It's 6:10am on a Friday, and after pushing the snooze button a couple times I finally drag myself out of bed. Half-asleep, I fumble across my flat to boil some water for coffee. A few of us were up late last night, sipping on wine, chatting about Ebola, and discussing how not to kill the fish my flatmate and I have been instructed to take care of whilst a colleague is away on R&R. It's way too early to be waking up on the first day of the weekend. But, it's also time for another adventure! And as a good friend of mine puts it...
A few months ago Eric, Esteban and I went off in search of surf swell down south. But today I'm heading due north (with a new adventure crew) to experience a bit of Bangladeshi culture, and celebrate the marriage of one of my doctors, Evi.
Chittagong is the second-largest city in Bangladesh, home to the Chittagong Stock Exchange (and therefore a major economic hub of South East Asia), and as it's located on the banks of the Karnaphuli river and the Bay of Bengal, it's also the key port city of Bangladesh. Actually, Chittagong is the largest international seaport on the Bay of Bengal, exporting a variety of international goods, and also home to the Bangladesh Navy. And from what I'm told it's only a 3 hour drive.... (translation: if you don't want to die, it's proabably more like 5)
We left Cox's Bazar shortly after 7:00am, delayed by the necessity of coffee and the struggle to find a travel mug amongst one of the two communal kitchen mish-mash Tupperware disasters (settling on a mismatched and ill-fitting cup/lid combination and the promise to hold it at all times). We spent the next 4 hours speeding along the highway, weaving between tom-toms (the tiny green bug-like vehicles that can be found absolutely everywhere here), tractors, bicycles, cars, and the massive coach buses that look like they're threatening to tip over with each high-speed sway from left to right as they pass already quick-moving traffic as if it's standing still.
Some sights along the way:
Most of the countryside is either farmland, large square patches of water nestled within lush greenery, or busy brick factories. And the road, although wynding, was (surprisingly) mostly pothole-free and even smoothly paved in some parts. We passed through small towns and found people bundled up in winter-wear, already preparing their stalls for what looked like a soon-to-be bustling Friday market.
After turning over our 100 BDT as we passed through the toll station, we received our first views of Chitagong harbour as we crossed the Shah Amanat bridge.
We'd given ourselves lots of time and had arrived a few hours early, so we decided to play "tourist" for a bit. Our driver's english wasn't the best, and all that he managed to understand was "Navy"... so off we went, meandering down back roads, passing scores of people working in tiny shops along the river, and ended up on a driving tour of Southern Chittagong en route to the Naval base.
It was interesting to see the more "industrial" part of the city - we saw huge oil tankers, oil refineries, navy ships, a Beach Club AND a Golf and Country Club (who knew they had a golf course here?!?!), the airport (which our driver kept pointing out to us as if it was a huge attraction), and finally ending up at the West Point Naval Academy, which was a bit anti-climactic. There wasn't anything to see there, but we did find a huge construction site run by a Chinese contractor that's building a massive roadway and tunnel under the Karnaphuli river. It seems as if Chittagong really is turning into the more modern city that everyone keeps talking about.
Not far from there was a popular beach area that we decided to check out (while also hoping that one of the many tiny stalls lining the beach happened to have a wedding card we could buy). Petenga sea beach has nothing on Cox's Bazar, but it was still pretty cool. Despite the high tide and lack of space to actually enjoy the beach, there were still loads of people lined up along the water, getting in and out of boats; touts patrolling the area trying to sell a ride on a pony, or a quad, or take your photo. There was also a little cafe on the beach, which actually would have been a pretty nice place to sit and enjoy the sun.. if it wasn't for the tide threatening to wash it out at any minute.
It was nearing 1:00pm by this time, and we were due to meet up with people at 1:30pm at the ceremony hall, so we left the beach (sans card) and made our way back into town. I've never been to a Muslim wedding before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was ready for anything. When we arrived, Evi was still outside taking photos. And wow. She was absolutely stunning!! Evi is beautiful just in her day-to-day wear, but seeing her fully done up in an exquisite red and gold gown, with her make-up elaborately and perfectly completed - wow! She had sent me photos from her Mehedi night (which was the night before) and I thought that was impressive, but today she was definitely show-stopping.
Evi on her Mehedi night:
Evi at her marriage ceremony:
We were ushered into the hall and doted on the whole time... from making sure we were introduced to her whole family, to insisting that we sit right at the front on the comfy couches, to intently watching us eat lunch - and if we even paused eating for a moment someone would come right over to us to make sure everything was ok. The hall was decorated in reds, greens, whites, golds, and oranges... from the garland on the staircases, to the flowers, chairs, and decorations hanging from the ceilings. The hall had two floors... downstairs was the ceremony sitting area, the kitchen, the tables where the men ate, and the men's washrooms; whereas upstairs were the women's tables and washrooms. However, because we were foreigners they allowed us to all eat at the same table - us and the other male national staff that we arrived with.
The day was very different from a traditional western wedding... though Evi made a grand entrance, not everyone stopped to watch. Then for the next couple hours she sat on the "stage" and everyone came up to her in the own time to give gifts and take photos (and more photos) with her. All throughout this time people would stop to go and take their lunch; there wasn't a single lunch with everyone, just an "eat-when-you're-ready-to" kind of thing.
Later on the groom made his entrance, much the same to Evi's, and then a whole repeat of photos with the bride and groom took place. I'm told there was supposed to be ceremony with an imam (religious leader) whereby he gives advice and then they sign the marriage documents, but as it was already after 4:00pm (and we had a long drive back to CXB in the dark), we were unfortuantely unable to stay and witness that part of the ceremony. However, it was an honor to see Evi and her husband elaborately dressed up and witness the happiness (and sadness - it's also a sad day because she is leaving her family) of the marriage of these two beautiful young individuals. They truly looked like a Prince and Princess. Just stunning.
We started our journey back to CXB at sunset, and thankfully I slept for the first 2 hours of it, because I spent the next 1.5 hours white-knuckled in fear, praying over and over again that we wouldn't die. The roads are terrifying enough in the daylight, but at night, when NONE of the drivers know how to use their brights (driving with them on all the time and blinding everyone), it's probably better to just sleep... that way if you do crash, at least you go peacefully. Thankfully, through answered prayers and His watchful eye, we somehow mananged to make it back to CXB without so much as a scratch. It was definitely an adventure, and a really fun day... and two lessons have been learned...
1. The Bangladeshi purpose of a "turn signal" is so you can tell where the side of the vehicle closest to the center line is, that way you can still closely weave around another vehicle, even at night, without side-swiping it
2. In Bangladesh you should never drive on highways at night.
Two solid lessons to have learned before we move our base from CXB out to the middle of rice field... off the side of a highway.
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