I landed at Dhaka airport late in the evening. I had booked the hotel in advance and they arranged a taxi to collect me. This was a kind Toyota people carrier style vehicle that accommodated the bike easily. Hotel 71 was quite comfortable and close to the university and other places to visit in Dhaka. The first job was to visit a few ATM’s and find one able to connect to the outside world so it could dispense money for a foreign bank card. It was a case of third time lucky. Along the road from the hotel were loads of car accessory shops. Fitting bull bars seemed to be the norm and so they can squeeze right into the tiniest gap they like to have flags fitted to the very corners so they can be seen by the driver above the bonnet line.
The main roads out of Dhaka were elevated. I didn’t see a huge amount of traffic on them, but was not sure bicycles were allowed so took the old roads underneath. This was like going back in time. There were farmers and traders delivering goods with ox or donkeys and carts and all the muck that that brings. The roads had not been repaired after the excavations for constructing the elevated roads so they were more like dirt tracks. In places markets, traders and people spread out across these roads. The smell was not great. I was aware that I was very much in areas where foreigners didn’t usually go but never felt at any risk. Progress was quite slow to begin with until the outside of Dhaka was reached.
I initially rode west to Comilla. This road was pretty busy but there is no choice to begin with as it is necessary to cross all the channels of the Meghna river system so there are no alternative small roads.
Comilla probably draws with a hotel in India for the worst accommodation of the trip. It was very much a hostel for travelling workers. The reception was an old desk under the stairs. The windowless room contained a pair of bunk beds and a chair. I couldn’t see anything crawing in the beds and the floors had seen a mop so decided to stay. At the end of the hallway was a communal cold water only shower in one cubicle and a squat toilet in another. I had a bit of a rest on the bed before going for a bite to eat. On one wall of the room was a vent with no cover. I noticed a rat was coming in through this and then disappearing down under the bed and into adjacent rooms through a hole in the internal wall. This seemed to be a regular highway for it. Fortunately it was not stopping. As a precaution I put all my bags up on the top bunk and did them up. This place was located just east of the railway line. With google maps, it can be difficult to tell where the centre of town is. With hindsight I should have continued further through the town as I think there may have been more on offer as I later noticed there were government and college buildings shown on the map in this area.
From Comilla I had planned to ride to Sreemangal in two short days. However, the place I decided to stop wanted a ridiculous price for one nights stay. As it was not even 13:00 I decided to continue. In the end I had a very nice early evening ride through the tea plantations right up to Sreemangal. I found a very nice and brand new, not even fully completed hotel before reaching town. They gave me a very good rate. I think I may have been the only guest that night. The restaurant was not open, and was possibly the area still under construction, so they offered to send out for some food. It was a young chap on reception, I think the food may have even come from his house.
From Sreemangal to Sylhet was another scenic ride through tea plantations. On the way up a couple of photographers from the tourist development department of government passed the other way. They quickly turned around and caught up with me a little further on when I had stopped. They wanted a few photos as visitors on cycles are not that common. The north east was good cycling country.
I intended to ride from Sylhet to Shilong in one long day. However this proved a bit optimistic and I should have stayed overnight in the accommodation available a little before the border at Dawki. The border post was not used to processing foreigners. They had to dust off the appropriate record books from the filing cabinet. You have to go to one office, cross the road to the police and customs, fill in much the same information on another set of forms before crossing back. There is not much danger of their being a long queue.
In the many small villages on the way through Bangladesh there was no such thing as a quick stop. A fully loaded touring bike and having different coloured skin to everyone else would quickly attract quite an audience. It was all well mannered and no one tried to see if they might be any valuables easily liberated from the top of panniers whilst attention was elsewhere.
Much money is spent on elevated roads and flyovers in the towns and cities. However, this does not seem a good use of resources and the benefits are only felt by those that have money. Of course, investment is required to provide better connection between towns and the wider region to economic growth which does eventually benefit everyone. The problem is that these flyovers and elevated roads should not be required. The roads are complete chaos only because there is no rule of law. Buses will stop right on the intersection, then a swarm of Tuk-Tuks will pile in like flies around a pile of dung. Cars and lorries will push this way and that to try and gain a few inches rather than waiting for the way ahead to clear before turning across junctions. The actual volume of traffic is not that great. Following the rules of the road and a few traffic lights would allow traffic to flow much more freely without huge capital investment. The flyovers in the towns and cities also serve to trap in the fumes and foul air which is already terrible without further hindering its dispersal. The money saved would spread benefits far wider if it was instead invested in sanitation.