The Hippo at my Door!
May 31, 2009
‘A zoo in My Luggage”, like that of Gerald Durrell’s, would have been quite unnecessary here in the land of the Masai Mara. One need only look out one’s cabin window. I am surrounded by the dusty yellowness of the Kenyan grasslands, broken from the pale blue sky by the bluish green of distant hills. The area where my log cabin is situated is monkey territory by day, occasionally overrun by tiny electric blue birds and odd, colourful lizards. Things, however, are different at night. Read more
Baitul Mukarram Mosque
May 29, 2009
Baitul Mukarram Mosque
Baitul Mukarram Mosque is situated at Purana Paltan east of Bangladesh Secretariat and north of Dhaka Stadium. Largest Mosque in the city, three storied and built after the pattern of the Kaba Sharif. Very beautiful and costly decorations in the interior. Long lawn, garden and rows of fountains to the south and east. The mosque is on a very high platform. Lovely flights of stairs lead to it; from the south, east and north. On the east is a vast veranda, which is also used for prayer and Eid congregation. Below in the ground floor is a shopping center.
Dhaka is a city of mosques. Other Prominent Mosques are the seven Domed Mosque (17th century), Star Mosque (18th century), Chawkbazar Mosque and Huseni Dalan Mosque.
Source: discoverybangladesh.com
Infrastructural development to be made to attract tourists
May 27, 2009
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister GM Quader said infrastructural development of the tourism sector will be made to attract tourists in Bangladesh as it has huge potentiality. “The industry needs to mount a campaign to attract tourists and to that end government is going to form a national tourism board thro-ugh public-private partnership soon,” the minister said. He said the government has taken a master plan to develop Cox’s Bazar sea beach as more attractive tourist spot and for this the work is going on in full swing.
Looking for Pir Shah Jalal
May 23, 2009
We were in Sylhet as a part of an office retreat in a job I had some time back. On that particular afternoon there were four of us in the car: our office driver Helal, myself and two of my co-workers, Minhaz and Shafik. We were on our way back from Sylhet university where our team had gone on a work-related visit. While the others had gone ahead to the resort in a separate van we had decided to check out the city markets.“I definitely want some Satkara aachar,” said Shafik. Read more
The Marvelous City [Rio De Janeiro]
May 16, 2009
The local people have admiringly given Rio de Janeiro a nickname, in Portuguese -A Cidade Maravilhosa, or “The Marvelous City.” Commonly known as just Rio, it truly deserved the name. With our friend, Abul Siddique, we left the colourful springtime of Washington with pink cherries, white and copper-tone dogwoods and delicately purple plum trees in full bloom and arrived in an autumnal Rio, thus jumping the hot and humid summer season of Washington. Read more
Panama; Panama City
May 7, 2009
Panama is the southern most country in Central America bordered by Costa Rica to the north and Columbia to the south. It is an S-shaped country that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by means of the Panama Canal, one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century. The canal isn’t just a waterway. It consists of a strip of land above sea level that has been isolated by dams and locks and flooded. Giant ships are lifted up through a series of chambers, are let into the canal from the Pacific or Atlantic, navigate the 50-mile canal and then are lowered down to the other ocean. Ships pay upwards of $150,000 for passage through the canal. Read more
Jaflong – A Stone’s Throw from Eden
May 3, 2009
Jaflong is a place of rare natural beauty. Not long ago visitors to this remote area would be confronted by a glorious triad of river, hills and brilliant blue sky that could have come straight out of an artist’s canvas. But this idyllic picture has been ruined by the careless and unregulated extraction of stone that has been going on for decades under the very noses of the administration. Commercial greed is ripping the heart out of Jaflong. Read more
Nightmare journey to Kuakata
April 25, 2009
Tourists are turning away from Kuakata sea beach, one of the country’s most attractive tourist spots, as awfully dilapidated 22-kilometre road from Kalapara to Kuakata has become a nuisance for travellers. Marked with a number of large potholes and ditches, the road leading to Kuakata has become so risky that most of the direct bus services from capital Dhaka have been suspended and the number of tourists there has drastically fallen. With its immensely beautiful landscape and seascape, Kuakata sea beach and its surrounding areas attract about half a million visitors from across the country annually. Read more
Topical Rain Forest & Tea Garden
April 20, 2009
This is an exciting Eco-tour program to visit the world’s largest and panoramic tea gardens of Sylhet/Srimangol and the most fascinating lawachara Rain Forest with rich bio-diversification. The forest has got numerous & rare species of trees like chloroform, white sandal and Agar along with wonderful scenic splendors with rich flora and fauna. Other attractions are the panoramic tea gardens nestled in lush green valleys, scented herbal plants, orange groves and pineapple plantations. Read more
Lauachapra – The evasive elephants
April 15, 2009
The morning was full of fog. We came out of our rooms and emerged in a dreamy world of mists. The fog gloomily dropped down like rain. Visibility was so low that we knew we could not drive now. You could see nothing of the road. It was not until ten that the fog cleared a bit. And then we started our car. We were going to Gazni as the locals told us the night before that the elephants had wandered off to that direction. We were passing by a beel and then stopped. We were amazed to find hundreds of marsh swallows here some flying and some sitting on dead branches. Swallows are hardly seen sitting, these small birds love to be airborne all the time. Read more