Sights, Sounds and Smells of Bangladesh

As we traveled by bus through the busy streets of Bangladesh, we were engulfed in new sights and sounds, but most over-powering were the smells.  The trash system in this country works just fine for them but it can be quite offensive at times.  Everyone dumps their trash on the street curb or, if they follow the rules, they will dump it on the corner designated for trash.  Then once a month or so the trash guys will come by and shovel it up into wheel barrels and haul it off.

The most important part of any vehicle is the horn.  They beep without ceasing, all day and all night.  There comes a point where your brain begins to tune it out but it takes awhile.  Every car plays “chicken” with the others.  Every square inch of the road (and then some) is fair game.  You know you are in the hands of the best of drivers if:

1. He can stop on a dime (from speeds running up to 65 mph).
2. He can accelerate from 0 to 60 in no time at all.
3. He can squeeze a bus into a crack no bigger than the width of a motorcycle with passengers.
4. He can make the trip from Dhaka to Malumghat (250 miles) in 10 hours as opposed to the safer, more standard time of 17 hours. (That means that while we were traveling in bursts of speed up to 55-60 mph, our average travel speed was 25 mph.  Considering the filth level of the bus….that was a VERY long journey.)

Here are a few sights we saw along our journey by bus from Dhaka to Malumghat.

There is no wiggle room when crossing the Karnaphuli River in Chittagong.

The bazars along the way.

Rickshaw driver who believes there is plenty of room for him on this bridge, too.

Nothing is more beautiful to me than the green of Bangladesh’s rice paddies.