Cox's Bazar

This post is now almost a month late, so without further delay:

The day following the wedding I departed Dhaka for Cox's Bazar with five other classmates: Vanesse (from the Netherlands), Basir (from Afghanistan), Su (from Myanmar), Shah (from Pakistan), and Antora (from Bangladesh, who marvelously arranged all the trip details for us). It's a 10 hour bus ride from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar, so I left well stocked with snacks and Dramamine...

On the whole, I think that not much narrative is needed--just some pictures with a bit of explanation. First of all, a map of the area might help:

On our first full day, we left Cox's Bazar for Teknaf--the point from which we departed for St. Martin's Island (the southernmost point of the country). We took a two-hour boat ride to the island--here's a photo of the dock before departure.


Vanesse, Me, Su & Shah on the boat:

When we got to the island, we had some fresh seafood for lunch, and then had a few hours to explore the beach before the return trip. As you can see, some of us enjoyed the beach in true tourist fashion:

Lots of boats on the beach:

On our walk back to the boat, we stopped for fresh coconuts. If I had this man's job, I would be hand-less by now...

The following morning was spent exploring some of the non-beach parts of the area. We stumbled upon this giant tree. Vanesse stood with it to offer some perspective:

And we made friends with some children.

And then we found a lot of palm trees.

That afternoon we ventured to another beach. I made everyone pose for a group shot:

There are lots of children around who happily watch shoes and such for a few taka.

Rocks and colorful beach-goers:

And then we climbed a large hill near the coast (with the help of several hundred stairs). As daylight drew to an end, it offered this view from the top:

And finally, a breathtaking sunset over the bay: