It is impossible to travel somewhere new and leave behind all your preconceptions about the place. I would like to believe, though, that space can be made that allows a new place to unfold, in its own time. With each passing moment, the visitor adjusts her understanding of the people and the place, blending what she knows or thought
she knew with what is unfolding. It is this internal dialogue or
adjustment that is so fascinating about new places. It is even better when you have a like-minded traveling companion to share this experience with.
Bangladesh is no exception; I came to this country with a bag full of supposed knowledge about the place. Beginning with George Harrison’s concert for Bangladesh, this country has been on the disaster radar since Partition. It would be hard not to hang the framework of poverty and hopelessness on this country. It is crowded. The Indian Ocean is overtaking the land. The air is polluted. The roads are choked with traffic. The infrastructure is in decay, Garbage and rubbish strewn everywhere. And the people are poor – unbelievably poor. I am always reminded of the old folk song, “There but for fortune, go you and I, you and I.” I was lucky to be born somewhere else in the world… that was all it was, luck.
Yet Bangladesh is captivating. We have traveled through beautiful rice fields and lush tea plantations, visited tribal
villages, ridden a boat along the Indian and Bangladeshi border where the men dive for rocks that wash down from the Indian mountains, walked through markets, hiked through a tropical forest, and been warmly greeted wherever we go.
We are already planning to come back.
