Goodbye Bangladesh

And good riddance. My India visa application was rejected. I'm a tourist! I'm not looking for a job in India! What a douche. I tried calling the foreign visa officer personally and he hangs up on me, not willing to hear me out. The US embassy can't help me because they have a week holiday until Sunday. I'm not waiting anymore.

I could have gone to the Banderbans, the border of Burma, which sounds amazing where there are Burmese tribes. But I couldn't go because of this stupid visa issue. It was either apply for the India visa and wait 3 days to get it and bone out to India right away, or buy a tour package to the Banderbans and wait for my permit (required) in 4 days, and then I'm allowed to enter the Banderbans for an extra few days. But the India visa was more important so I waited out for the visa. Bada Bing Bada Boom, no visa. But no time to go to Banderbans.

I'm going back to Nepal to get my India visa, find a bus/train to Varanasi and that's that.

Bangladesh...okay maybe I should say - Dhaka, the capital. What did I learn in Dhaka? This country has 89.8% Muslims. The people of Bangladesh are called Bangladeshis (Bandladesheeze) and the language is called Bangla. The Bengal Tigers are widely known around the world because they are from the Sunderbans, south of Bangladesh. And the currency is called Taka, US.68 to their 100.

This was a tough city to get around. Primarily because there are no women. I walked down a busy street full of hotels, restaurants, businesses, and a college! I saw an guess-timate of 200 men outside for lunch and a total of 5 women. 2 of them were beggars and the 3 were probably someone's wife and sisters. Even the florist has male employees! So imagine an intersection with 600 men, and 15 women. That is how I saw it.

I can actually count the times that someone was nice to me; The old man fruit seller that gave me 2 extra oranges, and was cool that I didn't have 30 more taka on me to pay for all of my food and water. One rickshaw biker actually watched the road and tried his best to not scare me when crossing the middle of the highway. My hotel manager gave me a new towel and toilet paper without me asking. The representative that helped me get my air ticket back to Nepal, he gave me my first Bangladeshi red tea. And the female security guard at the India embassy, telling me that I was beautiful.

So, I wish I went to the Banderbans and then I could say that Bangladesh ISN'T the worst country I've been to. But it is indeed memorable. I bought a can of Bavaria, non-alcoholic beer, and I will crack it open midnight tonight. Cheers to a dry country!