A million interesting things to do in Bangladesh!

[Zunaid]

I've traveled on a bus top. I have entered and exited both a bus and train via a window. I've seem fresh tiger pawprints in the Sundarban. I have crossed a river on a boat that carried my dad's jeep (not a launch - a nouka with sails). I've been on a gorur gari. I have been run over by a rickshaw. Etc. I may have done about 1% of the things that SNR has done, and about 0.001% of the interesting things you can do.

[Nocturnal]

Never heard of this before .... ‘রাতারগুল’ বন - সিলেট

জলের ওপর বন দোলে...
Prothom alo link - http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/da...28/news/284366

[HereWeGo]

Nothing beats train er chhad er ride, nouka ride in Padma/ Jamuna and authentic bengali food mainly all the bhortas...
But my favorite thing will always be able to go back to my bed ( after it remains empty for few years).

[BengaliPagol]

I guess rickshaw riding in general is a pretty unique thing.

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Zeeshan
Udul pudul lutu putu momer putul banano hoy khali daaab daaab makhon gilaye.

Jottoshob.

Oi shobai lukao...gopal chetse!

Kidding bro.

Jokes aside, there are a few things you MUST do to really be able to feel Bangladesh. Unlike Doc, I've probably only done 10% of those crazy things in Bangladesh...so here's my list of things.

- Ride on the train, general compartment non AC...go alone or with friends, not with family...and make friends with TC and others in the train. You'll immediately feel the warmth of our people...amazing feeling.

- Just walk into a random village (perhaps because your bus or train broke down mid-way). You won't need to introduce yourself, you'll just be invited for lunch/dinner...the gramer lokjon will go out of their way to accommodate you. One of the best experiences of my lifetime happened in this way.

- Travel on a bus within and outside the city. When outside the city, connect with the people there. I've been in nasty situations in remote areas of Chittagong where situation was uttopto as a politicians pola was getting arrested...but everything around it was normal and came back unharmed. But experiencing such moments is truly amazing.

- Go to an island like Shondeep...go into the bazar and have mohish er doi. Integrate with people, attend jatras, ride on a rickshaw in total darkness. Go fishing...and run away when all you've caught is a snake!

- Go to Cox's Bazar...not on an AC bus with putuputu people. Go on regular coach service...you can breathe easy, and feel good.

- Take a ride to Himchori from Cox's Bazar. Don't just watch the fall and come back. Go deep into the fall, climb it...go into the pahar. Don't go alone, go with friends. This was by far the best adventure of my lifetime. And then, come back running after being bitten by leeches, only to find out your guide who you left behind being super worried that you were caught by dakats!

- Take a ride on a steamer from Khulna to Dhaka...unbelievable experience. You'll see the beauty of the country like you've never seen before, ever.

- Go to a concert, buy ganja and smoke it. Ganja in an open field...mmmm, can't beat that feeling. And don't forget to actually forget about that ganja coz that's the only time in your lifetime you should try it.

There are all sorts of crazy things you can do. This isn't all I've done in my 18 years of life in Bangladesh. But unfortunately, I probably won't be able to do anything more crazy anymore at this point in life.

[mufi_02]

Few good personal list from Doc and Kabir bhai. I agree on the ganja part

I experienced total serenity in the village once. I was walking from the bazaar to our house through the village. Its a few miles long walk, no electricity and total darkness. Oi dure choto choto bari te kupir alo dekha jacchilo. Akashe boro ekta chaand chilo ar shara gram shei shada alo te bhaschilo. I looked at the pukur and could see the waves dancing in the white light. I could see the light in patches that escaped through the thick leaves. I experienced 'jochna' the way Humayun Ahmed would describe it in his books. Never had that experience anywhere. Never in Dhaka and never outside of BD. Truly unique experience of rural Bangladesh.

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by mufi_02
Few good personal list from Doc and Kabir bhai. I agree on the ganja part

I experienced total serenity in the village once. I was walking from the bazaar to our house through the village. Its a few miles long walk, no electricity and total darkness. Oi dure choto choto bari te kupir alo dekha jacchilo. Akashe boro ekta chaand chilo ar shara gram shei shada alo te bhaschilo. I looked at the pukur and could see the waves dancing in the white light. I could see the light in patches that escaped through the thick leaves. I experienced 'jochna' the way Humayun Ahmed would describe it in his books. Never had that experience anywhere. Never in Dhaka and never outside of BD. Truly unique experience of rural Bangladesh.

Yes, nothing like spending a night at a village. All I can say - the sky at night. The sky. And the stars. Have never seen something quite like it.

Kabir's list must be short if he reached 10% that quickly.

Anyway - I just gave out a started list. There's so much more interesting things to do that we can all have barely scratched the surface.

Here's another two:

Go down to sadarghat and have paya soup and rumali ruti at the crack of dawn along with all the fishermen heading out. Share a smoke and have a conversation with the ones who make Bangladesh what it is.

If you have an overnight ferry stop - I wonder if it still happens as much with the Jamuna bridge. But spend some time sharing a smoke with the truckers waiting to cross. I did once. The stories you will hear.

[Ajfar]

Agree with Doc and Mufi. There is nothing like spending a night in Village. I loved it when I went this past december. Back when I was younger I used to play hide and seek with my brothers and cousins in our village when we didn't have electricity. I had this one cousin he would take the game so seriously he would go hide in 'dhan khet'. We would never find him.

Next time I go to BD I want to take a ride down to Bandarban. My mama has a tour company, they recently bought a decent size ship/boat. They are in the process of fixing/building it up, when they do they will start offering tour packages to go around to Bandarban and nearby areas, at least that's what I heard. Hopefully I will be able to go on this. It's called Tiger Tour BD, if anyone wants to check it out.

[Zeeshan]

Once Rabz bhaia wrote that only expectation to have is no expectation at all and enjoy to the fullest to what the nation will bring forth on your way. I love that attitude, but it also helps to plan ahead beforehand since most of the places I mentioned I haven't visited. Btw, I am also gaining newfound respect for my diverse culture while I research this.

Thanks for the suggestions- please keep'em coming.

[Zeeshan]

Amar dike takaben na!
Foreign tourists are still very much a novelty to many Bangladeshis (not anymore!) - kids see you as a toy to play with, while others see you as their opportunity to practice their English with endless enthusiasm. Most however, are content to just look... and look... and look. If it becomes too much, Amar dike takaben na roughly means "please stop staring at me!!"... but use the !! sparingly, since most Bangladeshis will think they are favouring you by admiring you so much publicly.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Bangladesh#Respect

[Zunaid]

I can attest to have personally experienced this. This was a while ago - 1995 just a few days after we got married in Dhaka. I decided to take my wife to the National Museum. I believe it was 16th December and the museum was open. Because it was a holiday - there were quite a few families with young kids there all dressed up for a day out to the Big D. We could hear furtive whispers and once in a while the words "bideshi meye" would waft over to us. And then one after another one young child would sidle up to my wife. Then they would take a quick shy peek at my and run back to the safety of their parents. My wife was tickled. It wasn't annoying but rather cute. Now had there been hundreds jostling for a look I would have been rather ticked off or as my wife said - lets charge admission.

[Sohel]

I'm definitely biased about this, but Bangladeshi and American children (not necessarily the spoiled brats from my own socioeconomic class) are the best. Japanese and Ghanaian children come a close second. That being said, children in general are the angels who walk among us.

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Sohel
I'm definitely biased about this, but Bangladeshi and American children (not necessarily the spoiled brats from my own socioeconomic class) are the best. Japanese and Ghanaian children come a close second. That being said, children in general are the angels who walk amongst us.

Agree partially. At least about the dehsi kids not from the patrician few. We had a similar experience about 3 years ago at the Savar National Mausoleum. Coincidently, it was also 16th December. Of course - we were probably the only family from our 'class' who were there. The place was jam packed with families with kids - we made friends with a few cuties.

Here's one cutie who joined us:

[mac]

Go to Boga lake, spend a night there. Words are not enough.

[mac]

^And if you have gone too old for an adventure try Niligiri. booked a cottage for 5000 tk for a night and spent the whole night lying on the adjacent hellipad instead. Its that good.

[Sohel]

^Agree 100%

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Zunaid
Kabir's list must be short if he reached 10% that quickly.

Indeed, it's fairly short actually. I've had my fair share of time in Bangladesh, although I would have liked more. I've done all that before going to university, and being part of one of the universities (not the agrom bagrom gulshan/baridhara unviersities)...your perspective on things change drastically. I can't finish listing them...listing a million things won't be easy.

I'm surprised no one talked about the must eat food...but here's a (shortened) list of things that come to my mind. You must have these in Bangladesh.

- Mouchak or gulistan er gorom gorom jilapi

- Bogura'r doi

- Comilla'r roshogolla

- Ambala'r mishti

- Pohela boishakh e panta bhaat with eelish, peetha, etc.

- Rajshahi'r chomchom (I heard it's not that great anymore)

- Chotpoti...perhaps shongshod bhobone'r shamne, and not to forget fuchka...these only exist in Bangladesh...and should not even be compared with the pani puri $hit

- Gorom gorom bhaapa pitha

- Daal puri, alu puri

- Tari

- Khejurer rosh


Add more to this list...

[Ajfar]

Barishler Amra!! I finally had one yesterday after 10 years. I still have 3 more left.

[Kabir]

Kachchi biryani.

[Sohel]

And inevitably this thread begins to swerve toward food ...

[Zunaid]

There's a thread for that - the muri ghanto one.

[Antora]

Awesome thread.
There are two things I really really really really want to do:
1) go on a nouka (yes those small ones)
2) Ride on a gorur gari

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Antora
Awesome thread.
There are two things I really really really really want to do:
1) go on a nouka (yes those small ones)
2) Ride on a gorur gari

Done both many times. The nouka rides are wonderful. The longest trip I did was from Ghorasal to Sadarghat. While at BUET, we all have to do a senior year practical training trip for a week and I was assigned to go (along with a few classmates) to the Ghorasal power plant. We decided to pass on the bus on our return trip and took a fairly long nouka ride down the Sitalakhya to Demra where we caught a bus into town. I wish I had a camera.

[Zeeshan]

i am surprised that no one is surprised that kabir is not surprised that "get married" is not amongst top ones...

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Zeeshan
i am surprised that no one is surprised that kabir is not surprised that "get married" is not amongst top ones...

It's too common. Even I did that.