"My first Foreign Tour" Top 5 Page for this destination Bangladesh by Rupanworld

My first foreign tour was to Bangladesh in June 1990. I was to visit there as the Borjatri / Baaraati (Groom's party) of my youngest maternal uncle living in the United States who was getting married on the 2nd of July to a lady, also living in the United States, but having her parental house at Dhaka. Consequently, the marriage was to take place at Dhaka, the beautiful capital city of Bangladesh. My first foreign tour amazed me, surprised me and shocked me at the same time.

Cox bazar, Chittagong (cortesy www.durdesh.net)

One very important thing about the country that I liked was that people speak in the same tongue as mine. They are Bengalees just like me. So I can't say that I had completely a feeling of being in a foreign land in this aspect. Although I was only fifteen years old at the time, long seventeen years back, I still have very clear memories about the country, or rather the Dhaka city. I liked the people who I thought had a very good heart, and especially, very keen on hosting their Indian friends to the best of their capabilities.

rickshaws in Dhaka streets (www.britannica.com)

The time I visited Dhaka, it was some IDD (EID) time, and consequently one of the bad memories I have is of cow slaughter, on roads, in lanes, at houses, in the market places, everywhere. Whenever we stepped on the roads, we had to be very cautious as not to step on animal blood, because some cow might have been slaughtered at the spot some time back. Indeed, blood stains were everywhere. Another bad experience was with the comments passed on to one of our hosts, a lady, who was driving us home after a day out. People there seemed not to accept the fact that a lady could drive a car. I am sure things might have changed a lot by now, afterall, the country has a Nobel prize winner now!

• Pros:Warm and hospitable people
• Cons:Rickshaws and less liberty for women
• In a nutshell:A country of contrasts