Basic Language tips in Bangladesh while traveling

Here are the basics:

Hello/ Asalam Walekum (Respond) Walekum Asalam
Goodbye / Khuda Hafiz
Yes / Ji
No / Na
Thank you / Dhonnobad
Where / Kothai
Do you speak English / Apni english janen?

1 / Ek
2 / Dui
3 / Tin
4 / Char
5 / Pach
6 / Chai
7 / Shat
8 / Aat
9 / Noy
10 / Dosh

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Travel around Bangladesh

Buses

Amazingly, once you cross the border from India into Bangladesh, there is a marked improvement in the roads and the buses are more like the coaches you would see in the West. Very comfortable. They mainly run between Dhaka and Chittagong. There are older ordinary buses into the country areas. Bangladesh is also different to other Islamic countries. You can sit next to the opposite sex with no problems.

Local Transport

There are local buses to get you out of the cities on short jaunts. They are always packed and generally, you will need to buy a ticket before you get on the bus. There are also local taxis, they never use their meter. There are also rickshaws, they are better than the Indian ones. Last but not least, there are the cycle rickshaws. Slow but loads of fun.

Food

Bangladeshi food is as varied as Indian. A typical meal will be rice and beef. There are vegetarian options but they mainly consist of Dahl. Rice is served with every meal. Be it plain rice or Biryani.

Drinks

Chai is everywhere, but not the masala type from India. If you do need to drink alcohol, you can either go to the Embassy bars, or authorise bars in the city, there are some places for this in the markets that will sell beer and spirits. Always drink bottled water.

Money

The official currency is the Bangladeshi Taka. Changing money can be a real issue in Bangladesh. In Dhaka, there are Cashpoint machines everywhere.

Language

Bengali is the official language, but English is widely spoken.

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Bangladeshi Sights

Dhaka

Dhaka, there are sites to see. The British Rule never made it, but they do have a great National Assembly and there are ruins of old palaces and a Mughal Fort. Generally, the main area to hang out in is Motijheel, whilst all the Embassies and private bars are in the Gulshan area . The old city is great to walk around. The locals are awesome.

Chittagong

The second largest city in Bangladesh. There are numerous Buddhist Monasteries amongst the Islamic Mosques. From Chittagong, see the largest ship breaking yards in the world.

Cox’s Bazaar

The worlds longest beach. Who would believe that Bangladesh can boast this. Swim there, you will be the only tourist. Above the city is a huge Buddhist Monastery. There are various Stupas as well. The Buddhists and the images are related to the Burmese.

Sylhet

Grab a bike and go cycling though tea estates. If you are lucky, you might get a tour and a taste test. There are also tribal communities, but they are very hard to contact. Visit the daily pilgrims to the Shrine of Hazrat Shah Jalal. Take a walk through the Lowacherra Forest. It is dense with trees and if you are lucky, you will spot the local wildlife.

Sundarban
World's largest mangrove single forest. Place of Royal Bengal Tigers. Its a must see sight.


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Gregory Miwok 18 Day Pack

At first glance, the Gregory Miwok 18 Day Pack may not seem like a very impressive day pack. But you would be judging this book by its cover if you were to come to that assumption. The Gregory Miwok 18 Day Pack is a very well thought out day pack with a lot of features that you can only appreciate after having taken it out for a day on the trail or around town sight seeing. You don’t have to take this randoms bloggers word for it though. The Gregory Miwok 18 Day Pack comes highly recommended by National Geographic Adventurer.

This well engineered day pack was National Geographic Adventurer’s Gear of the Year for 2009. That alone should say a good amount about the Gregory Miwok 18 Day Pack. So, what are some of the really cool features that make the Gregory Miwok 18 Day Pack so exciting? One feature that I am quite found of is the on-the-fly compression system. The pack features an internal compression system that can be cinched up even while you are wearing the pack. So now when you have things bouncing around in your pack or you feel like stuff is sitting right, you can just pull a few cords and tighten everything up.

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Eagle Creek Thrive Travel Pack

Eagle Creek Thrive Travel Pack - Built for the long haul.

Typical backpacking backpacks tend to work quite well for round the world type traveling. Many serious travelers use them without question and have no serious complaints. That’s probably because they have never had the opportunity to try on a backpack made especially for travel. The Eagle Creek Thrive Travel Pack is not only made specifically for travel, but made for extended travel. For those of you who are away from home for months at a time, let the Eagle Creek Thrive Travel Pack help carry and secure all your travel essentials.

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You have to know what is Language of Bangladesh while you are travelling there

The language of Bangladesh is Bengali (Bangla). Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language it evolved from Sanskrit. Sanskrit being one of the oldest languages documented in the world. Bengali writing is a cursive script like other Indian scripts, originating from the Brahmi alphabet of the Asokan inscriptions. It contains 52 consonants and 12 vowels. English is also spoken in many places.

English is mostly used for foreigners and travelers come here. As Old British sub-continent, English is very sharply can be used for purpose.

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Lauachapra Looking for the Elephants : Story by Inam Ahmed

Lauachapra
Looking for the Elephants

Source

Story By: Inam Ahmed
Photo By: Syed Zakir Hossain & Inam Ahmed

I called Ronald Halder to tell him about the civet caught at Ramna Park. He gave me a different piece of information. He was in Gazni to watch a herd of elephants roaming the forest. It took us a few minutes to rent a car. Luckily, Dr Reza Khan was in city. He said he would love to join us. So, in the morning we set off on the elephant trail.

As with Reza Khan, any journey is always an eventful one. Every few minutes he would cry out: "Stop! Stop!" and then rush out with his antique camera. Often, it would be a common bird like a shrike or a kingfisher. But his interest would never die. He would then go on to explaining why the shrike is called 'Kosai Pakhi' in Bangla -- because of its habit of piercing its prey, usually a geco or a small insect, into a stick and then slowly tearing it off with small bites.

But you cannot match Reza Khan's enthusiasm. And we all enjoyed his childlike excitement.

Close to Sherpur I had dozed off for a while and then suddenly woke up with a weird sensation. When we began in the morning it was a glorious day as the Brits would put it. Lots of sunshine and warmth. But now it was thick fog all around us that blocked vision like a shutter. Thick mist was blowing across like blizzard and it was chilling to the bone. We asked the local people and they said it had been like this for the last two days. How the weather differs! Dhaka has become a bland fast food, its language has no specialty, its weather , people, culture -- everything so bland and undifferentiating. It is once you go out that you feel the difference in topography and people and climate and environment.

After crossing Sherpur, we hit a narrow metal road. It went on and on for miles to make us drowsy again. We passed a rubber plantation and then came in view the resort. The big iron gate opened to let us in to the sprawling lawn of the resort in the middle of the forest. The rooms run like barracks at the end of the lawn.

We were startled by loud clucking coming from the lawn. We found three purple moorhens in a cage, their brilliant colours reflecting in the sun. The caretaker unlocked the door of the cage and the moorhens stepped out. They flapped wings for a while and fluttered on to the rooftop. From there they flew off somewhere over the forest.

"Do they come back?" I asked the caretaker.
"Oh, yes. They go to the river and in the evening come back to the cage," the man smiled.

We were hungry and cold. And the aroma of khichuri and chicken was proving too much to wait.

After lunch we wanted to take a look around and ask the locals about the elephants. On our way here we had seen large signboards instructing people what to do in case of elephant attacks. So elephants must be a menace for the locals.

The winter afternoon light glowed brilliantly on the hills and their trees. The light cascaded down the foliages, creating strange layers of light and shade. Suddenly you would feel that these are not trees but some green and dark clouds floating in the air. We trotted up a yellow dirt road that had snaked through the hills. It is a land of the Garos, the indigenous people with distinct features and culture. We could see their villages, on hilltops. We walked up to an assembly of Garo houses -- they were simple mud houses with a yard in the middle. Children played in the yard and seven puppies lay snug and warm together by an oven dug in the ground.

We talked to them about the elephants. They said the tuskers were here only a few days ago and might have wandered off to the east. They offered us their local drink Chu. This is the kind of hospitality of the Garos that had always touched me, their simplicity and warmth, their friendliness and big-heartedness.

We thanked them and got down to the trail. It was getting dark and we just wanted to scout around a little. Tomorrow we would go on the trail again. But for now, we were attracted by a flurry of activities along a row of trees bearing red flowers. We went nearer and were dazzled by the display of colours -- hundreds of small birds in all kinds of colours. The pale green White-eye with rings round their eyes. The purple sunbirds with dazzling red and the crimson sunbirds. The beautiful grey-headed myna. They were hardly 15 feet away and did not care. They flew in and out of the trees, twittering all the time. They were so close that we felt we could touch them.

We were watching them all the time while the sun slid down over the hills and the darkness clamped down on us with a repressing cold. The wind blew hard and we shivered.

On the way back, a half-moon escorted us all the way. The jackals had come out of their daytime dens and were baying. It was a strange setting here -- this garo land, the hills, the baying, the cold and the moon. We felt like walking in a dream.

Thanks to Writer of the story.

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Cox's Bazar Pic : 2009

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Unusual Hotel in Berlin - Propeller Island City Lodge

What an incredible Hotel and its getup for travellers. Just amazing.......................

The [PROPELLER ISLAND CITY LODGE] is a - truly - VERY extraordinary location. All rooms and objects were created by the German artist Lars Stroschen. Much more appropriate than “hotel” is the designation “living in a work of art”. 30 rooms with an absolutely unique and personal ambience. “Unique” is meant literally, for the entirety of all furnishings and other objects you will discover here are custom-made, individual handiwork. None can be found anywhere else on this planet - one could consider the CITY LODGE to be a MUSEUM with guest accomodations or a stay-in work of SCULPTURE. Orange Room Symbol Room Castle Room Clouds Tempel Flying Bed Upside Down 4 Beams Hol(l)y-Wood Mirror Room Wrapped Therapy Blue Room The Table Glas House Gallery Freedom Grandma’s Padded Cell Gruft Landscapes Chicken Curry Space-Cube Museum Speicher Nudes Medi-Terra Two Lions Nightlight Electric Wallpapers Forest Breakfast Reception