Whilst SandB younger was preparing to fly off to the euphoniously named Ashgabat, I was landing in the 'desh, an Asia virgin, excited but not quite sure what to expect.
In as few words as I can? Green. Warm. Poor. Crazy. Colourful. Wild. Lovely
I won't tell you too much about the poverty, because of course it makes you think about the luck of being born where you were and the blinding inequality of the world, but you don't need me to tell you about that, I think those kinds of reflections are best made by oneself. Suffice it to say it was eye-opening and at times heart-wrenching.
And there's something very strange about sitting on the 23rd floor of the one posh hotel in Dhaka, paying the same amount for a colourful mocktail that most of the people several hundred metres below you would earn in a week...
Let me tell you instead about the cool, lush greenery that lined the roads we drove on - early morning mist that floats in the fields, glistening fields full of rice that change magically from green to silver as you pass and the perspective changes, tall elegant palm trees, tranquil lakes where people wash and fish...
And the crazy roads - the Dhaka roads where horns beep all day long and rickshaws, CNGs, cars, buses and trucks all jostle for position as people wander in and out of the traffic - and the country roads where the buses swervingly overtake regardless of what may be on the other side of the road, and where the trucks are beautifully decorated and every other vehicle has people perched on top, or hanging off the back.
It's fun, if a little bit hair-raising! And when I walked through Victoria station this morning, where the people all walk with purpose towards their offices with set grumpy faces, I missed the crazy meandering of the Dhaka streets, the cacophony of car horns and people, the colour...
And finally, for this instalment, an example of some of the faces you can't help smiling at...
More to follow soon...
Middle SandB x
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