Hello, lovelies! I wrote the first part of my Bangladesh Trip recap a few weeks ago, and I’m back with part two. The latter half of my trip was much more unplanned and relaxing, so this post is not as long as the last one, but I hope you enjoy.
Part One Of Recap – My First Time In Bangladesh | Recap Part 1
Day 9//December 26, 2017
In the last post, I accidentally ended it saying I slept over at my mom’s older sister’s house. That was a lie. It actually happened on day 9. Don’t worry. I fixed it already. I just don’t want you all to be confused.
This was the day after the wedding, and I didn’t go out once. It was wonderful. Mila Khalamoni kept assuming that I was bored because we didn’t do anything, but I kept telling her it was great. We all just hung out and I had plenty of alone time to lay in bed and watch Netflix. One of Shahriar Bhaiya’s cousins came and we took pictures with my camera. It was a super chill day.
I don’t have many pictures from this day, but I do have a hilarious video of me and Adit killing mosquitos.
I went and slept over at Dee and Ahnubhai’s house that night since it would be the only night possible for me to stay at Mila Khalamoni’s house. We went to sleep relatively early because we would have to wake up at 6 AM to go pick up our family from Australia at the airport the next day.
Day 10//December 27, 2017
I woke up at 6:00 AM the next day to pick Aynan and Chotto Mama from the airport. Aynan is my 14-year-old cousin and is the daughter of my mom’s younger brother. They both came early and the rest of their family came a few days later. Their family visited us in America in the summer of 2016, so this was the first time I saw them since then.
We waited at the airport for about twenty minutes. I remember I had walked off with Adit to the other side of the airport and saw Aynan running toward us, I ran back and we hugged and exclaimed, “I miss you!” to each other. Afterward, Adit said that he didn’t even notice Ayan coming, he had just heard the two of us screaming.
The rest of the day was pretty chill. All of us just hung out at the house and ate food. Aynan and I took goofy pictures before my camera finally ran out of battery (I had left the battery charger in Dhaka). Ahnubhai went to take a nap because he had been up the earliest, so the four of us (Aynan, Adit, Shahriar Bhaiya, and I) played monkey in the middle. The thing is that all of us are really tall and would keep catching it, so we kept Adit and Shahriar Bhaiya indefinitely in the middle, while Aynan and I kept trying to get the ball past them. We were sweaty by the end of it.
Dee came over later that afternoon and we wanted to take a cousin photo, but Ahnubhai was still sleeping. So we just went into Adit’s room, where he was sleeping and took a selfie next to the bed. (Pictured below)
The rest of the day was just us spending time at home. We talked and played board games the entire time.
Day 11//December 28, 2017
On this day, we went site seeing. In the morning, we all just hung out and played karem board. After getting ready, Ahnubhai picked us up and we headed to the hills. I believe the Bengali word for the place was bhatiyange but I’ve forgotten since it’s been over a year. The rough translation is hills. I’ll insert a bunch of pictures below. I
We also paid to go on one of those outdoor obstacle courses where you climb ropes and walk across balance beams. It was a lot of fun.
On the drive back home, we passed the cadet school my dad went, too. At least that’s what Ahnubhai told me. We went up to it and asked the guards if I could take a picture in front of it for my dad, but on the way back, I kept thinking that my dad didn’t go to the military college in Chittagong, but I didn’t say anything because Ahnubhai seemed so confident. It turned out that it was the brother school to the one my dad went to, but he was still happy to get the picture.
The rest of the night was pretty normal. We just hung out and talked like every other night.
Day 12//December 29, 2017
On this day, Aynan, Shahriar Bhaiya, Adit and I took a rickshaw ride to the mall. Aynan wanted to eat fuchka, but wasn’t allowed to eat street food, so we got it at the mall. We mostly just walked around before eating it at the food court. Fuchka is basically a cracker cup filled with beans and vegetables. It’s really good and you can add different toppings to it. Aynan really wanted to eat doy fuchka, which includes yogurt, but I made sure to only eat the regular ones because doctors told me to avoid dairy. It’s a good thing too because she ended up getting sick from them and I didn’t.
(Shahriar Bhaiya took pictures but never sent them to me. I’ll insert them here if I ever get them)
Anyway, we spent the rest of the day at their cousin’s house on their mom’s side (Aynan and I are on their dad’s side). It looked like one of those family houses you see in Hindi movies, so that was cool to see. I played badminton for the first time (shoutout to Jibon for taking the awesome pictures below). We also watched movies and ate food. I’m pretty sure it was somebody’s birthday. We stayed for hours and took a taxi home that night.
Aynan’s mom and baby sister, Jinan, flew to Chittagong that day, so we spend the rest of the night entertaining and playing with the baby.
Day 13//December 30, 2017
This was a chill day. I cannot remember anything super substantial happening during daylight hours. I just remember being dressed in pajamas laying on the couch and Aynan begging me to go to a wedding with her that night. She wouldn’t know anyone there, so I relented. The wedding was fine. We sat in chairs while waiting for the ceremony and talked and ate dinner. We didn’t stay long because Aynan’s mom didn’t know many people either. It was just the three of us. Jinan and my uncle stayed home.
My mom’s eldest brother came home that night, so that was when I finally got to meet him. It was actually really funny. I was playing alone with Jinan in the living room and we were pretending we were escaping a monster, and I gasped, “Oh no! A monster!” and pointed in a random direction that happened to be near the front door where my uncle was standing.
So there I was pointing to my uncle, and I thought it was hilarious. I just exclaimed, “Hi! Salamwalacum! I’m Nila’s daughter!” in Bangla while giving him a hug. It was funny. And I got to know him at dinner that night. We were talking about the New Years Party the next day and how we were both introverts who would probably hide in another room.
Day 14//December 31, 2017
Here’s the thing, I left my DSLR charger in Dhaka and my camera had run out of charge a few days ago. This was actually really nice because I wasn’t expected to take pictures all the time and could enjoy seeing things. Plus my cousins take really good pictures anyway, so I didn’t have to worry about it.
Since we were going to have a new years party, I wanted to be able to get pictures with everyone while we were all dressed up. Shahriar Bhaiya and I actually went to the camera store at the mall and they charged it for us since there weren’t any I could buy. The two of us just hung out at the food court for a few hours waiting for the battery to charge.
(Again, there is a picture of us at the mall, but he never sent it to me. I will insert it here if I ever receive it)
We took a rickshaw there because I loved riding them way more in Chittagong than I did in Dhaka. It was so nice.
The rest of the night was spent at the New Years Eve party. I’ll insert a bunch of pictures below because a picture is worth a thousand words.
I stuffed my face with so much food that night. Not because I wanted to, but because people kept piling stuff on my plate. After dinner, it was almost midnight. There isn’t a countdown on T.V in Bangladesh like there is in America, and when I heard this, I looked up a clock on my phone and got everyone to countdown until the New Year. Then we turned on music and danced for hours. We were so tired and sweaty by the end of the night. I remember after everyone left, my cousins and I just laid on the couches in the living room at 2 AM too exhausted to change our clothes.
Day 15//January 1, 2018
I pretty much couldn’t sleep the entire night. Aynan was sleeping next to me on the bed, so I couldn’t get up. I just laid in bed miserable for hours, sick and dying. I tried to get up but felt very lightheaded. I ended up feeling better immediately after throwing up and was finally able to sleep. Everyone thought I had finally had a bad reaction to the food since I hadn’t gotten sick since arriving, but I don’t think that’s the reason. I am 95% sure it was because I ate too much and danced for two hours immediately after.
Even though I felt better, I was really tired and spent the whole day at the house. It was pretty much empty because everyone went out for another party, so I was just able to stay in all day. I wrote a blog post on my phone and laid in Shahriar Bhaiya and Adit’s room in the afternoon to talk with bhaiya and ended up taking a nap. Jinan was laying in the bed cuddling next to me and used up all the data on my phone watching YouTube videos while I slept. Shahriar Bhaiya had to buy me more when I woke up. (It’s not super expensive. We were all using data to use our phones because their wifi wasn’t working that week and they had to get it fixed.)
But, yeah…that’s pretty much it. I just rested all day.
Day 16//January 2, 2018
This was my last full day in Chittagong, so we went to the beach. Ahnubhai and Dee happened to catch a stomach bug too, so they couldn’t come with us. The car ride was terrible. We were stuck in a traffic jam and my back was really hurting. This was when the whole saga of back pain started last year. It was pretty terrible, but it wasn’t happening enough for me to notice what was wrong yet.
We went to a different beach this time. We took pictures and walked through the booths the street vendors had. I bought personalized shells for my friends in Atlanta, and we headed home after that.
It ended up being the car ride from hell. This was the first really bad traffic jam I had experienced. There had been another one a few days earlier, but I had the new season of Cable Girls downloaded on my tablet, so it wasn’t that bad. This time, I was in incredible pain because of my back and didn’t have anything to do. I just remember staring at this chicken on the road that was walking faster than our standstill car. Adit and Shahriar Bhaiya were also getting sick with a stomach bug. This is why I’m pretty sure I didn’t catch anything. My cousins had it way worse than I did in the next few days.
When we got home, we ate dinner and went our separate ways. Adit passed out in bed almost immediately. He was really sick and Shahriar Bhaiya was on his computer in another room. Aynan watched a Bollywood movie in the dining room, while I laid in bed starting Riverdale in our room. I think we had been spending so much time together the last few days that it felt okay to have alone time. I would visit Aynan in the dining room from time to time, but overall, we enjoyed alone time for the next few hours.
We played board games that night in the living room. Adit was miserable and definitely the sickest at the moment (Aynan and Jinan would get sick the next day. We all kept joking “Cousin Goals?” because all of us had gotten sick at around the same time.)
I went to bed relatively early due to my flight back to Dhaka the next day.
Day 17//January 3, 2018
The next morning was mostly spent packing. I packed my bag on my own first. After finishing, everyone came in and repacked it. It turned out that the way I had packed it the first time was better, so I ended up doing it again. That’s what family is for I guess.
I was surprised at how sad I was to leave and how much I was going to miss them. I had only known them for a little over a week and I was taken aback by how much I wanted to stay. Growing up and before going, everyone told me that I was going to hate being Bangladesh and would grow tired of it quickly, but I never felt that way at all.
The only time I cried was when talking with my Nanu alone. Everyone wanted to know what she said, but I wouldn’t tell them. That was only for me.
Anyway, Ahnubhai and Chotto Mama dropped me off at the airport. At this point. Shahriar Bhaiya, Aynan, and Jinan were too sick. I didn’t even end up being able to say goodbye to Aynan before leaving because she fell asleep right before I left.
The flight back to Dhaka was short and easy. I was still having back pain every time I sat for more than thirty minutes, so I was worried about the two-day plane ride back to Atlanta.
I got my luggage on my own. This was the first time I was able to do that because porters would always approach me previously due to my being a woman traveling alone. I called my uncle (Orinta’s dad) who picked me up from the airport and we talked in the car on the way to their house. I spent the next few hours talking to Orinta and playing checkers with Ayaan. Mariam Papoo visited that night to say goodbye to me since she wouldn’t be able to see me off the next day.
Dina Khalamoni took me to my grandmother’s eldest sister’s house. Since I had been to my grandmothers other two sisters’ houses before, it was only proper that I visit her house as well. It was nice seeing her again and we ate some food and talked.
After saying goodbye to her, we headed to a Sri Lankan restaurant for dinner. The food was absolutely delicious and we ordered seconds.
Orinta and I spent the rest of the night talking, planning my last day in Dhaka.
Day 18//January 4, 2018
When I was in Orlando for Thanksgiving Break, my aunt told me to go to the spa and get a massage while I was in Bangladesh because it’s significantly cheaper there. I didn’t have enough time before my last day, so this is when I was finally able to do it. I paid for Orinta to get a massage with me. Neither of us had ever gotten a massage before, and it was amazing. Part of the reason I did it was that I hoped it would help with the back pain, but I would find out months later that the pain was due a disc in my spine moving five millimeters, so it didn’t fix that. It was still awesome though.
After the massage, Dina Khalamoni and I dropped Orinta off and did some last minute shopping before packing my Dhaka suitcase. Afterward, I got a quick facial and my hair shampooed. It was really nice before my flight back. Akash (Deya’s brother) and Orinta actually picked me up from there and we walked back to her apartment. There, I finished packing and said goodbye to Happy Khalamoni, Kheya, and Akash who all visited to say goodbye to me. I also said goodbye to Ayaan since he couldn’t come to the airport with us.
Dina Khalamoni, Joy Mama, Orinta, and I drove to the airport. They sorted out all the luggage stuff for me, so I pretty much just hung out with Orinta in the seating area whole time. She cried as I hugged her goodbye, then I headed off to immigration before flying back to Atlanta.
I arrived back in Atlanta the night of January 5, 2018. It had taken three planes to get there: Dhaka –> Qatar; Qatar –> London; and London –> Atlanta. My whole family had come to pick me up. My luggage ended up being left in London, so I was able to quickly able to fill out forms before heading to the car (the luggage was delivered to our house the next day). I passed out immediately after getting home and didn’t wake up until the middle of the next day.
Overall, the trip was amazing and wholly not what I expected. I loved Bangladesh so much and definitely plan on going back soon. I do not want to wait another 20 years.
Other Bangladesh Posts
- Announcement: I’m Going To Bangladesh! (December Travel Plans)
- 3 Takeaways From My Trip To Bangladesh
- 24+ Hours On A Plane | My First International Flight
- My First Time In Bangladesh | Recap Part 1
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