind it didn't help my golf much at all for the first few holes while I was taking photos.
This is the 9-hole golf course that we mostly play. There is also an 18-hole one of international standard where lots of tournaments are held and the huge amounts of water manage to grab lots of my balls. This is the practice putting green below.

Anyway the Army course only really has water that cause problems on the 2nd and 3rd holes, where i still manage to lose a ball or two. But it is really nice to get out onto the green grass, amongst the trees rather than being on the dirty streets and continually being stared. As it is directly next to the international airport, there are frequent interruptions from noisy planes taking off. So low is the Saudi Airlines plane on take off every single time that I am sure a high golf shot would hit it. There is also colourful bouganvilleas, some other trees that had lots off pink flowers on the weekend and the "instant" gardens that are a feature of Bangladesh. You go to the nursery and buy already flowering plants such as pansies, salvia, asters, petunias and even dahlias, then put them in the ground. But off course they don't last long as the poor plants have a very limited root system. There is no clubhouse at the moment but they are still working on the huge one being built there and hopefully it is getting closer to opening as most of the surrounding fencing has been torn down.

Then of course, the exercise is much needed and sometimes I think my golf is getting a little better!!

Next to the golf course one of the locals goes fishing!

Back to Dhamrai & Savar

2010-02-26T09:41:00.004+06:00

At the brass shop

Last weekend I went back to Dhamrai, the brass village, for the 4th or 5th time. It is always great to get out of Dhaka plus the village is great for taking photographs and the brass shop is interesting. But I think I will have to go back again and buy a brass elephant that holds a tea light candle. But a need to buy a tile to sit it on beforehand. It is always good to have an excuse to go back. Here are some photos of the traditional "lost wax" method used to produce the brass objects.

The wax mould of the cast

Breaking open the clay mould to reveal the brass statue

Wandering around the village is always fun, especially if the women in their colourful saris are walking around spreading the rice, or pushing it into rows or sweeping in between the rows. The bridge over the almost dry river, provides an ideal place to look down on this.

Sweeping the rice

Watching the women working on the rice

Boy watering the street

Decoration of a rickshaw seat

On the way we stopped twice in Savar. Once at the golf course to check out the details of playing - cost, availability etc, and the other at the Martyrs Memorial no doubt more crowded than usual because it was a long weekend.

Some of the very friendly visitors.

One of the best kept gardens in Bangladesh is around the Martyr's Memorial

Some pompom ducks for sale outside the Martyr's Memorial

Little Italy

2010-02-21T15:49:00.005+06:00

Yesterday, I and a group of friends, went a day trip outside of Dhaka. It is always nice to have a change of scenery. I will post more about this trip and some photos soon. However on the way back we stopped at Little Italy, an Italian restaurant owned by the same people as Bella Italia here in Gulshan. Strangely though, the restaurant is located beside the road, rather than in the centre of a town.

Little Italy always makes on ideal stop on the way back from Dhamrai as it breaks the journey and has yummy pizzas. Below is my vegetarian pizza, the same as pizza Bella Italia. It has eggplant, spinach and mushrooms on. So that along with a diet pepsi and some chips was my lunch.

The other interesting sight is that opposite the restaurant there was a birckworks spouting lots of black smoke skywards. It was one of many that we passed while driving and all of them were contributing significantly to the air pollution we suffer with daily here in Dhaka.
Why are there so many brickworks? Due to the lack of rock and stone in Bangladesh (it is built on sand as a river delta), bricks are then broken up again to form stone for various jobs!!

Moroccan Dinner party

2010-02-20T16:40:00.002+06:00

Having availed myself of other people's hospitality, last night I decided to have a Moroccan dinner party. So after playing 18 holes of golf early in the day, I then got cooking. Had a nice beetroot salad plus another salad followed by a chicken tagine, a beef and vegetable tagine and couscous with apricots. Then for dessert had orange slices sprinkled with cinnamon. Thankfully everyone enjoyed the food and a fun evening was had by all. (Plus I even have a few leftovers to eat!)

Here are the happy diners

Beef tagine, apricot couscous with the beetroot in the background

Chicken tagine with olives.

Slack again!!

2010-02-17T18:49:00.002+06:00

Again I have struggled to update my blog. I suppose that means I haven't been doing anything exciting. In between work, just the weekly game of golf to give some respite from the crowds and staring of Dhaka. A little bit of shopping, a few meals out, Sunday evening spent at a school function and doubts about whether I would even stay here next year.
A long weekend this weekend so I am heading out of Dhaka for a day with a few friends and I will take my camera so hopefully will post some photos. back to Dhamrai, the brass village, with stops along the way at the Savar Golf Course to see how you go about playing there and also the Independence monument at Savar. Then a stop for pizza on the way back at Little Italy, the close relative of Bella Italia. Both restaurants have the same owner I believe. It is always nice to get out of the crowds of people and the polluting traffic jams although I expect travel will still be quite slow. Should also be nice and green with the rice growing since we are coming to the end of the dry season. Also having a dinner party, Moroccan style. I have to cook a tagine or two plus a few other bits and pieces. Should be good though and I'd better take a few photos as I get a bit slack at times.
So hopefully will manage a post after the weekend.

On the way home from work

2010-01-25T19:18:00.003+06:00

Yesterday was a slow trip home from work, well the first part anyway as the main road was packed with people heading home from Ijtema, a Muslim religious festival just outside Dhaka. It is said that more than 2 million devotees attend and spend 3 days in prayer but afterwards, clothed in white, they walk, ride in buses, on top of buses, pile into rickshaws, pack into the back of trucks; basically travel in any vehicle they can. The result is a huge traffic jam. Our first challenge was to get on the road. The second was to travel far enough along the road so we could turn off.

Here are some photos. The first is of the cowshed we drive past most afternoons. Occasionally they are even busy milking them by hand. I do feel sorry for them having to spend all their time on concrete but the shed is always clean and they appear well fed.
The rest are of the crowds and traffic.

It has been soooo . . . cold, well for Bangladesh anyway.

2010-01-17T19:34:00.002+06:00

Since I came back from the break over Christmas, it has been so cold - well for Bangladesh anyway. By far the coldest in the 18 months I've been here. So bad has it been that I had to get out my Winter woolies and unpack my doona that I haven't used since I lived in Morocco. Plus I wear my moccasins around the house to keep my feet warm.

Even yesterday after going for a walk to the ATM at the Westin Hotel then to the supermarket, I was a little warmer when I got back. Then cooking helped warm up the apartment a little. The trouble was that there was not a hint of sun all day. Instead it was fog or smog all day long so as a result felt quite damp.
During the early morning and evening I had to wear two long sleeve layers - unbelievable. I suppose electricity is being saved though as no need for a/c and I don't have a heater. I am lucky though that my apartment is one of the warmer ones. Plus I really enjoy getting all cosy in bed under the doona.

Today is a little warmer but I will wait and see if the weather is on the improve.

Really I shouldn't complain as all too soon I will be complaining about the heat!!

Some people are never happy!

A few Morocco photos

2010-01-16T20:06:00.004+06:00

Here are a few photos from my holiday in Morocco.

The first three are from a group of spice and dried fruit shops hidden up a short alley.

Small shops selling sweet pastries

Miniature babouche

The minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque in black and white

Donkey cart

Hand-carved wooden chess set

A little bit lax, I know!!!

2010-01-13T18:09:00.002+06:00

In between work at school and a Christmas break in Morocco plus golf one day each weekend, my blog updating has been rather slack. Then in a minute I am off out to dinner and a local Bangladeshi-Indian restaurant not far from where I live. Looking forward to some phuska (I'm sure its spelt wrong). Thin pastry type cases (sort of like cream puff cases) filled with a mixture of vegetables and chick peas and sometims served with a thin yoghurt dressing. My mouth is watering as I type . . . . . . . . . .

Must go

Escaping the bloodbath - R & R in KL

2009-12-03T16:28:00.004+07:00

Last weekend was a long weekend due to the Eid celebrations, according to those who stayed a wholesale slaughter and bloodbath of cattle. Not a pretty sight and very unhygienic. Instead I escaped and went to Kuala Lumpur for a couple of days. Wasn't it wonderful to have wide streets, traffic that obeyed the lights, modern shopping centres with lots of shops, bookshops with up-to-date English books, Christmas decorations spread around and the freedom to go anywhere and do whatever I wanted without being stared at.

In between the shopping I did manage to fit in a bit of sightseeing but ran out of energy fairly quickly. When walking got too much, the monorail and light rail train were a cheap and good alternative.

Not far from where I stayed was Petronas Towers, below which was a good shopping centre. The towers were best seen just after sunset.

Then there was the older Kuala Lumpur Tower, frequently visible, but I didn't make it to the top of that either.I did head off to Chinatown and the nearby Merdeka Square area, home to a humber of old, colonial buildings including the Royal Selangor Club.

Guandi Temple

Chan See Shu Yun Temple

Royal Selangor Club

2009-11-25T16:50:00.003+07:00

The entertainment this week on the drive home from school has been the cattle market in the main road in preparation for Eid -al - Adha, which will be celebrated this weekend. As part of the celebration for this annual Muslim holiday, animals are slaughtered. In Morocco it was goats and sheep, but due to their scarcity here, cattle are also slaughtered. Apparently, later in the week an auction is held for these cattle. To show off their wealth, some people brag about how much money one animal cost them, and believe it or not it can be more than US$4000!!!!

Anyway here are a few photos I took of the market on the way home today.

A good day

2009-11-06T16:57:00.002+07:00

Even though the Aussie Club is presently closed so I couldn't go there last night, I have had a good day today.
1. Off to golf at 8 am but had trouble seeing the drives as there was thick smog/fog, so bad that the lanes taking off overhead were not visible. Managed 18 holes for the second time today and managed to play better mostly. Off course, it was helped by the fact that we played at the course with the smaller amount of water. But still managed to loose 3 balls. Ended up sunny and was a pleasant stroll especially since a caddy carries the clubs and the ball markers tend to shift the balls out of the rough!!!
2. Straight afterwards, well once the van got back to the gold club after dodging the traffic jams caused by the prime minister flying out from the airport to Bhuatan, it was off to the American club for a couple of drinks and lunch. Sat in the outdoor area near the swimming pool and tennis courts, which was very comfortable. Plus the carrot cake was yummy.
3. On the way home stopped off at the H & M sale. For those that don't know H & M is a European clothing shop chain and many of their products are made in Bangladesh. So twice a year the factory that makes them has a sale of the "left overs". Everything is only 150 Taka or $2 each. Thank goodness I hadn't bothered to go home and have a show and was still hot and sweaty after golf, as it was like a mini sauna inside with masses of people swarming around the tables piled high with clothes. Even paying was a saga so I sort of jumped the line to speed up the process as the line seemed to be going nowhere. I got a couple of things but the stuff was dominated by black, especially black t-shirts.

So now back home relaxing after a cleansing shower. But have quite a few jobs I need to get done tomorrow.

Lalbagh Fort in Old Dhaka

2009-10-28T18:19:00.003+07:00

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Old Dhaka was to visit Lalbagh Fort as when I had been previously on Fridays, it had been closed. Construction of the fort began in 1677 but it was never finished. However, three structures were finished in 1684 - the Hall of the Audience, the Quilla Mosque and the Mausoleum with the latter shown in the photo below.
It was set amid well-maintained gardens and from up on top one of the surrounding walls there was a good view over the shops and street that adjoined it. While close to the mosque, local boys were using the space to play an impromptu game of cricket. But these ones peered at us through the fence and were quite happy to have their photo taken.

As the day was still quite hot, the shady alcoves at the bottom of the wall provided an ideal seat. It was also a place where couples could meet and spend time together.

Then of course, we attracted attention all along the way. This brave person even asked to have his photo taken with some of our group!!

The river is a harbour

2009-10-28T17:53:00.003+07:00

While in Old Dhaka last weekend, we went down to the river's edge to check out the action. The river area is actually Dhaka's port - bundles of bananas were being carried on heads from the wooden boat at the river's edge, along planks and up the slope to the nearby warehouse. Here they were being piled into baskets before heading off to their sale destination. A warehouse (well open shed with 3 walls and a roof) opposite was the pineapple distribution centre.
The man below carries live chickens on his head. Since I first saw one wandering around Gulshan where I live, I have wanted a photo. While near the river, as I am about to round a corner I almost get run over by a man and his chicken hat!
There are boats everywhere on the river, from small wooden boats like these are the river-crossing taxi service where many in checked lungyis sit waiting for customers, some under umbrellas. Dredges lumber along the middle of the river while the large passenger ferries float side by side waiting for there passengers to board. Hustle and bustle is everywhere - boats, people, rickshaws and CNGs.
As is the usual situation in Bangladesh, people like having their photos taken and readily pose for the camera such as this young man.
Alice and Zac got brave and took one of the small wooden boats out onto the river for a 20 minute cruise around, doding the naked boys swimming, the small boats criss-crossing the river, the slow-moving dredges and the general flotsam and jetsam that dots the river. AND they arrived back safely . . . ..

Golf in Dhaka

2009-10-23T14:48:00.002+07:00

This morning was another great Dhaka adventure when I went and played 9 holes of golf with some of my work colleagues. My first serious hit after 6 years I think. At least I didn't make a complete fool of myself and managed to hit some good shots. But it certainly is different -:
- you have a caddy to carry your clubs (and tell you what to do) plus hand you your clubs
- then theoretically you have a ball marker each, who watches where you ball goes and shows you, plus if it goes off into the trees they put it back onto the edge of the fairway
- so there is you plus you 2 accomplices which turns a group of 4 players into 12. But due to it being a super busy morning there was a shortage of caddies and some ball markers got promoted.
- the only woman there were myself and my 2 colleagues I played with. Somehow I cannot picture Bangladeshi woman (in their sari or salwar kameez) playing golf, but at least they have womens tees!
- played at the army course, a 9 hole course close to the airport so had the taking off planes directly overhead plus the rail line and road meant trains and cars also provided plenty of noise.
- one hole had a couple of lots of water you had to hit across but I managed to lose only one ball
- there was also quite a few bunkers but I don't think I'd describe the sand in them as light and fluffy
- you line your balls up behind the marker on the first tee when you arrive and that is your hit off order
- it wasn't expensive - 580 taka for 9 holes (A$8) plus 200 Taka for the caddy and a little for the ball marker. You could also hire clubs but I had my own so didn't need to.
- the highlight was holing a long put on the last green for a 4 on a par 3 . . .. .

Dhaka traffic at standstill 7.5 hrs a day!!!

2009-10-19T18:01:00.002+07:00

From the Herald Sun in Victoria - here is the link.

Now remind me why I am here????

What do you think???

Tripping around Dhaka today

2009-10-17T17:31:00.004+07:00

Sharing a van with another teacher today, I got to drive around Dhaka today and went to four places that I hadn't been to before.
1. National Museum
With an entry fee of only 5 taka (10c) it was a bargain but I had to hand in my camera before entry. Inside one gallery led to another, each with a theme displaying relevant artifacts and examples. Some had brief labels in English but certainly more details would have been helpful. There was pottery, boats, rocks, birdlife, animals, weapons, pottery . . . . . The place really needs a facelift as many of the displays were dusty and looking very worn. It was worth a visit though but I don't think I will be going back again.

2. Drik Gallery
A gallery in Dhamondi that regularly holds photographic exhibitions. Today there was one with a series of mostly colour photographs of 'Kash-phool'. 'Kash-phool' or 'Kans grass' is native to South Asia and the plant that is used to make the traditional straw brooms. Although there were a few good photographs, I though most of them were fairly ordinary - not good composition wise and too many distracting features or lines in them. Many had sold for around 10 000 Taka, about $150. At least I now know where it is so have no exceuse for not visiting it another time. here is a link to an article about the exhibition: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=110008 .
Here are two of the photos:

3. Nandos for lunch.
Just like in Australia it features chicken with periperi but as a bonus even had a good bathroom. I had a nice meal of chicken strips with spicy rice plus a nice drink.

4. Sally Anns
This is the Bangladeshi version of the Salvation Army shop. It has lots of handicrafts produced by the less fortunate here and even the girl using the computerised cash register had deformed arms, sort of thalidomide-like arms. Lots of Christmas decorations for sale plus bags, table clothes, baskets but best of all was waffles with fresh cream. Yum.

Now back to reality and work tomorrow.

Hong Kong - Sightseeing

2009-10-17T08:52:00.003+07:00

After the workshop finished and before my flight back to Dhaka, I had a good half a day to get out and about and do some sightseeing other than shopping streets and centres.

First stop was the bird market as it was close to the hotel. The bird market was a combination of stalls selling birds, food for birds including insects and bird cages with generally older men bringing their birds in their cages, hanging them in trees and letting the birds sing away. Was there a bird singing competition while the men chatted? I have no idea.

Close to that was the flower market. It was really one lang narrow block where on one side there was lots of plant shops with lots of beautiful plants. Oh, how I wish I could have stuck some of the orchids in my suitcase!! Plus many had pots, vases, seeds and fertiliser. Then on the other side were the cut flower shops, busy unwrapping the bunches when I was there as it was relatively early in the morning.
Then I got the Metro across to Hong Kong Island, as I was staying on Kowloon. After a short walk I caught the tram up to the top of Victoria Peak, or just The Peak, from where there were stunning views across the skyscrapers and harbour. The smog did spoil it a little though. It is a real tourist trap though with high prices for food and souvenirs plus it costs extra to go to the sky terrace! Instead a short walk outside takes you to places that give just as good of view. It cost HK$33 for the return tram trip, 6-7 Australian dollars. Here are some of the views of the tall, tall buildings.

Finally, after another walk I caught the Star Ferry back across the harbour. It was a short trip but very peaceful and relaxing. Nice views of both Honk Kong Island and Kowloon from the ferry.

Hong Kong . . . belatedly

2009-10-16T15:55:00.003+07:00

Even thought I have been back from Hong Kong for 10 days, it has taken me this long to get Cambodia finished on my blog and to have the time to do a couple of entries about Hong Kong.

First thing, I do not like the Dragon Air flight - leaving at 3 am and arriving at 7.30 am. Little sleep, if any so that is not a good start. Fortunately, when I arrived at the hotel - the very flash Royal Plaza, they had a room free so I managed to get a couple of hours sleep.

Then went shopping. Managed to get myself to lots of them as I sought out book shops, Marks & Spencers and even found a Spotlight store. It was easy to get around though on the Metro, especially since the hotel was directly above a station. My best shopping effort was getting half a dozen novels on my "must read" list. This included Kabul Beaty School, Love Marriage, Breath and The Angel's Game. Below is the ornate decorations of one shopping centre.

In addition to the shopping centres, I managed to find the nearby electronics street that is full of shops selling digital cameras, laptops, phones and everything else electronic. Lucky in some ways that I only had a limited budget. Parallel to electronic street was the Ladies Market with its clothes, jewelry, leather, bag and bits and pieces stalls. My big spend up there was a "rolly" suitcase.
Of course, as soon as it is dark, the streets light up with a myriad of neon signs as shown below.

Even though the Metro was my main form of transport (we actually got free bus transport to the workshop), the presence of double decker buses didn't really come as a surprise but the presence of a double decker tram like the one below did.

Other "Temples" around Siem Reap

2009-10-13T18:11:00.006+07:00

Although the temples around Siem Reap that were the highlights for me I covered in previous blog entries, there are still many more.

One of the best was Kbal Spean. Not only did it involve 90 minutes of peaceful travel in a tuktuk through rural Cambodia, this was then followed by a 1.5 kilometre walk through the jungle. The destination is very different- carved figures in rocks beside a stream and above a small waterfall. Some looked like bells, other were people (or gods) plus there were lingas carved into rocks in the base of the stream. These resembled a checkerboard of round circles on top of the rocks, often hard to see because of a covering of mud. Many locals come here for picnics and to splash in the stream, while a couple of saffron-clad monks were also there when I was. Here are some photos.

This is Sras Srang, what today looks like a large lake but was actually once the Royal Baths. Its shores make a popular place on the weekends. Here I met the girl below in the pink, who talked to me - well actually tried to get me to buy something from her - while playing on the boat. She eventually left to head off for English lessons.

Bakong Temple shown below is part of the Rolous group. These structures were built prior to those closer to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. It is believed to be the first temple with the pyramidal structure. It looks better in black and white than in colour.

The feet of a statue in front of Chou Say Thevoda, a small structure that was under heavy renovation when I visited.

Also part of the Roluos group is Neak Pean, another very different structure. Resembling a Buddhist stupa, the temple is surrounded by pools with stone stairs leading down to its shore. The photo below shows the detail of a statue depicting a horse rescuing drowning sailors.

Stepping into another world: Preah Khan

2009-10-10T11:52:00.004+07:00

As far as the temple experience went while in Angkor, Preah Khan was the best. It was my last day around the temples and after going to sunrise at Angkor Wat (a dismal failure) I went straight to Preah Khan, arriving about 7 am. The amazing part was that I spent 30 or more minutes wandering around the ruins: under arches, along dead-end corridors, looking through windows and endless doorways and being amazed at some of the spectacular carvings; all alone. There was not another person in the complex, not even the workers had arrived at that stage.

The ruins were splattered with blotches of white, light green and pink courtesy of the lichen growing on them while is dark corners there was patches of bright green - moss this time. Even other tourists arrived as I started to head back out. It was breakfast time!

Closely followed by . . . . . . Angkor Thom

2009-10-06T17:47:00.006+07:00

Angkor Thom is an even more vast complex than Ta Prohm. It consists of a number of temples and terraces and even pools for the residents to bathe in hundreds of years ago. In between the souvenir stands and the hawkers trying to sell you silk scarves and bamboo flutes, the carvings on the structures are stunning and very ornate. The centrepiece in Bayon Temple, which is featured later.

The first three photos are off the Terrace of the Leper Kings, probably more aptly called a wall. But not just any wall, rather one that is covered in carved figures and carved faces. The next two photos are two of my favourites from the whole trip.

Bayon Temple could be better titled the "Temple of Heads". Once you head up the steps towards the centre and higher up part of the temple, there are faces looking at you from all directions - not the moving faces of the fellow tourists but rather the 173 that adorn the stone towers. Looking down, they face the four cardinal points. It is a bizarre, yet completely fascinating place. I went there twice and could still have gone back again. Se some of the faces and heads below -:

My favourite: Ta Prohm or the Jungle Temple

2009-10-06T17:12:00.004+07:00

Ta Prohm is a wonderfully atmospheric place where the jungle trees are trying to take back over the land that in the 12th and 13th centuries was used as a place to build this rambling Buddhist temple complex. Tree roots climb over stone walls, surround doorways and push their way through crack in the walls. Further evidence of the age of the place (and the jungle humidity), is the splattering of pale link and light green on the rocks and stones courtesy of the thriving lichen. Follow the meandering corridors and get lost or retrace your steps after a pile of rocks block the way. Not surprising that is was used as the eerie backdrop for the Tomb Raider movie.

Here are some photos to show you why -:

Angkor Wat

2009-10-04T13:53:00.004+07:00

This is what draws everyone to Siem Reap and the Angkor complex but it is definitely not my favourite temple complex there. It is spectacular both at sunrise and sunset but there are hordes of people. Considering I was there in low season I dread to think what it is like in high season.

The best time to go inside is straight after sunrise when hardly anyone is there as all the sunrise watchers go back to their hotels for breakfast. It was so quiet, serene as the sunlight gradually lights ups the walls and carvings.

Anyway, here are a few photos.

Oops . . .. an update

2009-10-04T13:47:00.003+07:00

As I was so kindly reminded today in an email, I haven't added anything to my blog recently. The reasons:
1. at present at a workshop in Hong Kong for work - hopefully if I take some photos tonight and tomorrow then I will add them to my blog
2. Ten days ago I got back from a week in Cambodia - Siem Reap actually where I got to see lots of the temples of Angkor and took lots of photos, of course. When I was there I had trouble with internet access on my laptop, hence couldn't add any entries while I was there
3. Then in between, I arrived back from Cambodia late Saturday, had work on Sunday then Monday was a holiday but spent most of my time doing an online course that I was behind , then school Tuesday and Wednesday before leaving late Wednesday night to fly to Hong Kong (actually early Thursday morning).

So fingers crossed I will manage some entries soon!!

National Martys Monument in Savar

2009-09-13T19:39:00.004+07:00

On the way to Dhamrai, we stopped to visit the National Martyrs Monument at Savar. It is a towering, concrete pyramid-like structure built to honour those who died in the fight for Bangladesh independence in 1971. More than 3 million Bangladeshis gave their life and today the monumnet is a place of reverence for them especially since there are mass graves for the unnamed victims located there.

It has a very neat and trim garden - an unusual sight in Bangladesh. Only the canal crimson water lilies were blooming.

Back to Dhamrai - Again.

2009-09-13T19:24:00.006+07:00

For the third time, I think, I went on a visit to Dhamrai, a small Hindu village outside Dhaka where they make brass objects using the traditional lost wax method.
Here the earthen cast is being removed from one of the objects.

The other good thing when we saw when wandering around the village was the women in their brightly coloured saris moving the rice around and walking on the rice to help dry it. Oh SO photogenic.

Then on top of that there was a Hindu Temple as well with the opportunity to see traditional village life.
Here is the rickshaw repair shop.

Comilla - the cemetery

2009-09-03T17:11:00.004+07:00

The other reason to visit Comilla is visit the Maynamati War Cemetery. It is a calm, moving well-kept oasis in the mayhem of Bangladesh, not that it is surprising when you know it is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The cemetery exists as a result of the Allied Forces being based in the region in an effort to stop the Japanese invading India via Burma during WW II. With more than 700 graves in the cemetery, it is interesting that there are 24 Japanese buried here, 10 Australians plus numerous other nationalities including Indian, Britsh, Canadian, South African, West African and Nigerian. The hill in the middle of the cemetery is dominated by the Cross of Sacrifice.

The Cross of Sacrifice

Plants abound in the cemetery

Comilla - the ruins

2009-09-03T16:55:00.003+07:00

There are only really two reasons to visit Comilla. The first is the Mainimati Ruins - the remains of a huge Buddhist temple complex. Between the 6th and 13th centuries, this area was important centre of Buddhist culture. First stop was at the Mainimati Museum made short because of the approaching closure. There were many brass Buddhist statues and also some Hindu gods in black stone. What I liked best were the terracotta plaques that had a range of illustrations on them such as various animals. Adjoining the museum are the ruins of Salban Vihara, which is huge. Walls and steps of the complex and some temples remain. The other ruins nearby are all in the cantonment so require special permission to enter.

Admiring the view

Excavation or restoration????

On the way to Comilla

2009-08-30T19:43:00.004+07:00

Yesterday went on a day trip outside of Dhaka to Comilla. Although only about 80 kilometres south east, it took 3 hours to get there (but only 2.5 to get back). Here are some photos taken along the way. I will do separate posts about what we saw there.

A bamboo "shop" on the outskirts of Dhaka

One of a number of large rivers we crossed along the way

How to keep your produce safe, and cheaper than a seat!!

A roadside village

Rickshaws are used to transport anything and everything - wooden boats & cane baskets

Sunset over Banani Lake

2009-08-28T14:37:00.005+07:00

Here are a couple of sunset photos taken from my balcony doors across Banani Lake in June before I went on holidays. I like the one where the sun is "cut in half"!

Back in Dhaka

2009-08-22T09:54:00.003+07:00

Well I have been back in Dhaka for a week now, and back at work for a week now but no students until tomorrow. I have just done my last couple of entries on my Morocco blog at http://moroccanmeanderings.blogspot.com/ so for a summary of my holiday check it out.

Back in Dhaka though it is surprisingly cool and is actually easy to sleep at night or maybe it was all the hot weather I had over the break. Plus it isn't raining that much although there was a very good lightning show the other night.

But some things haven't changed - the traffic is crazier than ever, electricity is still going off but has only been off a few times although once was for two and a half hours in the evening, still having trouble getting drinking water delivered and the streets still are full of pot holes that create havoc when it rains.

On the other hand, Australian Network has disappeared off my TV, the building behind my apartment is getting taller and starting to block my view, there are lots of new people to work with and I have to teach two new subjects that I have never taught before. Guess what I am doing today!!!

Yesterday I took a couple of the new teachers first to Aarong, which has lots of handicraft things but is good for cushion covers, table clothes, place mats, cane bowls, pottery etc, then on to Newmarket where there are lots of shops selling all sorts of things. It is particularly good for kitchen stuff - glass, plastic, cake times, saucepans, electrical; also has clothes, fabric, sewing things (I wanted some elastic), books, stationary, pin boards, art easels, suitcases and so on. It was a productive trip with lots of stuff being bought among the six of us although I think I got the least. Then had lunch at Bella Italia, which has moved to the other side of Gushan I Circle. As usual I had Pizza Bella Italia and brought half home for dinner. After dropping people off, two of us stopped off at a plant place. Me I just got two for 500 Taka - one for indoors and a colourful flowering one to put on my balcony and add some colour to those I already have there. Last stop was at a bamboo/can furniture shop as my friend wanted a cane lounge. She got one too - 7000 Taka plus an extra 2000 for the cushions. Nice stuff. Maybe it I stay I will get one, but that is anohter story.

Now to work!

Going on holidays

2009-06-16T18:58:00.002+06:00

At the end of this week I am off on holidays for almost 2 months, a chance to get out of Bangladesh for a while. I'm heading back to Morocco and also hopefully southern Spain, so if you want an update go to my Morocco blog: Moroccan Meanderings at http://moroccanmeanderings.blogspot.com/ .

Will I miss Bangladesh?
Getting stuck in traffic - no
Being continually stared at - no
Not being able to have a wine with my restaurant meal - no
The electricity cuts - no
The heat and humidity - humidity no, but I'll be heating to hotter or as hot of a place
Work - no it is nice to have a break
My apartment - maybe

Anyway, I'll be back in August, hopefully totally refreshed and ready for another working year!

Dhaka at night

2009-06-09T20:13:00.002+06:00

Even though I have seen some spectacular sunsets, this evening would I looked out a combination of storm clouds and late evening light made quite a spectacular sight. So I tried a couple of photographs of the view from my apartment, one from the side balcony and one from the main balcony that looks over the lake.

Stormy evenings

2009-06-09T20:08:00.003+06:00

There have been a few really spectacular storms recently with lots of lightening and thunder plus driving rain. At least I have my back door fixed so it no longer blows open or lets the rain in underneath. Anyway here are a couple of photos of the lightening I took a few weeks ago. Certainly not great, but considering I didn't use a tripod or a shutter release, I suppose I shouldn't complain!! It really is difficult to take photos though but at least digital does make it easier.

Wonderful Dhaka vehicles

2009-05-24T18:14:00.005+06:00

Since I spent so much time on the streets getting to work over the last two weeks, I had plenty of opportunity to watch the traffic and even managed to get a few photos of typical forms of transport.

First - Here is a CNG, the Bangladesh tuktuk. Here is is loaded with fruits, no doubt on its way to market. Why are they called CNGs? Because they run on Compressed Natural Gas!

Second, here is a typical commuter bus. I've actually been wanting to photograph one for a while. Note the "decorative" scratching on the sides. What does that tell you about the traffic. At least this one appears to have all the side windows. But look carefully at the photo below - very jagged looking glass in the back window. What would Occupational Health and Safety make of that?

Thirdly, this is the back of a rickshaw bread van.

Lastly, a slightly blurry photo of the local school transport. These young children are locked in the back of a cage at the rear of a rickshaw. Every morning you see "vehicles" transporting 6 or 8 children off to primary school. At least they have air conditioning!!

Arsenic in water

2009-05-24T18:06:00.002+06:00

The presence of arsenic in water here is one of the reasons I drink bottled water all the time, even though authorities claim that Dhaka town water is safe!! Could you trust the authorities after this :
From Al Jazeera
"They call it the devil's water.

Much of Bangladesh's water contains dangerous quantities of arsenic, a toxic element that cripples human organs and can eventually lead to death.

The country is now scrambling to reverse what the World Health Organisation (WHO) calls "the largest mass poisoning in history", but it will not be an easy task.

Arsenic was commonly used as a poison in the 19th century, but in Bangladesh, it occurs naturally in the groundwater, which is pumped up by shallow tube wells.

Millions affected

No one has the exact figures of the number of wells contaminated with arsenic. But according to Ruhul Haq, Bangladesh's health minister, more than 50 per cent of the population is affected by arsenic contamination - that is more than 80 million poisoned people. "

and so it continues . . . . .

Even though it is only tube wells that they claim have high arsenic levels. The fact that arsenic occurs naturally is scary, and even though I avoid the water I often wonder how much is in the vegetables I eat. Apparently green leaf vegetables have the highest level. Hmmm . . .

Traffic Jams . . . . . . .

2009-05-21T18:55:00.002+06:00

Thank goodness today was the last day of the late start trial!!!! Instead of taking 20 minutes to get to work, this morning hit the jackpot - a mere 70 minutes, that's right SEVENTY minutes. Is it any wonder I am counting down the days until I get a break from Dhaka.

The reason - traffic jams. This morning we spent more than 30 minutes to travel about 2 kilometres, most of the time stationary with the occasional slow motion advance. Here are some pictures to give you some idea. Taking photos helps pass the time.

This is the turn into the road to the school - just this one narrow road into a rapidly developing residential area with a number of schools and a large hospital. Sensible?????

And it is not just the vehicles but also masses of pedestrian traffic who just cross whenever and wherever!

This was a queue we waited and waited in!!

Central Australia

2009-05-16T19:05:00.003+06:00

While I am at it, here are a few photographs of Central Australia. I love the outback, the desert, the space and the sometimes spectacular landscapes.

Rainbow Valley

An early morning hot air balloon flight just outside Alice Springs

The Olgas at sunrise

Kings Canyon - I love the cloud formation

A camel safari in the East MacDonnell Ranges

Sunderbans slides

2009-05-16T18:50:00.006+06:00

On my visit back to Australia, one of the things I brought back with me was my slide scanner. Although I only brought a few slides back with me to scan, I have a lot here to do - Morocco, Mali and Eastern Europe. I only have one box of Bangladesh ones, those from my Sunderbans trip last October. Here are a few to whet your appetite!

The first one here is of the boat we travelled on into the mangroves, which was also our home for 4 days. We were a group of 13, but the boat catered for 20 passengers so we had plenty space. It was very comfortable and we had great food. We travelled with a company called "Guide Tours" based here in Dhaka and this is one of three boats they own.

I remember taking this photograph but can't remember whether it is the sun going down or the moon coming up. I have a feeling it is the latter!!

There were lots of colourful butterflies.

Some woodcutters near the river mouth where we spent most of our time.

A river sunset

This boatmen we saw on the river, through the rain, on our journey down to the Sunderbans.

Maybe on my next post I'll put up a few photographs of Australia that I have scanned;just to whet you appetitite.

An interesting statistic

2009-05-08T08:03:00.002+06:00

Reading "The Dhaka Star", a local paper here in Bangladesh, the editorial highlighted that the per capita income for this fiscal year has increased to US$690 from US$608. That means that a person on average earns $690 per year, and considering all the wealthy people at the top then it also means that many, many people are below that. Compare this to Australia with about $50 000. That puts Bangladesh in the 20 poorest countries in the world along with mostly African countries such as the Congo, Zimbabwe, Mali, Equatorial Guinea.

But are they trying to help themselves? Here is a story from a work colleague.
Driving along one of the streets here in Dhaka, one always gets accosted by beggars whether you are walking or in a vehicle. Anyway one evening a colleague spotted a woman carrying a baby who was begging. Nothing unusual about that. However the the baby had a large and very obvious hernia. After a local colleague heard about this and happened to spot the same lady and baby, she stopped and got the lady in the car and said that she would par for and take the lady to a doctor to get the baby fixed. The begging lady was aghast, no way to she want the baby made better and so appear normal. her source of begging would be gone. Instead she insistently asked for money from the good samaritan!! What does this mean in terms of the future . . .. . . . . . I don't know.

In the same vain, I have also heard that all beggars will be off the streets in 10 years time. Mind you that might depend on whether Bangladesh still exists as a country or whether rising sea levels courtesy of the Graeenhouse Effect have inundated it.

Electricity (or the lack of) in Dhaka

2009-04-29T17:07:00.004+06:00

Getting back last week from Australia, there was a real electricity shock. Before I left, at worst we'd have no electricity for 1 hour in the evening. Instead when I got back, during the afternoon and evening it was 1 hour on, 1 hour off, 1 hour on, 1 hour off . . . . . . .. until I'd give up and go to bed! The trouble is that the a/c doesn't work when the electricity is off, nor does the fridge. Unfortunately there is not one power point in the apartment that works when the generator is on! I just hope that the food doesn't go off and I don't get sick as a result. Then again maybe the school would do something about it if that happened. Of course all this is compounded by the fact that temperatures have been in the high 30s and even low 40s for the past 2 weeks. No sign of rain.

However, this week the situation seems to have improved a little. Now seem to have 2 hours of electricity before it goes off for 1 hour! Apparently there is being slightly more electricity produced, hence the improvement. But will it last?????

Srimangal

2009-04-25T07:08:00.005+06:00

After a small delay (well a 2 week trip to Australia) here is the final instalment about the trip up north before the break.

Day Three involved travelling from Syhlet further south to Srimangal from where we would eventually catch the train back to Dhaka. It was about a 3 hour trip in total. It was a pretty journey that continually involved dodging other traffic on the road, mostly CNGs but also trucks, other cars and rickshaws. Then of course there is always pedestrians wandering along or back and forth across the road where they always expect the vehicles to stop.

Along the way at Moulvibazar, on the "main" road we came across a large crowd of people blocking the road so had to detour. This meant an opportunity to explore the side streets and see Bangladesh country town life.

As usual rickshaws were the most common form of transport.

We passed lots of shops and people going about their everyday business including this man in white.

Passing through Srimangal we went on to Lawachara National Park where a small area of tropical forest is preserved. This forest, rather dry when we visited but still pleasant to walk through, is home to a myriad of colourful birds, lots of butterflies flitting around, hoolock gibbons and we saw a couple of macques including 2 on a branch up above the track with the younger one scratching its mother's back.

As is the case everywhere you go in Bangladesh, our "groupies" tag along. Always a crowd gathers or our group magical get a few extra people joining on. Curiosity!

After a nice lunch in Srimangal at an Asian restaurant, I just soup because I had a stomach upset, we went to the town outskirts to visit a Monipuri village. This is one of the many tribal villages in the area. In this case we went to see the traditional weaving. It just so happened that this woman below is our guides mother.

Then of course we had to support this traditional craft and do some shopping. I just bought a couple of scarves - great idea in a hot climate but gave one to my mother.

And just to prove how small the world is, right where we stopped is the sign below Melbourne North rotary club helped to set up the craft/weaving project.

Srimangal's real claim to fame is TEA. We stopped for a quick look at a tea plantation where the tea bushes are shaded by cedar trees scattered around. Unfortunately the bushes are waiting for rain before sprouting their lush green leaves that are then picked for processing into tea.
Then of course there was the enevitable to sample the local speciality - 5-layered tea. Not that I tried it as I don't like the taste of tea. But everyone else said it was nice. Topped with cinnamon and lemon tea in the bottom, its recipe and method of production still remain a secret!
we then caught the train back to Dhaka at about 5 pm, which is another whole story in itself!!

Up north - Jaflang

2009-04-01T19:14:00.003+06:00

One of the highlights was the visit to Jaflang, close to the India border and on the Jaflang River. It was a bizarre place where the river had almost become a desert with huge piles of sand resembling sand dunes. Scattered in between were pools of water while the river still meandered a narrow course in between. Many, many Bangladeshis in their best saris wandered the sand or sat aboard one of the wooden boats and cruised the waterway or crossed to the Khasi village on the other side. We joined them and took the ride to the other side too. However, one fo the most amazinf sights amid the sand dunes of the river bed was to see people digging deep holes into the sand, then seiving the sand and stones to separate the stones that are then sorted into different sizes. Such is the shortage of stone and gravel in Bangladesh. Here is a picture of the workers digging and sieving.The scary thing is that the people work in this environment for 12 hours a day for just 100 Taka, just over a dollar a day!
Obviously used to Bangladesh tourists wandering around, these childen came to peer at the pale strangers that had ventured far into rura Bangladesh.
Besides stones, the area is also known for colourful weaving with a number of stalls on the river edge selling large bedspreads/bed covers that could be purchased for 500 Taka. Did I buy? No as I already have a number but some of the others in the group with me did. Here are the stall sellers showing off their wares.
Close to India - that bridge spanning the gorge is in India, so yes. Unfortunately a visa is required to cross so I couldn't do so this time. This photo also shows the mountains that form the backgrop to this border town.

Back safely . . . . . eventually

2009-03-30T19:23:00.006+06:00

Had a really interesting trip and made it back safely . . . . . eventually. All was going well on the train trip back to Dhaka, allocated seats in an a/c carriage, which was not crowded with lots of people standing like the train there. Looking like we would arrive only slightly late and just over an hour out of Dhaka, movement came to a screaming halt when a wheel came off the carriage in front, which then derailed. Spending more than 3 hours waiting, eventually we clamboured down from the train in the semi-dark with no platform, onto the rails before climbing aboard the Chittagong train that had stopped to pick us up. Finally arrived in Dhaka at 1 am and home at 1.30 am. Not great when I had to get up again at 5.30 am. This was all after I managed to catch some stomach bug and was up every hour the night before and off to the bathroom, so had barely eaten all day before getting the train. Here are some photos taken on the train trip up as it was dark when we came back.

Standing room only on the train trip Dhaka - Syhlet

A collection of a few houses beside the train track. Life is basic for most people here. No running water, no sanitation and no electricity.

Scrubbing water buffalo - the only other time I have seen cattle being scrubbed is when I was a child and we were preparing our stud jersey cattle for agricultural shows in country Australia.

Life is hard and physical for most people here. Carrying goods in baskets with a wooden yoke is a common sight.

Fields of rice fading into the haze of air pollution courtesy of the brick works around Dhaka.

Curious villagers come to look in the windows of the train while it is stopped. Like many people in Bangladesh, they are happy to ahve their photograph taken.

The local corner store and taxi service and a village adjacent to the rail line.

Heading off for the weekend.

2009-03-25T18:12:00.002+06:00

Just noticed that my last post was quite a while ago, so thought I'd better make the effort, and a real effort it is. Thank goodness we have a three-day weekend starting tomorrow. It is just a shame it is the weekend before the holidays but still I am off sightseeing. A group of us are heading to the hills: the land of tea plantations, green rice fields and hopefully cooler weather. Mind you, getting there should be an adventure in itself as I will be taking my first Bangladesh train trip. No a/c available for the trip there and here people ride on top of the train, lots of people. Obviously there is no tunnels on these tracks. Then again, there is no mountains requiring tunnels to go through them.

We get taken around the area and shown the sights by a guide for just over two days. So hopefully I should get some good photos, especially now I have my new camera. Hopefully will get some posted next week before I head back to Australia for the holidays.

Outside Dhaka

2009-03-13T18:48:00.003+06:00

Last weekend when we went to visit the ceramics factory, we stopped at an Italian restaurant on the way back for a late lunch. The pizza I had was nice with a thin crust which I like. Plus the creme caramel is one of the best I have had for ages!!
It was right on a main road - here is a picture of the road with vehicles of all descriptions as we tend to get on roads everywhere here. Unusually though the pedestrian is walking on the side of the road rather then on the road and expecting all the vehicles to go around!!!As in Nepal and India, the big haulage trucks are decorates with quite ornate and detailed paintings on them. Although these trucks are banned from most of Dhaka during the day, only being allowed in at night when the traffic isn't quite as bad!!!

While going there and back, again I saw lot of evidence for where all Dhaka's pollution comes from - the brickworks.

They are everywhere with thick, black smoke pouring into the air (and our lungs). There is a lack of gravel here in Bangladesh so bricks are made, then broken up into small pieces for use instead of gravel or stones.

Monno Ceramics factory visit

2009-03-08T20:20:00.004+06:00

Yesterday a group of us drove for about an hour to just outside of Dhaka to visit the Monno Ceramics factory. Unfortunately we didn't get to look over the factory as you have to book in advance, instead just getting to look in the showroom. Wow what stunning stuff - so different to what you see normally in Bangladesh. Bone china and porcelain and "normal" dinner sets and accompanying pieces that is made for the upmarket shops throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, US, UK, Japan and more. Names include Ikea, Country Road, John Lewis . . . . . . (can't remember the rest)!!

Anyway here is a sample of some of their wares:

Dhaka - River and boats

2009-02-27T18:26:00.004+06:00

Here are a couple of photos I took when I was in Old Dhaka a couple of weeks ago. They show the river that runs through central Dhaka and the amazing collection of boats for which the river is home. Mind you I'm sure there are many other smaller rivers or tributaries in Dhaka as well, as it is a huge city with a population of more than 15 million.

Note the smog!!!

Dramas in Dhaka

2009-02-25T18:24:00.003+06:00

Today has been an eventful day in Dhaka. Not only did we have the athletic sports on at school on probably what has been the hottest day for months, but shooting broke out in central Dhaka. Apparently the border security guards, unhappy with their pay and conditions and the treatment in regards to getting them improved somehow lead to a "fire fight" in their barracks. Then the whole area was surrounded by soldiers with some roads being closed.

Our parents who are readily panicked, maybe with reason as many have close connections to the government and political parties, started coming to collect their children. With two thirds of the students gone by the end of lunch, the day was shortened at school finished at 2.30. However, I must say that our students are overly protected - they never walk anywhere as they have drivers, they never clean up after themselves as they have maids, they struggle to think for themselves as many have tutors (a teacher's worst nightmare), hence the parents always think the worst.

What is happening now? The streets of Gulshan are super quiet. Road 35 that I can see from my kitchen window is usually aglow with headlights as cars bank up tooting their horns. Instead tonight there is rarely a car to be seen!! The latest on the mutiny is that some members of the rifles brigade have met with the Prime Minister, who has granted them an amenesty but otherwise negotiations are continuing. Hopefully the situation has been defused. Looks like work tomorrow.

Another published article, not Bangladesh though

2009-02-14T08:46:00.001+06:00

This weekend, an article I wrote about hiking in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco has been published in "The Weekend Australian" newspaper. It also has a really cute illustration to accompany it.
Here is the link.

Enjoy and feel free to comment.

My new project . . . . . . .

2009-02-13T20:24:00.001+06:00

My new project that I have started on today is to try and make some money from my photographs via joining a website that enables people to order online cards, calendars, prints, framed photos and canvas prints of my photos. It is through a site called redbubble that is actually based in Melbourne. Search for heatherf and you will find what photo I have put up so far, not many yet but I have to be selective so that I only put the best up. The other problem I have that is any I took on my old, small digital camera are only available as cards or matt prints because of the size/number of pixels. I am also going to try and put a link on the side of my blog, but it takes me a while as I have to paste in html code for that.

Enjoy and feel free to tell me what you think.

School - a bit late but here it is

2009-02-07T08:59:00.003+06:00

Rather belatedly, here are a few photos of where I spend most my daylight hours: school. I meant to do this much earlier, like last year, but just didn't get around to taking some photos. That is the front entrance to the school above. Below is my classroom.

This is one of the outside passageways linking the buildings.

The upper primary building.

Inside the secondary building: the secondary well

Back to Dhamrai

2009-01-30T20:37:00.003+06:00

Today since I had a van I went back to Dhamrai, the brass village after first going to the International Trade Fair here in Dhaka, which cost a whole 12 Tk entry (20c). The Trade Fair was an exhibition of Bangladeshi companies//businesses and what they produce plus a few exhibits from surrounding Asian countries. There was shop after shop with saris and fabric for Salwar Kameez: scarlet, bright orange, pink, buttercup yellow, green with embroidery, sparkles, block printing . . . . . Some in silk, some in cotton and some synthetic but it all gets a bit over-powering in the end. Although you can get most of the same stuff in the shops around Gulshan anyway. I just bought a silk scarf for a gift for 250 Tk (about $4 Australian).

Then it was off to Dhamrai, along the mostly empty roads due to it being Friday, the day or rest here. Compared to last time it was very different. The vast swathes of water either side of the road have been replaced by rice paddies: a field of green. In some people were bent over planting the small plants in the water-covered mud.

Once in Dhamrai it was back to Dhamrai Metal Crafts located in a beautiful old house. This time I got to see of the more of the the steps in the traditional "Lost Wax" process they use. Plus I also got the hear the beautiful "Singing bowls" again.

The steps:
1. A rough shape of the statue is made out of clay.

2.This clay shape is covered by about 1 cm of grey-streaked black wax into which the intricate details of the outside of the statues are carved.

3.This is then covered by a further layer of clay. The whole thing is then fired, melting and burning the wax to produce the mould into which brass is then poured. The clay is then removed and "voila" there is a statue. The statue is then fine-tuned with trimming, polishing and the addition of any fine decoration.

This is the end product.

Again I didn't buy any brass, this time just a DVD of theprocess that I still have to watch. But there were five lovely frogs each playing a different musical instrument for 9500 Tk, a small but heavy cobra for 1500 Tk and the singing bowls, well they are upwards of 3000 Tk. Maybe next time.

Dhaka smog

2009-01-24T15:00:00.003+06:00

These photos will give you some idea of the smog here in Dhaka, although it has been much worse on many days. So much so that when I go out my door I can smell it!

Habitat for Humanity

2009-01-19T17:52:00.004+06:00

Yesterday I went with a group of students on an excursion to participate in a Habitat for Humanity community service project. Habitat for Humanity build help to built houses for families in needy villages throughout the world. The trouble was that we spent longer getting there (2 hours) and coming back (90 minutes) than at the village. But it was interesting anyway. The students found the physical labour difficult to cope with. I only did a little - showed them how to use the stiff hand pump for water and broke up some bricks into stones as there is no natural rocks and gravel here in Bangladesh. On the other side, the villagers were very friendly and the kids quite inquisitive.

They really enjoyed me taking photos of them then looking at them on the camera screen. It was also an opportunity to see some local life.

Plus the baby goats were cute.

Driving posts, the Bangladeshi way!

2009-01-16T20:50:00.003+06:00

These photos are from before I went on Winter Break. These show the Bangladeshi method of driving posts or poles into the ground. All done by hand and from a movable frame with one person on the frame and one on the ground beside the frame doing the work! Take a look and see what you think???

These photos are taken through my balcony door as the sunsets.

Buying flowers

2009-01-11T17:48:00.003+06:00

Most weekends when I go out walking I walk past the flower shop. Occasionally I buy. This weekend I bought 2 really pretty gladioli at 20 Taka each, that is the grand total of about 60 c for 2! I put them on my desk so I can admire them while I work.

Great aren't they.

The NEW bridge

2009-01-11T17:27:00.004+06:00

Over the last few months I have been watching the progress on a new bridge and connecting road from by balcony that also looks across the lake. When I got back from the Winter break, the bridge is finally open, although the road at the back of my apartment is yet to open.

So yesterday I went for a walk across the bridge and just happened to run into a group of people marching across the bridge carry bunches of flowers! The reason, maybe something to do with Ashura, the Muslim holiday that was happening over the weekend. As well as me taking photos of the bridge, the locals were taking photos of me with their phones!

It is quite an attractive bridge with very well set up roads leading to and from it on the Gulshan side. But the other good news is that is provides a short cut to Road 11 in Banani, which is home to lots of restaurants. I went to Dhaba, a Bangladeshi one, over the weekend.

This is looking through the bridge towards the back of my apartment block.

The well tended lawns and gardens at the foot of the bridge, which provided ideal grazing for a goat.

This photo I really like - you can guess!

Old Dhaka: Sitara Mosque

2009-01-08T15:51:00.007+06:00

Close to the Armenian Church in distance, but a whole world away culturally was the next stop - Sitara Mosque, also called the Star Mosque, but I didn't know this until I started writing this blog entry. Even though I have seen many mosques, and most of them in Bangladesh are very plain, as we approached I started saying "it's so beautiful", and it is. Facing was a series of archways with two large domes and three smaller domes above. But it was the colour that was most striking: white, not a grubby white, with coloured glass inset in these tiles. The mosque dates from the early 18th century but has changed considerably since then.

Inside there is a mosaic floor and tiles with floral patterns set on the wall. Many of these tiles added in the renovation around 50 years ago are from Japan and the UK. According to Lonely Planet this includes tiles with pictures of Mt Fuji but I didn't notice any, not that I was looking.

Why it is called the Star Mosque? The most logical reason seems that there is a large star in the pool out the front of the mosque. But it could also be that pieces of china and glass used as decoration appear as twinkling stars if viewed from a distance.

Old Dhaka: Armenian Church

2009-01-08T15:00:00.005+06:00

The Lonely Planet guide wasn't lying when it said that this church is an "oasis of tranquillity". It is definitely a place of peace and calm among the mayhem, madness, noise and bustle that is Dhaka. It comes as such a surprising sight among the grubby apartment blocks and squashed together shops with boys playing badminton on the street out the front.

The ginger trimmed with white building that is the Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection was mostly built in 1781 after an Armenian colony settled in Dhaka in the 17th century. Today nine families remain.

On entry what struck me most was the large number of graves, and there was more on the opposite side of the church. Not only did they fill the grounds but were also under the verandah. Many of the graves still had text that could be read. Some was in English, some in Bangla, maybe not looking at the photo below.

The interior is simple but stunning. with red and blue detail contrasting with the white walls and roof. There was also a lovely circular set of stairs in one corner. It is still used. Armenian Christmas Day is on January 6th but the service is to be held tomorrow on January 9th since that is the day businesses are closed here. We were even invited to return for the service for which a visiting priest is being used.

The caretaker, who has been there for twenty years, welcomes visitors and shows them around. he is also prepared to share what he knows and answer questions you may have. I made a small donation in return.

Old Dhaka: Shankharia Bazar

2009-01-08T14:26:00.004+06:00

As today was a holiday and I didn't have to work, a colleague who had the use of a school van and I went and visited Old Dhaka. First stop was the Pink Palace but unfortunately it was closed - it is closed Thursday and half of Friday (opening at 3 pm) so maybe next time.

Next stop was Shankharia Bazar, commonly called Hindu Street that I had visited before. However this time it was decorated for something, but I am not sure what. You can see this in the first photo.

Even though it was a holiday, not much was closed on this street. The fruit and vegetable sellers were out on the street with their basket containing eggplant, tomatoes and some green vegetable or the flower sellers were out with roses or orange marigolds
or most interesting to me was a man with a basket of pumpkin flowers, tied into small bunches, that he was selling. Not sure what for, whether it was to eat or whether it was for some traditional Hindu ceremony. Something for me to find out!

Shankharias are Hindu artisans. Here you can see them making the conch shell bracelets, drums, carving gravestones and making kites.

Village life

2008-12-01T19:02:00.011+06:00

The trip to Sonargaon was also an opportunity to wander through villages and get a look into life there. Here's a few pictures to give you an idea:

Here is the local poultry farm, with the boys below the ones who look after them.

A Horlick's sign!

Here is a stupa near one of the villages, hidden amongst a clump of trees and surrounded by rice paddies.

A group of curious children who talked with us and followed us while we were wandering through the village.

Cricket scoreboard
Howing the cabbage crop.

Doors and windows!!

2008-11-30T17:16:00.004+06:00

How could I go anywhere and not take photos of doors and windows!!! Here's some:

Then an old palace

2008-11-30T16:38:00.004+06:00

Wandering on past the street with the facade of colonial buildings, past some typical villages shops including the "rickshaw garage", we headed offroad past an orchard and vegetable patch to what I think used to be a palace but today is more of a factory, a recycling factory where tyre inners are cut up. Not that we saw any evidence of work since it was Friday.

But a beautiful courtyard decorated by mosaics and stone columns, and many of the buildings with a touch of pink. It could be absolutely stunning if restored. Here are a few photos:

Sonargaon - the colonial past

2008-11-29T16:08:00.004+06:00

This consisted a street bordered by crumbling houses and their facades but there were still traces to show how beautiful these buildings must have been.

There was wrought iron edging the upstairs balconies, carved stone lintels above the doorways,

columns with ornate decorations supporting the verandahs and small patches of mosaic decoration.

Only one or two seemed to have people living in them and they were in better condition.

Sonargaon

2008-11-29T10:13:00.007+06:00

After rather a hectic week, yesterday I had a van so a group of us went for a day trip out of Dhaka to the old capital of Sonargaon. It contains buildings built between the 15th and 19th centuries, with architecture from the era of the Sultanate, Mughal and colonial period. It originated as the capital of the fifteenth-century ruler of Bengal - Isa Khan. Only 23 kilometres from central Dhaka, it took us almost 2 hours to get there but only one hour to come home.

The first place we stopped was at the museum but it closed before we had time to enter but we could wander around the grounds. The above building looked like an old palace but I am not sure if that was the case. This is some close-up detail of the building above.

There was also a couple of lakes, with the first of many patches of mauve-flowering water hyacinths that we saw. There were lots of Bangladeshi people wandering around and relaxing. There shops selling craft goods but nothing food wise.

Many of the exterior walls were decorated with mosaics such as the one below.

Entertainment for the children consisted of a "man-powered" ferris wheel shown below. There was also two "man-powered" merry go rounds for the younger ones.

Grease

2008-11-15T08:26:00.003+06:00

Last night I went to see the school production of Grease and it was good, really good. Might you it ought to have been the number of classes many of the participants have missed. The girl who played Sandy had a lovely voice but I couldn't help laughing when she said she was from Sydney, Australia - long black hair, dark brown skin and brown eyes are not your typical Australian colouring. Not sure why they didn't change it to Dhaka, Bangladesh as I'm sure that would have got a laugh. The singing was great, dancing OK at times and the couple of teachers that were in it were hilarious!
Mind you they had to hold the show for us - a bus load of teachers from the school, as we ended up taking longer than planned to get there. Met at the American Club where it takes forever to pay your bills, then stopped to pick one of the students up, waited 5 minutes and still nobody appeared then got caught in traffic. Of course being Bangladesh there was problems, technical problems. This time it was no sound. Apparently one hour before the start there was no sound what so ever then during interval the sound went again so the second half was delayed.
A pleasant evening but expensive by Bangladeshi standards at 500 Taka for a ticket. It was also something different to do and see on a quiet Friday.

Drawing a crowd

2008-11-10T18:12:00.003+06:00

As soon as you stop anywhere here in Bangladesh, a crowd rapidly develops. Founded on curiosity the people generally they stay a metre or so away. It happened quite a few times on the heritage walk. Sometimes they gathered outside the shop entrance.

Another time is was when we stopped for a couple of people to get a green coconut for a fresh drink of coconut milk.

Old Heritage walk buildings

2008-11-08T08:59:00.006+06:00

The focus of the heritage walk was to view some of the old buildings in the area, that were once beautiful but are now in various states of disrepair. Unfortunately there is not the money or the inclination to restore these buildings to their former glory.
We started at Pogose School build in 1848, and still used as a school today. It was partially renovated a few years ago but the money ran out. There is a lovely wooden banister on the staircase in the centre of the building below. We got let in by a caretaker who has been there for 43 years. Outside were lots of the local lads playing cricket as the grounds are one of the few spacious areas around Hindu Street. Here is the school.

Some detail of the school building.

There are many houses bordering Hindu Street, whose upstairs often have a colonial facade in front of a Moghul facade. Inside the rooms are tiny, the passages dark and the stairways narrow as we see when we go inside a few of them. He is some aging detail above a doorway.

Most of the houses have a central courtyard, either the entire height of the building or just the upper floors. Here is a girl in one of the courtyards.

This is a courtyard in another house.

An upstairs house facade that is typical of many in the area.

The Pink Fort, a little bit of a contrast to the houses we looked at!!!! It is today a museum.

Old Dhaka heritage walk

2008-11-07T16:40:00.004+06:00

This morning I joined another teacher and a few other people I didn't know on a free heritage walk around Old Dhaka. It focused on Shakhari Bazaar, or Hindu Street, and the surrounds. As you can gather this is a Hindu area of Dhaka with many buildings dating back to the early 1800s. plus it is an area of local craftsmen, including the famous bracelet makers that cut one piece bracelets from conch shells and lots of kite shops. The local kite festival is coming up in August. Here is some of the colour.A shopkeeper blowing the famous conch shell, which are imported from India.
Making the conch shell bracelets

Adding a fine iron powder to the drum skin to improve the sound.

Kite shopping is done!

Fresh meat anyone????
Rosebuds for sale.

What colour would you like?

I will do another post on the buildings.

The lake is going down . . . . . .

2008-11-01T09:21:00.005+06:00

One of the nice things about where I live is that I can look out my living area or off the balcony and get a pleasant view over a small lake that is backed some greenery with the tall buildings of the city centre off in the distance.

However in the last week I have noticed that the water level in the lake is going down. Previously, especially after the 3 days of continuous rain last weekend, the water level was almost up to the doorway of the "shacks" on the other side of the lake.

But in the last couple of days it has gone down, way down. A couple of metres lower I would say. Now all the muddy bank and accompanying trash is visible in front of the "shacks".

This building here shown at present, used to be used by the boys as a diving board into the water. They would climb onto the roof, take a run and jump off splashing into the lake. Now as this photo shows, that is not option as the water barely comes up to the edge, let alone having enough to jump into.
The reason - there is a new bridge opening shortly about 50 metres further up the lake from where I live that will join Gulshan 2 to Banani (Road 11 in particular) so they are busy finishing that. Plus they are dumping earth into the lake on this side to create a road from what was a track along the lake edge to link with the bridge. The trucks bring in fill and the bulldozer spreads it out.
The local people come and stand and watch what is happening. Something out of the ordinary for them it is. It also makes a pleasant playground, as close as they will ever get to a sand pit, for some local boys.

So I think my peace and quiet may be partially shattered in the near future. There is more information about the bridge on the blog, "Dhaka - a visual record", which I have a link to on the right hand side of my blog. According to that blog the bridge is meant to open in November 2008!! Maybe by the end but that would certainly be quick for Bangladesh.

Aussie BBQ

2008-10-31T19:40:00.002+06:00

Last night I went to the Australia Club for their monthly BBQ. It is one place where you can get decent wines, Australian wines. So a friend and I ordered a bottle of red, Cabernet Sauvignon, to share.

On a close inspection I found it was from Stonehaven winery in Padthaway, south east South Australia. Here is a map to show you where:

It was a tasty drop to sip while passing the time until the BBQ was ready. It was later than normal because there was so many people there. They stopped selling BBQ tickets once they got to 200! It was worth the wait thought - pork sausages, steak & onions, vegetarian lasagna scalloped potatoes and more . . . . .

What may have attracted the crowd was that there was also a fashion show plus a display of "rickshaw art". The latter is the type of painting normally seen on the back of rickshaws, is instead done on boards to hang on the wall and also on rectangular boxes. It is full of bright colours and often includes birds or animals or people that are half human, half animal or ocean pictures. I wasn't remotely tempted though.

A slow trip home again . . . . .

2008-10-31T11:34:00.005+06:00

Well yesterday was a slow trip home from school again - it actually hasn't really happened since Ramadan finished but the last two weeks since the local schools went back, there has been traffic problems galore. It took 30 minutes to cover the one kilometre of so from school out to the main road, so I got out my camera (my old camera) and took a few photographs along the way. Here they are:

This is a reflection of the construction of a building seen in the walls of a huge new shopping centre that is being build there. Not sure what that will do to the traffic problems!!

These trees decorates with swathes of fabric have been like this a while and I have been meaning to take a photo of it. That and the yellow "squares" in between are advertising for the opening of a new shop nearby.

This is a man and his daughter in a rickshaw. Look for the phone - I didn't know about that until I had downloaded the photo and looked at an enlarged version.

These are typical of the shops along the road, but it actually hasn't rained for about 3 days and yet the water still lies!

There are many fruit stalls that line one side of the road as it approaches the intersection. I often think that it would be nice to jump out and buy some. It is also a place to see lots of the women out and about in their vividly coloured saris.

I've got the windows open!!!

2008-10-25T13:29:00.004+06:00

FINALLY the weather is cooler. It rained a little last night and there is still light showers but it has cooled the temperature down so that I can actually open the windows to let the cool breeze in. And there is no need for the a/c. Will it last? I have no idea but people who have been here longer than me keep saying it should get cooler . . . . . . . .

Here are a couple of photos I took from my balcony door with my new camera. The first two are taken on the sunset setting, which is meant to give more realistic sunset colours. It was a nice sunset but this colourful - I'm not sure??? Plus I was running a bit late and it was getting dark so they are not crystal clear.
Next is a pretty kingfisher that was sitting on the electricity wires. Even though I zoomed in, I still had to crop the photo. Not that I know what kind it is. Harriett????

Finally a quick snap of the "houses" that some people live in on the other side of the lake. They can only access them by boat/raft as they are built up against a concrete wall in the lake edge.

Need to get out and take some photos around the neighbourhood, just need better weather.

Temple of Heaven, Beijing

2008-10-17T19:49:00.004+06:00

Having been to the Forbidden City on a previous brief visit to Beijing, this time I went to the Temple of Heaven. The spectacular temples are set amid a 267 hectare park with walkways and shady trees. A very peaceful oasis in the bustle of Beijing At the centre of the complex is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. it is built without nails and has solid wooden columns made from a single tree supporting the ceiling. Originally it was built in 1420 but burnt down and was then rebuilt. It has ornate painting decoration both inside and out as can be seen below.

The number of pillars inside all have symbolic meaning. It is 35 cm high and 30 metres in diameter.

Also with symbolic meaning is the round shape of the Imperial Vault of Heaven temple and its square base below. All the structures of examples of Ming architecture.
This is some painted detail seen on the painted beams in green and blue that shade the walkway to the central temples from the East Gate.

The Great Wall

2008-10-17T16:00:00.004+06:00

Once I knew that I was going to Beijing for a work conference and was able to leave a couple of days early, I decided that going to the Great Wall was my priority. When I mentioned that to my friend who I was staying with, she said she'd organise a driver. So after arriving on Friday, Saturday morning saw us heading out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. There are actually a number of different places to visit from Beijing. It was about 90 minutes with the last 30 being very scenic as we drove through valleys and the foothills of the mountains, passed orchards with apples, pears, crab apples and apricots. We also passed many fruit stands beside the road that were selling this produce, many with piles of walnuts still in their shells. They also had lots of Fuji apples that were the highlight of my fruit experience in China: crunchy, juicy and with lots of flavour. On arrival we walked up the hill, past dozens of tour buses to the cable car station. That is the short, easy way up to the wall, not that I think you can walk up anyway. Here is the cable car.
Once up the top we decided to walk along the wall, up and down, to reach one of the higher points to hopefully get a good view. This section of the wall is popular as it has many guard towers. Here is part of the wall looking through the doorway of one of the guard towers.
Much of this section of the wall has been restored, with restoration continuing. The wall walkway is about 3 metres above the ground below, with a brick wall either side of the path. This shows the high point we walked up to.
Looking back from on high, it can be seen that the Great Wall meanders along the ridge top. We were also lucky that the surrounding vegetation was tinted in orange and gold as the leaves were slowly developing their autumn colours. A couple of weeks later and the colours would have been even better. Not that I could complain with blue skies overhead, and sunshine warming my skin.
Here we are after our picnic lunch on the Great Wall. In the background is the section we walked. It was a great trip.
After taking the cable car back down again, we had to brave the souvenir sellers that lined the steps down to the car park. "T-shirts for $1", they said although apparently the price increases when you show interest. There was also dolls, umbrellas, brass and wooden statues, wall hangings and bedspreads. Some were quite aggressive blocking my path or even grabbing hold of my arm. But they did not succeed. I did by some dried kiwi fruit from the dried fruit stalls further down the stairs. Here are the stalls.
These dolls are just one of the things for sale.

The Great Wall really is a must see and I wasn't disappointed by what I saw. There was masses of tourists there when we arrived at about 11.30 am but by 2.30 when we came down, most had gone and the wall was fairly quiet.

Back in Bangladesh. Been to Beijing.

2008-10-17T13:55:00.005+06:00

Got back last night from Beijing after a 21 hour travel day a 6 hour flight to Singapore, then a 6 hour wait before the 4 hour flight back to Dhaka. It was like going from one world to another, even though both cities are in Asia.
In Beijing, excellent roads, freeways and streets with footpaths, whilst in Dhaka footpaths are rare and many streets are full of potholes and edged in dirt.
In Beijing, new buildings sprout like mushrooms being built fast and efficiently with things such as cranes while here they go slowly, very slowly with all work being done by hand. Bamboo is the scaffolding are ladders are made from scrap wood.
In Beijing are shops, lots of shops where you can get almost anything. There has even been a recent increase in English bookshops. Here limited English books are available. I actually ended up going shopping at Singapore airport for books.
Many people in Beijing also live in apartment blocks. My friend lives on the 12th floor of a 32 floor building. Here they only get to 5. The view from her apartment.
And food, the Chinese food was great be it noodles or Peking duck. I will do later posts on some of the tourist things I got to go.

KFC

2008-10-08T21:53:00.003+06:00

This evening I went for my first fast food experience in Bangladesh. With a friend who is travelling to Beijing with me tomorrow (assuming I get my passport back in the morning), and her son we went to KFC after we'd been to the money changers to get US dollars.

So what was KFC like? Same logos, same uniforms, basically the same food with looong queues and lots of people. I ordered a 2 piece combo. The chicken and mashed potato were much the same but both seem to have a hot, spicy undertone to the taste. I did pass on the Pepsi though so I could sleep tonight, instead having water. All the same it was quite nice for a change. Here is part of the menu -:

Just down the road is Pizza Hut, just in case you need another fast food experience or a reminder of life in the west!

Stopped at the traffic lights on the way home, the beggars came knocking at the windows. First a young boy of whom I could only see the black hair on the top of his head. Next was a man with white goatee on his grizzled skin and sparse white hair drooping down. Not sure if all his body parts were there as often the beggars have part of an arm missing, are on crutches because their leg has been amputated below the knee or are blind. Even though I feel sympathetic, I know as I was reminded of tonight, that once you give money to one they all come swarming around. I know it is mean but . . . . . . . . I have to go out walking on those streets again and I don't like the feeling of boys following me for ages then starting to grab at my hands and arms. Mind you , if we can eat at KFC, I should probably be giving. THAT is one of the many dilemmas of life in Bangladesh.

Beside the river

2008-10-02T10:29:00.005+06:00

While the previous post looked at life on the river, which basically consisted of boats, ships and more boats, it was also very interesting to see what life was happening on the banks of the river. we passed many small villages with houses made of woven bamboo walls, and thatch on the roof. Small wooden boats would be pulled up on the bank while cattle would be tethered and chicken wandering. In one place there was a women in a lipstick pink sari digging up mud from the riverbank. What a contrast.

In some places the rice paddies came right down to the river's edge, but they were so pretty being a vivid lime green.

In one place we saw a herd of cattle being moved along the mud flats beside the river, an event that could only happen at low tide. How do you think we would go to carry an umbrella when moving cattle in Australia???

Then at Mongla, Bangladesh's second port we saw signs of industry. Ocean going ships unloading cement powder where it is stored in large concrete, cylindrical silos.

Then there were the tall chimneys of the brickworks, an icon of Bangladesh in many ways as they are EVERYWHERE.

Bangladesh river boats

2008-10-01T16:58:00.007+06:00

I am sure at the present moment that about one-third of the country called Bangladesh must be under water. There is water everywhere. As we drove we saw it on either side, the rivers are wide and there is more water on the other side of the embankments. It is no wonder that boats are the most important form of transport in this country. Mind you, some of the sights I saw also showed why it can be so dangerous, such overloaded boats have to be seen to be believed. Spending many hours travelling up and down the river, a huge variety of boats was seen The following photographs show a few.

Here is a river passenger boat, that is not dreadfully overloaded.

This is the smoke stack of an ocean going ship that was at the port of Mongla.

This is the typical type of boat used by the villagers, made of wood and propelled with a wooden oar. here it is being used to transport freshly cut grass.

However, the majority of the boats we saw on the river were fishing boats like the one below. They usually contained 3 or 4 people - one at the back to steer, two at the from to paddle and one in the middle to put out (or bring in) the fishing nets.

This is one of the overloaded boats as seen in Khulna where it ferries people from one side of the river to the other.

Here are the wood cutters on their boat at the river mouth with the Bay of Bengal in the background.

This is another passenger boat but not overloaded this time.

This shows the contrasts of the boats found on the river - a small wooden boat with the side on an ocean-going, cement carrying ship in the background.

And this is one of the more modern boats, a coast guard vessel near Mongla.

Here is a barge being pushed along by another boat.

Muddling through the mangroves

2008-10-01T16:30:00.004+06:00

Another way to explore the Sunderbans on foot was to go on a mud walk through the mangrove forest. After waiting for low tide in the early afternoon, we donned special shoes provided by the tour company, Guide Tours, that could get muddy. Socks were recommended to be worn as well. I put on the smallest shoes, a men's size 7 but they were still much too big for me so I laced them up tightly and hoped. We started near what used to be a resort until Sidr came to visit.
Here are the girls playing in the mud, and we haven't even left the beach yet!

The walk started walking along a boardwalk, then after a few metres along the concrete support (all that was left) it was down into the mud This first area was quite open but again the damage from the cyclone was very evident.

It was a challenge when squelching through the mud to remain upright and keep one's shoes on. Often it felt to me that mine were going to be sucked off, but the tight ankle laces kept them on. With the extra length of the shoes I managed to upset my balance twice - once I ended up sitting on the pneumatophores (the air roots of the mangrove trees that stick up in the mud) and the other time I managed to land on some branches. So at least I didn't end up sitting in the mud. But there are some creatures that call the mud home. There were tiny crabs with a single white or red pincer scuttling around on the beach and disappearing into the mud at our approach. There were also larger crabs about 10 cm across in the forest plus the molluscs shown in the photo below that could either be found in the mud or attached to the trunk of a tree, from where they were easily knocked off.

We then entered an area of thick mangroves, having to bend out head and hold branches to not get flicked in the face. There was deeper mud and we even had to follow a few water channels. the highlight here was seeing tiger scratch marks on the trunks of a couple of trees. These scratch marks were above my head height so perhaps it was lucky we didn't meet any! From the dense mangrove we headed back towards the shore where the signs of a rejuvenating forest could be seen. Soon this entire mud area would be under 1 then 2 metres of water

Further on another sign of rejuvenation - a small mangrove seedling growing in the sand.

Then we saw a water snake in a small pool of water and passed by the cottages that were once homes to visitors but our now slowly being restored after a 3 metres tidal surge went through and almost destroyed them during the cyclone. Even the jetty is being rebuilt. It is inspiring to see the rate can overcome the damage but I can also see why powerful cyclones in the future may also lead to the destruction of the Sunderbans.

Thru grasslands to the beach

2008-10-01T16:01:00.004+06:00

Another way of exploring the Sunderbans is on foot. So after a short boat trip we got dropped off at what used to be a concrete jetty but is now a broken pile of concrete courtesy of cyclone Sidr.

As we arrived, we say a number of monkeys in the trees but they quickly disappeared as we landed. No time for a photo. Then we followed the trail through the grasslands, with grasses and ferns growing up to shoulder height. We were accompanied by the two armed guards from the forest centre theoretically to protect us. Whether they had bullets for their guns could be debatable. First stop was a lookout tower, with a few broken wooden steps that had to be avoided. From its top I took this photo of the trail in from the river.

At the foot of the tower was a small flowering plant that had yellow-green flowers that were tinged with pink. Actually they looked more like leaves, but they must have been sweet as the butterflies were flitting around. Landing, then taking off again, then coming back. This plant seemed to be the favourite of the very beautiful blue and black winged, Blue Tiger butterfly. It is shown in the photo below. But there were many other also flying around: a plain yellow one, one with a red body and pink, black and white wings - the Common Rose butterfly and its close relative the Crimson Rose. Butterfly spotting was a real highlight.

As we left the lookout tower, we meandered through shallow water and patches of mud bordered by the grasses including one with a white feathery head that resembled pampas grass. In the edge of the forest was a herd of deer who on our approach, quickly skipped off across the trail and into the grass. All that could be seen were their cute faces and their ears pointed upwards in alertness. A few of the males also had antlers. Then a wild boar also crossed the track and disappeared. Nobody wanted to be too close to it.

As the sound of the waves got louder and the beach nearer we entered a forest area, an apocalyptic forest that had been decimated by cyclone Sidr. Broken and fallen down trees were everywhere. Those trees still standing were mostly a single stick trunk, many devoid of leaves. Rounding one corner and trying to avoid sinking too deep in the mud, there was a splash of bright orange, then lots of patched of bright orange. These were the opportunistic bracket fungi shown in the photograph below. Parasitic, they live on the wood from the dead trees gradually breaking it down.

Finally the waves roared and we reached the beach, the Bay of Bengal. Here are some of our group braving the warm waters, and warm they were as I found when I went for a paddle. The water was a very murky brown due to all the sediment running in from the rivers plus it was not very salty due to the large amount of fresh water entering. It was a long, wide beach and totally deserted. What a surprise!

Then we had the long hot walk back to the river to get the boat back to our "cruise ship". It was a fun walk though and gave a very different perspective on the Sunderbans.

Early morning cruises

2008-10-01T15:27:00.004+06:00

Each morning we went on an early for morning cruise at 6 am into the creeks and tributaries. With only a paddle, we appreciated the silence, the sounds of nature and spent our time trying to spot wildlife, with some success. We saw lots of birds. Here is a kingfisher . . . .

. . a Bengal Monitor . . .

. . a macaque . .
and plants were not forgotten. Although most we saw were mangroves or palms, the most unusual was sea holly, a reminder of that Christmas decoration.

Sunderbans Highlights

2008-10-01T14:22:00.004+06:00

The river

Except for the bus trip to Khulna and back (about 8 hours to do 320 kilometres), the Sunderbans trip was so relaxing. Once we had reached Khulna, it was then a 12 hour boat trip to the southern end of the Sunderbans, on the Bay of Bengal. We then spent 3 nights and 2 days anchored at the river mouth on the ebbing and flowing brown water, masses of mangroves on either side. When the tide got low, deer and birds such as herons and storks wander the mudflats looking for food. The occasional illegal fishing boat passes by.

Spotted deer making their escape

The boat was a 24-berth boat for 14 of us, which means there is plenty of space. There is a dining area in front of the cabins with a sheltered area in front on the bow. On top is a sun deck with seating and some shading. Down below is the crew area. There is 11 crew, including a guide and 2 trainee guides, for the 14 of us. Plus we had to pick up 2 armed park guards when we entered the national park.

Our home - the cruise boat

We certainly were well looked after. The food was fantastic with breakfast including an egg dish, toast or pancakes plus bananas and even local Sunderban honey. We had hot meals for both lunch and dinner plus desert, which was usually fruit but also included curd and creme caramel. Snacks were also provided both in the morning and afternoon, while on returning from a walking trip the staff were waiting with a tray of cold drinks - coconut milk on one day and lemon with sugar around the top of the glass on another.

Our final lunch

Off on a Bangladesh adventure

2008-09-26T10:23:00.006+06:00

Today I am at the start of a 1 week holiday and I certainly feel like I need the break. This evening I leave on a 4 day, 4 night adventure into the wilds of Bangladesh along with some other people from work. Tonight we take an overnight bus trip to Khulna, down south. Then we spend the next 4 days and 3 nights on a boat cruising and exploring the World Heritage listed Sunderabans regions.
Here is a map of Bangladesh showing where Dhaka, Khulna and the Sunderbans are.

The Sunderbans are a huge mangrove area that is also home to the Bengal Tiger, not that i expect to see one. It is believed by many that in five years the Sunderbans will no longer exist due to rising sea levels and the increased frequency of monsoons. Here is a link to the Sunderbans National Park website.

From the website- http://sunderbansnationalpark.com/#sunderbans :

Sunderbans National Park

Where the land meets the sea at the southern tip of West Bengal lies the Indian Sunderbans, a stretch of impenetrable mangrove forest of great size and bio-diversity. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Sunderbans is a vast area covering 4264 square km in India alone. The Indian Sunderbans forms the largest Tiger Reserve and National Park in India. A paradise for birdwatchers, the list includes such rarities as the Masked Finfoot, Mangrove Pitta and the Mangrove Whistler.

The Sunderbans are a part of the world's largest delta formed by the mighty rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. Situated on the lower end of the Gangetic West Bengal, it is also the world’s largest estuarine forest. The Sunderbans is criss-crossed by hundreds of creeks and tributaries. It is one of the most attractive and alluring places remaining on earth, a truly undiscovered paradise.

Wildlife of Sunderbans

The Sunderbans forest is home to more than 250 tigers. The Bengal Tigers have adapted themselves very well to the saline and aqua environs and are extremely good swimmers. As you enter the adventurous wild land of the Sunderbans you'll be thrilled to see the chital deer and rhesus monkey. The aqua fauna of Sunderbans include a variety of fishes, red fiddler crabs and hermit crabs.There are crocodiles, which can be often seen along the mud banks. Sunderbans National Park is also noted for its conservation of the Ridley Sea Turtle. There is an incredible variety of reptiles also found in Sundarbans, which includes king cobra, rock python and water monitor. The endangered river Terrapin, Batagur baska is found on the Mechua Beach, while the Barking Deer is found only in Holiday Island in Sunderbans.

Here is what I hope to see:

Next week I will write about some of the highlights and include some photos. Stay tuned.

Shake, Shake . . .

2008-09-21T14:44:00.003+06:00

Yesterday evening the floor started to shake and the curtains started to move even though there was no breeze. Living on the 5th floor made it even more obvious. It was an earth tremor, followed 1 minute later by another. Luck it wasn't too strong, no glasses fell from shelves or books from bookshelves. It was more like a HUGE truck thundering by. Even the very loud planes that frequently fly overhead, as I live quite close to the airport, do not have such an effect.

From the Daily Star, an English-language newspaper here in Dhaka:

Minor tremor jolts Dhaka

Staff Correspondent

A minor earthquake shook the capital and parts of the country yesterday evening causing panic among the people.
The Meteorological department said the tremor measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale struck at 5:16pm. Its epicentre was 76 kilometres off the eastern side of the capital, somewhere near Brahmanbaria area.
It lasted for about 23.12 seconds.
Minor tremors jolted the city twice just before iftar. However, there were no reports of damage or injuries.
A correspondent from Madaripur reported that the quake's aftershocks were felt three times within five minutes across the district. The tremors caused waves in rivers, canals and ponds of the district.
Panicking residents of the area rushed outside to the open field when the tremor struck, the correspondent added.
A correspondent from Chandpur reported that the earthquake was felt twice in the area.
Earlier a moderate earthquake shook the capital and parts of the country in the early hours of July 27 causing panic among the people. At least 20 people were hurt in the panic and confusion as people rushed for safety following the tremor.

And the rain came down . . . . .

2008-09-19T18:25:00.004+06:00

Today around lunch time the rain came down,a real deluge but no lightening and thunder like some have had previously. We seem to have had them fairly regularly during the last week but most often during the night. It was too wet to go out but it didn't stop the kids who live in the huts on the other side of the lake from enjoying themselves.

Here they are:

And here are their homes!

Here is the view from my side balcony across to the mosque minaret.

Another video!

2008-09-18T22:28:00.003+06:00

Here is a video of a birthday party I went to last week. Once of the new teachers, he is Dutch, had a 1st birthday party for his twins at the Dutch Club. So lots of his fellow teachers went along in support!