Grand Sultan in Selhet

On December 30^th, we got to go on the honeymoon while Shaz and Rajib stayed home.  Salehuddin had arranged a trip to the Selhet area of Bangladesh, known for its beauty and the tea plantations that remain from the British era.

We stayed at a wonderful 5-star hotel named The Grand Sultan.  And, we were treated like sultans!  Dalton Zahir, the hotel’s manager, met us at the door the moment we arrived, and frequently checked in with us throughout our stay to see how we were doing.  We were doing fine!  For one thing, they had a wonderful swimming pool.  Although we were the only women in Western swimsuits (i.e. not fully covered), we were welcomed poolside.  A heated pool with a hot tub, it felt fantastic after the harrowing ride up.

We had a pretty aggressive driver on the roads up and back.  Snugly packed into a micro-bus, all seven pairs of our eyes were fixed on the road, as the driver swayed around corners and bumped over potholes.  Several times we just knew we were going to be an accident, especially one with a cow that he didn’t see. 

One good thing about having our own driver, however, was that we could stop when we wanted.  I wanted to stop a few more times than the rest of my fellow passengers, but we did stop in a village where they were harvesting and drying rice.  I think we made their entire week!  The owner of the rice mill proudly showed us around.  And, the workers gathered to get a better view of us ‘foreigners’.  

The mill's proud owner

Women raking rice to aid its drying

Local women coming to see the "foreigners"

And, we did get good views of the countryside en route.

Mustard field,
with colorful laundry drying on the hills

While at the Grand Sultan, highlights included:

Chandra leads the way into the park

·      Lawachara National Park.  We had read that there was a nearby rain forest. One day Dalton provided us with a fantastic guide for the day.  His name was Chandra, and he showed us all around the local area.  I almost didn’t go, because                                                                            
       I was still plagued by my cough.  Mark did stay back because he had a head cold, and he didn't know how great it was going to be!  We went for a one-hour walk, and stayed four.

We left at 8:00 a.m. We probably should have left even earlier to see more animal activity, but we got to see a LOT of monkeys - adults and babies – swinging and jumping in the trees.  It was fun to see them in the wild.  Some even sat and posed for us!

Monkeys weren't the only wildlife!

No, these aren't monkeys!

A path through the park

The national park is well maintained.  For years, the local people would harvest the wood for heating or for money.  But, both the Bangladesh government and US AID have invested in the preservation of this park for research and biodiversity purposes.  They also employ many local people as foresters and guides, to replace the lost income from/ and prevent further cutting of more trees.  

Preparing beetle nut leaves

·  The village within the park.  Chandra knew of a local ethnic village existing within the boundaries of the park, and took us to visit.  Built in the hillside, the village is quite removed from outside influences.  One of the products they bundle for market are beetle nut leaves.   

Village life

  





New Year’s Eve.  The seven of us celebrated the end of 2014 with a nice dinner, followed by drinks in John and Sophie’s room, and a few dances at midnight.  We went together to the “disco” like dance at about 11:30 p.m. and stayed through the count down to midnight.  From village life to night life, it will be easy to remember how we rang in 2015!