Tongwynlais 2 Tongaporutu: 2010

So we are now 5 months in and have completed our travels of the subcontinent and it's northern boundaries!

Having stopped off in Darjeeling to relax and drink 'high tea' with an old school friend of Sam's that we bumped into and some great Candian travellers that we met, we used Kolkata as a port of entry into Bangladesh. We rode in style on an AC deluxe coach (never thought that would be the way we would enter one of the poorest counties in the world, but we had no choice) and crossed the border which held a little surprise for us. Our bags were carried through the border by porters from the Indian coach company (again we had no choice!), and this was fine, but as soon as they set foot on Bangladeshi soil, local porters tried to grab our bags off of their backs in annoyance that the Indian porters were getting paid to carry bags in Bangladesh. During this commotion, policemen with huge wooden sticks (which they did not think twice about using) started to beat anyone that moved! Luckily we were quite far away and when the coast was clear we managed to save our bags and enter the country. Welcome to Bangladesh!

Luckily it did not take long for us to forget about this experience, as we witnessed gorgeous green landscapes and met incredibly friendly people who made us feel very welcome. We certainly had a few stares ... every time we stood still to look at something, on average 2 people joined us every second to take a good look! However, as soon as we started interacting with them, all we saw were a sea of smiles :-) I think our winning record was 55 people surrounding a car that we were in - real celebrity treatment!

The main reason for visiting Bangladesh was to volunteer at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed. On our first day Jo was set to work immediately and was asked to provide a 2 hour lecture to 2nd year Speech and Language Therapy students! Although this is what she was there to do, a night of only 4 hours sleep and no lecture notes resulted in an ad hoc lecture! Over the 5 weeks that we volunteered, Jo taught 2nd and 3rd year students on the SLT degree course and Sam supported research in the centre, taught research methods to 3rd year SLT's and also ended up training two wheel chair users in table tennis! The two ladies were due to play in the Asian Games for the first time, so requested as many sessions as possible (usually 2 or 3 per day) and one of these was even at the national stadium! All in all, the volunteering was challenging (teaching degree modules with a language barrier is tough), but highly rewarding and very worthwhile. The SLT course is the first of its kind in Bangladesh and they rely on oversees volunteers to keep it running, so we feel we really did help. We also met some great volunteers from all around the world (Japan, Holland, Germany to name a few) and we didn't fall ill once - amazing :-)

Apart from volunteering, we took several day trips to the capital, Dhaka, and managed to venture into rural Bangladesh a few times, twice with a family we had met at CRP and once on our own. First we took a day trip to a small village outside Comilla where there were only dirt tracks, rivers and small houses. The family we visited lived in a stunning area with a lake at the back of their house, gorgeous green padi fields, and a small collection of livestock. In true Bangladeshi style, several generations lived in one house and because they all seemed so close it was often difficult to match child to parent! Despite the language barrier, there was much laughter (often at our funny ways) and we were made to feel very welcome. Walking around the village was like playing the Pied Piper as we had streams of laughing children following us, most of whom had never seen a 'white person' before (one child was petrified and must have thought we were evil spirits judging by his screaming)! We also found out that in Bangladeshi culture, people entertain by feeding you! In the space of 4 hours we had eaten 5 large main courses at 3 different houses! Being polite Brits, we ate every mouthful and were relieved that there were no fish head curries in sight. Instead, we ate some of the best Bangladeshi food, just a shame it hurt so much!

Unfortunately, due to volunteering, we could only spend a day in this village, but with so many invites to return, we arranged to visit again over the Muslim Eid holiday. We started the Eid holiday in Dhaka, where we witnessed the main sacrifice celebrations! As per tradition, the family we stayed with purchased a cow to sacrifice at the front of the house (literally on the pavement and road). Wanting to be exposed to this culture, we managed to watch the whole process (we won't post photos here!), which included butchering and separating and sharing the meat out. Within 4 hours of seeing the cow having its throat cut, we were eating it, what an experience! On Eid day we visited the biggest Mosk in Dhaka, and watched the mass prayers where, as there are so many people, the roads were used as an extension of the mosk and men (only men) lined the streets to pray. This was an awesome sight, but to top it off, we were filmed by a local TV station and appeared on the national news later that day. Random!!! Again, as per tradition, we were fed so much food and had beef curry at each of the 3 houses we visited.

Leaving Dhaka, we returned to the small village near Comilla, where another beef curry was waiting for us! At dinner a paste-like dish was handed around, which on enquiry turned out to be "cow brains in coconut sauce" yum yum! Not wanting to offend, we sampled the dish, which actually didn't taste too bad, but we can't say we went back for seconds! The rest of our time in the village included early morning misty walks around padi fields, nights on the roof looking at the stars, cooking lessons with 'Aunty' and finally a fish head curry!!!! Only small fish though, so not too bad.

We also took a small boat trip one day, small being the operative word (see photo). A boat we would normally use for 4 people was moored for the 10 of us! Again in true Brit style we tried to explain that the boat could not possibly take all of us, but we were assured it would. So there we were, floating along a river, eating a delicious breakfast, when one of the family members was overjoyed by the fact there was a small fish in the boat, and then another, and another! We don't think he understood what this meant ... yes you've got it, the boat was sinking! Bailing as fast as we could, the boatman did his best to steer us to safety. After lightening the load, by dropping some of the family off, we were eventually able to continue the journey which was definately a highlight as we watched local life float by and saw eagles, kingfishers and flying fish! All in all, we were very lucky to have had such a special experience, living the life of a Bangladeshi family :-)

The rest of our time in the 'desh was great, and we also managed to explore the north for a day on our own. Jo had an 'emotional' time with her students and Sam fell in love with his table tennis girls! On our last day Jo was bought a Sari, her students did her make up (Bangladeshi style!) and Sam was bought a Punjabi. We loved all of our time in Bangladesh, especially the people we met. Definatley the friendliest of our trip so far ...

We're now in Thailand, which is a huge shock as there are so many tourists and knobbly white knees!! We hope you are all well and not too cold in the UK! We're gutted to be missing Christmas with you all (the plastic trees in the bars here just aren't the same), but we're planning to meet some travelers here and there that we got to know in India, so that should be fun. Jo's family are also joining us for a few weeks in February and we have Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to look forward to as well!!! Ho ho ho xxx

First impressions of Bangladesh ... very relaxing!

But, lots of hard work going on

Wonderful smiling children :-)

Genuine appreciation for the arts!

And the odd demonstration in the capital ...

Rush hour, Dhaka style!

Some of the volunteers (and staff) we worked with ...

Fancy a boat ride?

Or a full-face shave!

Beautiful sunrise on the roof of our apartment :-)

The house we stayed at for 2 nights in the village near Comilla

The most generous and hospitable family we've ever met!

The shoppping mall we were taken to on Eid-Eve to get kitted out in traditional clothes

Showkot and Tashdiq on their way to pray on Eid day morning

Mass Eid prayers in central Dhaka - an awesome sight!

Sam being interviewed for Desh TV!

Jo and Tashdiq bonding in their Eid outfits :-)

Some of the family we visited (waiting for a boat) in the village near Comilla

Fishing is still one of the main sources of income ...

So we did our own in a boat as it started to sink!

We were followed everywhere by inquistitive locals who had never seen a 'westerner' before!

'Aunty' cooking up a storm :-)

Kaya giving Jo a Henna by torch light (during one of many power cuts)

Diwali celebrations back in Dhaka

Religious freedom seems to be high (despite the past)

A volunteer vs staff cook-off back at our flat :-)

We visited a crocodile farm with our students on one of our last days

And explored the wonderful world of Mymensingh

Finally, we were dressed up on our last day and given way too many gifts :-)

It was an emotional farewell!

Hi all, we hope you are all well. This blog covers our time in Nepal, which was about a month in total.

Our first impression of driving through the country was that it was a lot like India, but less hectic and definitely cleaner. This changed quickly however when we arrived in Kathmandu and were sucked into the main backpacker area of Thamel. Unlike other traveler hubs we've been to, Thamel is full of discos and karaoke bars! Bit of a shock, but we should have seen it coming, as on second reading, our guide book does describe the place as 'the nearest thing to backpacker Disney land'!

Although we wanted to get out quick (we didn't come to Nepal for cheesy discos!), we both got a bit ill, so ended up staying for 5 days. Numerous bakeries and falafal bars helped soften the blow though :-)

Deciding to see the rural side of Nepal, we hired mountain bikes and cycled around the Kathmandu Valley for a week. Getting out of the capital was a challenge, with many possible routes to take and severe pollution and traffic, but we were rewarded when we reached Bodnath, a Buddhist area with Nepal's biggest Stupa (and the best Buffalo curry ever)! Tibetans circle the Stupa in a clockwise direction all day long, and joining them was a very calming experience.

The next few days cycling were long and hot (40km through small rural villages hurts after lazing around for 3 months)! However, places like Dhulikhel and Panauti were well worth the ride and we stayed in some really traditional homestays and ate fantastic local food. The bathrooms (hmmm, tin shacks) were often outside which made washing a freezing experience, but refreshing! On one journey we met a very friendly family which included many generations, cousins and aunties who invited us in for Chai and requested we become pen pals! Being a westerner was one thing in this small village, but being on a bike with a helmet topped it off. They were fascinated, especially the little ones who held on to our tyres when we tried to leave :-)

Returning to Thamel was a shock once again, but having previously met some travelers who recommended their Nepalese friend Raghu as a trekking guide, we arranged a trip to Langtang with him for 7 days. The local bus journey to Langtang was the usual experience, our seats were double booked so we only had 1 seat between 3 of us, the 9 hour journey turned into 13 hours, a girl was sick over Sam, and it seemed as if the bus company was trying to beat a world record of how many people they could cram on one bus!

The first day trekking included a 1000m ascent which we could not complain about as passing us were numerous porters carrying huge weights on their backs (not ours we hasten to add). In Bodnath we saw a porter with a huge sofa on his back and another with two arm chairs! In Langtang, the usual load was gas canisters and cooking equipment for trekkers who were camping. We felt uncomfortable watching this, but the flipside is the local income it provides to an otherwise very poor region. Still, not ideal!

The next four days were all uphill, reaching Kyanjin Gompa on day 5 at 3800m with panormic views of snow capped mountains :-) Our guide was great and kept spirits high so we managed to hike to one of the glaciers almost touching the snow. Deciding on an alternative, less travelled route back, we passed beautiful landscapes of terraced farm land, and almost reached the border with Tibet (so tempting to return)! We loved seeing the life the super-friendly Tamang and Sherpa people lead. They originally came from Tibet, but settled in Nepal many years ago (apparently after an unsuccessful invasion). In fact, we were informed that Nepal is one of only 2 countries in the world never to have been successfully colonised (source unverified)!

After returning to Kathmandu, we rested our legs for a couple of days and managed to catch the beginning of the Dasain festival. Dasain is the biggest Hindu festival of Nepal and involves the sacrifice of buffaloes, goats, chicken and ducks to please the goddess Durga. Despite this being foreign to our culture, it was interesting (if a bit gorey) to witness. After each sacrifice, blood was sprinkled on the temple and the owner of the animal took the beheaded body home, presumably to cook and eat. There was definitely a festival atmosphere, with families coming together and most businesses closing.

Our time in Nepal was a real mixture of experiences, but it is definately a place we would like to return to, especially for more trekking! The country is crippled by poverty, political corruption and uncertainty, but the people somehow retain great resilience and the most welcoming smiles. Most locals we spoke to had zero faith in the political system, probably because they have recently gone through 8 elections without a majority being reached! We thought Britain had problems!!! At least the Maoist issues that were so apparent 10 years ago seem to have subsided and the people of Nepal have some of the best festivals and most beautiful countryside in the world to enjoy :-)

We're now volunteering in Bangladesh (which is challenging, but going well) and will update you on our brief stops in Darjeeling and Kolcutta soon. Please update us with any news and wish us luck completing our hardcore teaching schedules we've been landed with! Much love, Sam and Jo xxx

Below are some pics as always (more on facebook) ...