Back to the early starts, it’s colder in the morning and nicer for cycling. It should’ve taken me just over 2 hours to get to Arla’s site. However, there are whole patches of roads and areas we are not allowed to cycle and are not marked on any map. Three hours later I eventually arrived and had to follow the main road, known to be dangerous.
It was nice to be around my old company and see how far the Bangladesh team had come from when we took over the site. Arla had brought in European food standards along with health and safety standards and made the site one of the safest in the country.
They were also building a UHT plant to supply Bangladesh with UHT milk from Europe. It was impressive as they had to get around several problems. An inconsistent power supply, unclean water and then treating all the wastewater. Their kindness also gave me the opportunity for a second breakfast! Food always goes down well.
First night’s wild camp in Bangladesh
I was told wild camping in Bangladesh would be next to impossible. Bangladesh has one of the highest population densities in the World. Practically, making it a city across all parts. This makes it difficult to find a space to camp without being found or getting an audience. Usually, in these situations, I would try and find a campsite/cheap hotel/hostel. I thought I had found one near a bridge I would have to cross. However, it turned out it was all reserved for the workers on the road.
I eventually found a disused building and hid behind it. Police station, army base and traffic control room within 100m of me! How they didn’t find me I am surprised. But it worked. The morning, however, was wet. It hadn’t rained but the humidity condensed overnight and I had a layer of water all over the outer of the tent.
The next stop was a YMCA hotel in Bogura and an opportunity to get some information on the forts North of Bogura. It was a surprise to find a YMCA facility here, but they were running a Christian school for children in poverty. All proceeds from the hotel go to the school. What I hadn’t realised was that the next day was a national holiday celebrating Victory Day. It marks their independence after the Liberation War in 1971.
This meant all roads were going to be congested with parades and forts/museums packed. The museum in the collection of forts North of Bogura, Mahasthan, is placed in gardens but still has the problem afflicting most museums across Central and South Asia, with very little explanation of what and why.
I avoided the ruins of the forts for one simple reason each had a cost and I decided paying to look at some red bricks in the ground was a bit much.
An 8th-century Buddhist monastery
Needing food and a drink I stopped in a small village and as usual a crowd started developing around me. One of the crowd comes up to me and demands once I’ve finished I must come to his shop, a wholesale distributor, feeling slightly caught out I agree. He only wanted to chat but it turned into my largest audience with translators and of course, came with copious amounts of green tea.
My next stop was the second of Bangladesh’s UNESCO heritage sites, Sompur Mahavihara. I was planning on staying on-site so you get a chance to visit the site with no one around. The cost was a little on the high side but the facilities were nice. Plus the curator of the site invited me for breakfast the next day; he didn’t mention the cost until after. I’ll remember to check next time. He also runs a homestead in the village next to the site.
The majority of the site has disappeared to the ravages of time but the overall shape is there and so is the stupa in the centre. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the museum. It shut at 5 and would not open the next day. I was also hoping for some lovely pictures in the morning, but alas a fog covered the whole ground.
I continued my journey south and visited old buildings but the only ones worth mentioning were in Puthia, a relaxing place which has several Hindu temples, not all in use anymore, and a palace. The palace was closed. This was becoming a theme of my journey in Bangladesh. I was hoping to find a mosque or a temple to either camp or sleep on the floor but the day was getting late and I ended up finding a small wooded area next to the main road.
I was completely hidden and as long as I got up early no one would find me. In the morning, I ended up needing help getting back up to the main road because the bank was too steep. So much for no one knowing I was there!
Lalon Shrine
The next couple of days were spent travelling to Kushtia and the Lalon Shrine. I was planning on staying in Kushtia, I needed a shower! However, several rallies were going on at the same time for different opponents and I didn’t get the feeling it was safe and the hotel prices had jumped outside my range!
The Lalon shrine is a dedication to the spiritual leader, philosopher and poet, Lalon. He was also known for his social reforms as well and had developed a following and this shrine had become a pilgrimage site. There were several people playing music and meditating. It looks as if you could also sleep at this site but it would have been open to the mosquitos. A plague for me!
I headed south again and found a spot on the side of the main road, partially hidden from sight but not perfectly. No one came to bother me.
Time to leave
Before leaving I stayed in Jashore at the Joyoti Hotel. The Joyoti Society is an organisation for female and child development and staying in the hotel helps fund their programmes. The town hasn’t got much going for it, the park is a nice place to spend half an hour but it did give me a chance to have a break from the saddle and photograph the trains and people.
Whilst I was cycling through the countryside I noticed people hanging on to the side of trains, something I thought was an Indian thing! So, I decided to head to the station and see it for myself. Even though I didn’t get to see this the interactions at the station and the usual South Asian chaos were fun and naturally involved many questions.
It was then just a day’s ride back to Kolkata and along a road, I would come to hate. Too much traffic and too many coaches not caring if they hit you or not. I found out they, along with the lorry drivers, protested when new penalties were introduced for hit-and-runs. I could see why!