The Village Life

Our boat trip went through small villages outside of Dhaka, and it was really interesting to see the locals bathing, washing their clothes, and swimming along the riverbanks.  Some of the women who were bathing or washing their clothes in the river would cover their heads as our boat went by.  Many of the children we saw would run and jump into the river and attempt to swim out to us.  One boy was actually able to grab onto the boat for a few seconds before letting go.  And everyone waved to us - people in boats, along the riverbank, and when we walked through the villages.  

The boy in the bottom of the picture is the one who got a hold of our boat 

Some fishing boats along the riverbank 

More bathing/playing children

We saw a lot of boats carrying various things including bricks, vegetables and water plants

Here's a good picture of the houses along the river and the locals bathing and washing their clothes  

One of the many nice things about being on the river was how quiet it was.  There was the occasional screaming group of kids yelling hello while waving and jumping up and down, but that was about it.  At least that was all we heard until we came across the boat pictured below.  The boat was blaring loud Hindi music (at least I believe it was Hindi) and all of the women were dressed provocatively (for Bangladesh, that is) and dancing.  I absolutely could not believe my eyes.  The women here are EXTREMELY reserved - this was the last thing I thought I'd see in a Bangladeshi village.  As they passed by, I overheard another woman on our boat talking to the guide.  Apparently this boat consisted of hijras, a South Asian term used to describe physiological males who have a feminine gender identity.  Hijras live in well-defined, all-hijra communities led by a guru, and they 'adopt' boys who are rejected by, or flee their biological family.

The word hijra is Urdu, derived from the Arabic root meaning "leaving one's tribe" and is now used in the Hindi language.  Hijras have a long recorded history in the Indian subcontinent that dates back to the Kama Sutra period, between 400 BC and 200 AD!  After hearing about them on the boat for the first time, I proceeded to google it when I got home.  It is really quite fascinating!

Stay tuned for more river boat pictures - shipbuilding and sari weaving coming soon! :)

River Boat Cruise

On Saturday we went on a boat cruise outside of Dhaka.  It was so nice to get out of the bustling city and enjoy a relaxing day on the water.  The weather was beautiful, the air was clean, and there were no honking cars or loud noises.

A river boat tour was a perfect way to get to know Bangladesh.  The country essentially is the river delta of the Padma (Ganges in India), Meghna, and Brahmaputra Rivers that drain the Himalayas, the second largest river delta in the world behind the Amazon.  The river we were on connected to the Meghna and eventually to the Bay of Bengal.  As you can see, rivers and boats are at the core of Bangladeshi culture.

It was incredible to see the abrupt change as soon as we left Dhaka.  At one moment all you could see was concrete buildings, and in the blink of an eye it was wide open areas.  Some of the areas were beautiful and green, while others were areas filled with massive amounts of garbage.  We saw a lot of women sorting through the trash, and we passed by a recycling plant where the women were taking out all of the plastic garbage.  

Below is a picture of the typical boats we saw along our trip.  Notice how they appear to be mostly underwater.

When we arrived and got out of the van, crowds of people lined up to get a glimpse of the Americans.

More locals trying to get a good stare in

Our boat!

A typical Bangladeshi boat.  Our guide told us that these are the types of boats they have in Chittagong. 

In the first village where we docked, Murapra, they had a jute factory.  Jute is very popular here as it is used in many things including handbags, rugs, etc.  I was surprised to see that it very closely resembles my hair :)

Below is the Hindu Zamindars Palace that has been converted into a government college.

  

A close up of the palace

There are ponds in the front of the palace and in the back.  The pond in the front of the palace was where the men bathed (which doubled as a toilet!), and the pond in the rear was where the women bathed.  Below is a boat in the men's toilet.

Squash!

Big squash!

These kids were running around the area playing when I asked if I could take their 'chobi'.  They all stopped and smiled for the camera.  The guide told us later that they didn't believe I had taken a photo because there was no flash.  When I went up to them to show them the photo they all laughed and smiled.

Check out the English words in the middle - we think they were going for 'sheet'.

Planting rice along the riverbank (at least we think it was rice).

A boy asked for his picture to be taken and proceeded to pose :)

The river tour lasted all day, and I have many more pictures to share.  After leaving this village, we cruised for awhile longer before docking at a sari weaving village.  Stay tuned for some more Bangladeshi culture!

Sports

Since we arrived 2 months ago (I can't believe it's already been 2 months!) we have been involved in multiple sports leagues: soccer, softball and tennis.  It was great watching the soccer games - even though it's his favorite sport, I had only seen him play a couple times in the beginning of our relationship - and boy is he good!  Multiple people on the team came up to me and said how great of a soccer player he was.  This might sound funny, but I was quite the proud wife! 

They ended the season in second place.  They lost the championship 1-0 and the other team scored in the last few minutes.  It was a great game!

We play softball at the American International School of Dhaka.  It's where all of the embassy children in 1st through 12th grade go.  The field is incredibly nice (much better than the crappy fields we played on in DC!).  It's in our neighborhood, so we are able to walk or take rickshaws to the field.  Since we haven't had a car, I've had to wear long pants to play in; but now that we are getting our car in 2 days, I can wear shorts from now on!  Yay!

Our tennis league has been a lot of fun.  It's my first time playing tennis competitively, so I was extremely nervous.  I ended the season going 3 and 1, so I'm quite happy with that.  My athletic husband played awesomely, and it's been fun playing doubles with him.  I'm looking forward to getting better - especially with my serve - it's horrendous!  

Phuket

Our trip to Phuket was short, but it was definitely worth it.  We have a couple friends who were staying at the Marriott vacation resort, and they had an extra room - so we joined them.  The resort was amazing - absolutely gorgeous, and so many activities.  The only downside was that it's very far from Phuket city and the cabs are quite expensive.  Therefore we simply stayed and enjoyed the resort.  

Below is a picture of Mai Khao beach along the resort.  As you can see, sand was stuck on my lens :(

On Saturday we went on a day trip snorkeling in the Phi Phi islands.  The islands are located about 30 miles from Phuket, and it took about 1 hour on a speed boat to get there.  We visited Koh Mai Phai (Bamboo Island), Koh Phi Phi Leh, and Koh Phi Phi Don.

Below is Koh Mai Phai.  We snorkeled here, but unfortunately there was an abundance of dead coral and not much living.

You can see Koh Yung (Mosquito Island) in the background

The Phi Phi Islands were devastated from the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, so now they have these signs on the islands.

Below is Koh Phi Phi Don

This was hilarious - the tractor is pulling this family to the boat so they don't have to walk through the water.

Our next stop was monkey beach on Koh Phi Phi Don.  There were dozens of monkeys hanging around waiting for tourists to throw them bananas.  It was an incredible experience seeing wild monkeys on a beach; however, at the same time you know it's probably not the best idea to be feeding them.

This monkey was fighting the other one for the banana

This monkey was very aggressive and kept jumping on the boats.  He jumped from the boat next to us onto our boat and demanded bananas.  The tour guide had to kick him a few times to get him off.

This monkey was about a 2 feet away from me - it was a bit scary!

Below are pictures of the beautiful Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh.  This is where the film 'The Beach' with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed.  After the film, this island became a huge tourist attraction - and there were hundreds of people on the island while we were there.

I thought this sign was funny...

On the other side of Maya Bay was Lo Sama Bay.  It only took about 5 minutes to walk to the other side, and wow, was it gorgeous!!

On our way to our last snorkeling spot, we stopped by Viking Cave (below) on the island of Phi Phi Leh.  The cave is home to the swallow's nest which is harvested to make bird's nest soup.  The swallows build their nests out of their own saliva instead of twigs, and they take the shape of a shallow cup that sticks to the cave wall.  It's supposedly one of the most expensive animal products consumed by humans.  From what I've read and heard, the saliva from the nest is thought to aid in digestion, raise the libido, and benefit the overall immune system.

Below are pictures from our last snorkel spot (somewhere on Koh Phi Phi Leh).

While snorkeling, we saw lots of coral - both dead and alive. The living coral was definitely the biggest coral I have seen.  I originally thought they were rocks, but as I swam closer I realized it was beautiful orange coral.  We also saw some clownfish living in sea anemones - just like in 'Finding Nemo'.  When I would dive down to get a closer look, one of the clownfish would swim at me, as if he was trying to scare me off to protect his anemone.  I thought it may have been a fluke, so I did it a couple more times, and every time he would swim towards me.  This was the first time a fish has ever swam towards me - it was very interesting!

Elephant towels in our room

On our last day, we visited the pool bar and lazed around the beach.  The pool bar was great - I have never been to a bar inside of a pool!