Well, what a journey we had this morning! Set off for Khulner from Patuakhali by bus - yes one of the battered old buses which I've been watching all week!
What an experience!!! As yesterday, the idea was to show me exactly what its like to travel overland if there's no maf plane.
And I really do get the idea!! The bus became more and more packed along the way. There were people vomitting, spitting etc, people carrying live chickens by their legs. The lady sitting to the side of me was sitting so unnecessarily close that i could not move my leg or foot, despite repeated efforts to get her to move. She then decided to fall asleep on me and her whole body weight then fell on my poor legs!!
Only thing i can say is that she must have felt very comfortable sitting with me bearing in mind that i was a foreigner!
The journey was long, tiring and extremely bumpy. Because of the narrowness and state of disrepair of the roads, someone stood in the doorway to act as extra guide to the bus driver.
Everytime the bus stopped beggars would get on and people selling cucumbers [ready to eat]. There was also the car ferry across the river - all of which takes time.
Anyway, we're now safely in Khulner and ready to meet some of maf's partners.
Although it was a long and tiring journey, what i did get to experience was life in rural Bangladesh. Paddy fields galore interspersed with tin shacks, small villages strewn with litter, and so much water everywhere - makes you realise how vulnerable the country is to the frequent natural disasters and climate change.
