Solo mission to Barisal

I've been meaning to visit my friend Moin in Barisal since I got to Bangladesh in October but have just been too busy to go. With his birthday falling on NYE this seemed like the perfect opportunity to take a few days to see a new part of the country, say hello to a friend and make an interesting start for 2011!

I’ve done a bit of travelling during this trip to Bangladesh, venturing out to New Delhi, Sri Mangal and the Sundarbans. Each time I’ve gone it’s been a huge boost to my confidence in travelling on different types of transport. This time was going to be different though, in my previous excursions I always went with friends from here at the CRP but this time I was going to attempt it on my own. 

I figured that it would be handy just to get a bit of help down to the bus station in Savar Bazaar as when I get on a rickshaw I need both hands to hold on and so I can’t take a bag as well. I’d sorted out some help a couple of days before with one of the tutors from the BHPI who assured me he could find a couple of his students to volunteer to give me a hand. My bus was due to leave at 9:30am so I figured if we met up at nine this would give us plenty of time to get there as its really not that far, maybe 1km.

I was waiting at the gates on time expecting my help to come plodding along in due course. They didn’t. Without any help it wasn’t possible to get a rickshaw down in to Savar and I’d waited until quarter past for the students so now I was in a rush to make a move. I asked the man who was at the wheel of a CNG by the gate if he could take me down but was reluctant to help. The only way I could get down there was to check with admin to see if there were any cars that were heading out, luckily a minibus was about to leave and I managed to jump on.

I got dropped at the bus stop at 9:35am and checked to see if I’d missed it. I was on time. It felt good having to rush to find a new way of getting down to the stop on time; it didn’t feel as great for the next 90 minutes as I waited for the bus to arrive incredibly late.

My hold all was put into the storage under the bus when it finally rolled up. I got on the first step of the bus and started to break my chair down when someone came to help me, he was after some money for his trouble but paid help is better than no help at all. I don’t like the bus rides over here. The drivers constantly accelerate only to slam on the brakes when they can’t go any further which makes for an uncomfortable ride that is impossible to sleep through.

I was unloaded at Barisal and gave my friend a call to let him know I’d arrived. When he came we got in an auto rickshaw and headed for the hotel that he had sorted for me. The hotel like so many other places over here wasn’t textbook accessible, but I managed to lift myself up the flight of stairs and using a plastic chair was able to bunny hop around the bathroom which posed a doorway too narrow for my fat chair.

It was a really great couple of days in Barisal and a fantastic way to bring in the New Year; I enjoyed getting another break from the noise and hustle and bustle of Dhaka. When it was time to come back I found it even better. My friend Moin was there to help me with my chair, the bus left on time and I enjoyed the extra space of a second seat that I had paid for in which to store my chair (I’m much more comfortable when I can keep my eye on it).

The driver on the way back wasn’t an improvement on the first one but he did remember that I wanted to get off at Savar Bazaar which was helpful as I didn’t want to trek back from Dhaka after being forgotten about! Getting off the bus went without a hitch and it was just a short CNG ride with a friendly driver before I arrived at CRP.  This is all the practice I need, now I’m ready to roll back home!