Srimongal Day 1

Back at the end of March we decided on a weekend away before the weather turned travel in Bangladesh too uncomfortable.  We thought we'd have a small adventure and take the train.  Train travel in Bangladesh has taken a back seat in popularity to buses as there are limited seats, and it is more expensive.  We were happy though, since the journey by train is no means as hair raising as travelling by road.

Googling found the following official information

Train Name: Parabat Express

Train Number: 709
Train Route: Dhaka - Sylhet - Dhaka
Starting Station: Dhaka
Starting Time: 0740
Destination Station: Sylhet
Arrival Time: 1300
Time Taken: 5 Hours 20 Minutes
Facilities

• ⇒ Prayer Place
• ⇒ Government defined foods and drinks with defined prices
• ⇒ Public Toilet
• ⇒ Booklets and magazines (have to buy)
• ⇒ Walking facilities between one compertment to another if needed
• ⇒ Government Railway Police (GRP) gaurd all the time
• ⇒ Very less chance to accident
• ⇒ Different Class for luxery or saving money
• ⇒ You can see the natural beauty by the window beside you
• ⇒ Cheap than any service

We asked our travel agent not to book us 1st class aircon tickets as we remembered from our Indian train travel days that these are often ice cold and you can't see out of the window.  It turns out that the one first class aircon carriage had been burnt out during a violent hartal, so it wasn't even an option.

Rampura Station Dhaka

Street boys still asleep

Second class

As we remembered from travelling with Indian Railways - everything is available on the platform and also comes through the carriage, fruit, drinks, snacks, combs, newspapers etc

 

We had a smooth uneventful if not exactly comfortable journey. The arm rests were very high and there was very little leg room (even for me).

Looking out at Bangladesh through the window was interesting and occasionally puzzling (see shoe sole photo)

We were met at the station by our guide Manik in a CNG (first time in one!)and had lunch and a rest before heading out again in the afternoon.

Dinner, nice Dull with Rich - 4 euros of deliciousness

electric rickshaw back from lunch! (first time in one of these too)

Walking through a local tea plantation

scary bridges

quilt being sewn from old saris

 

Small batch of tea for own consumption

 Beautiful, lush, green, tea gardens

Kept that way by workers spraying plenty of pesticides, fungicides and fertilisers without any protection whatsoever

We were staying in the rather simple accommodation in the village http://hermitagesrimangal.com, which was about 1km from a newly opened 5* resort http://www.grandsultanresort.com/ - we went up to have a cold drink and a nosy round. Very grand - not our cup of tea at all