Saturday, March 15, 2008

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:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What beautiful pictures! Makes me feel like I am there enjoying the sunset with you and your friends. It is always nice to see the pictures of the group and the new found young friends. They always seem to have big smiles on their faces!
Miriam

ellen said...

gorgeous.

also, remember when that peace corps woman intimidated us with the threat of having to climb trees to get our own coconuts and chop them open? i think i made the right choice...