I’d been to Bangladesh a few times before, always in noisy, dusty hot and crowded Dhaka. This time, the meeting was held in in seaside town of Cox’s Bazar, an hour’s flight south of Dhaka on the longest stretch of natural beach in the world…some 121km long.
Evening on the beach at Cox’s Bazarunbridled joy splashing in a tide pool….simple pleasuressnippets of life on the beachsunset on the hotels by the beachCox’s Bazar is known for its abundance of seafood…crabs aplentythe shrimp curry in the New Shalik Restaurant was excellentstreet scene in Cox’s Bazar with various modes of transportation evidentwe stayed at the Ocean Paradise Hotel, a short walk from the sea…after our meeting,we set off for the Shaik Jamal Inani National Park about 20km awaya couple of park rangers and a guide and a spotter accompanied us ….this was a copse of betel trees…First bird of the morning was this common myna which doesn’t really look like the ones we get in Singaporethen a couple of very smart looking Indian Pied StarlingsIndian Pied Starling or Mynaand then a charming Asian Palm Swift sitting atop the Betel Nut or Areca palmwe climbed up the hilly terrain…mindful of the slippery ground as it had rained the night beforea pretty rainbow beckonedthe foliage was prettyElephant dung and right next to the tape measure was the paw print of a leopard cat!A rufous treepie showed splendidlythe ubiquitous orange vented bulbul was seen frequently from the airport to the hills of Inania magnificent male racquet tailed drongo made a racket!the delicate feathers of the single racquet nicely framed by the foliageour guide then motioned us over to see these primates….they duly posed got a family portrait….interesting how the male has white upper eyelids!these were the vulnerable Capped Langurs of Bangladesh, stunning in colour and whose heads are covered with a fine haired ‘cap’and then the rains started to come…and we had to sit and wait it out for a whilethe trek back to the start point was tricky to say the least, the trail had now become a veritable mud track, slippery and wet….it brought back memories of a previous similarly wet and muddy escapade in the hills of Palawan a few years ago….we eventually slithered and slid to the bottom of the hill where a scaly breasted munia flittedthe betel trees gave of an arashaima bamboo forest vibehaving escaped the heavy rain, we heard a loud croaking….a magnificent bull frog calling out for a mate, puffing out his neck…we finally left the area and noticed an old fishing sampan…we headed out for lunch at a restaurant called Papa Roma and a fish called Hilsa was served…..the best fish I have ever tasted albeit a touch bony.
I had never thought of Bangladesh as a culinary destination but this trip was an eye opener! The Hilsa(related to chad and herring) was delicious!
the many types of mangos were all fragrant and sweetbut the piece de resistance had to be this exquisite lamb briyani served to me in Dhaka just before I left for the airport. Hyderabad in India has excellent Briyani, but this Bangladesh Briyani topped it ..flavour and texture…incredible. Sorry but you can’t get this at a restaurant….this was from a private catering service
So 4 days in Cox’s Bazar/Dhaka passed quickly…abiding memories are of the superb food to be had and the intolerably long traffic jams in Dhaka! Cox’s Bazar is great. Recommended.
The Natural Traveller 
The “charming Asian Palm Swift sitting atop the Betel Nut or Areca palm” is an Ashy Woodswallow.