TRAVEL

Naturally Narail

WE were supposed to visit Narail months ago. But then many moons moaned by and all our plans collapsed one after another for one reason or another. Finally when we found time, it began with a disaster.

On a perfectly nice winter morning, we parked our car at the Mawa police station for two nights and went over to the speedboat terminal. On the other side of the Padma would wait a microbus. This arrangement would have been the quickest to Narail. With a heavy backpack and the jacket wrapped round my hand, I first stepped on the front deck of the speedboat. As I was about to step inside the canopy, two more halfwit fellow travellers with no knowledge of a speedboat’s behaviour jumped in.

It took a second for the boat to rock vigorously, like a bucking horse; and the next second I found myself floating on the Padma. My backpack felt like a tonne of brick and impossible to dislodge. My jackets were fitted tightly. Somehow I swam against a current that was trying to carry me out to the middle. Then I found the white hull of the speedboat above my head. I grabbed its edge and calmed myself.

Then I was laughing manically. All those birdbrains responsible for the mayhem and my watery state were also in water. All with their backpacks and one of them swimming like a rat thrown into the pond.

There were people stretching out their hands to me and I caught a few of them, or they rather caught me and pulled. Try to climb onto a speedboat from the river and find out how difficult it is. Almost when I was thinking the rest of my life would be spent on the Padma bobbing like the float of a fishing rod, they landed me on the deck. The rest were rescued as well.

Drenched, we sat like some catfish and chattered teeth as the speedboat roared through the Padma for half an hour. I tried to see the best of the river view — the seagulls dancing on the waves, the long sandy beaches and wonderful squirt of silts thrown up by dredgers looking like whales spraying water.

Thankfully, the chilly ride was over, but not our indignation. All the fools on the other side of the bank — from village morons to newly-wed girls going to in-law’s house — asked if we fell over the speedboat. Our answers varied — No, we were scuba-diving, only we forgot to change clothes; No, we were up in the sky too high and got drenched by the clouds; No, we are Argentinean pearl fishers.

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Once on the other side, the journey transformed into one of bliss and wonderment. The road was wide and empty eerily empty for Bangladesh . For minutes we traveled before meeting another vehicle. The roadside view also changed dramatically. The fields spread away to the horizon and uncountable palm trees gave that special feature to the landscape. Then I realized all those tals we have in Dhaka must have come from here. Jute sticks were piled up along the road in the most interesting fashion. The stacks looked like witches’ hats.

In exactly four and a half hours from our journey in Dhaka we found a narrow side road and followed it to a beautiful river. The narrow river meandered very gracefully through bright yellow mustard fields. Not a ripple in it. Its marbled water looked almost blue. Only occasionally a jute-laden boat would appear lazily and sail away.

A few blackened figures stood knee-deep in the river and used buckets to throw water onto their saplings on the slanted paddy fields. We looked at the cotton-balling clouds above and inhaled the utterly village smell — of water, mud, mustard and paddy — and knew heaven is here.

There was a strange ferry here — a private one inscribed “Arunima Modhumoti Ferry” on it. Its triangle shape made us to research out that it was in fact the sawed-off front of a steel boat, probably a cargo ship. A Chinese diesel engine has been fitted to its side in a watchtower like room.

It took us a few minutes to cross the ferry. Here we had to board a rickshaw-van. A ten-minute trip through a village took us to the resort Arunima Countriside. The tree-frilled wide road welcomed us inside the sprawling resort to a cosy bungalow.

It’s a beautiful place full of tall trees and big ponds. There was a beel as well — a water body so huge that the end part of it had been turned into a bird sanctuary. Amid thousands of red lotus were nesting the winter birds, mostly whistling teals, cormorants, egrets and herons.

On the bank of the beel is the dining place. We watched the birds cackling and whistling and rising above the water and dropping again as we had our lunch.

I took a stroll around the resort. It has many promises. The whole place has been turned into a golf course as well. We were told that a team from Dhaka Club had recently come here to play. The landscaping has been outstanding at places. So close to the Dhaka city, it could be anybody’s dream retreat. With conference rooms and all, a corporate attraction.

The bamboo rooms with ACs and all by the beel are interesting. Only their balconies are too narrow for any meaningful lazing.

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There was this big field behind our bungalow and a high ground for the golf tee. We sat there in the after we wondered. First I thought they were tourists enjoying the Padma cruise. But what interests should tourists find here? Then th it was a good ndg sun. A long stretch of tall trees lined round the field like a looming forest.

Suddenly the sun died down and a fine layer of mist settled in. A little girl in a red frock limped along the field. The sun was now hanging very low, looking like a pink fireball. The horses neighed. The cackling of the birds peaked as their nesting time neared.

We watched the whole Dalisque transformation of nature and felt content. and flooded the river silver. We could see as far as the farthest bend. The river lay there prattling some mysterious songs to the universe.

We listened as a perfect night closed in.

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It was time to come back. This time at Mawa we were extra cautious while getting on the speedboat. One after another we filed ourselves. No rush. Ah. All safe.

After about fifteen minutes we were in the middle of the Padma and something queer caught our eyes. Lots of speedboats were moored in the mid-river. What are they doing, we wondered. First I thought they were tourists enjoying the Padma cruise. But what interests should tourists find here? Then they must be some year. The rain had lifted the crops in time and the pests were few.

Then I heard the unmistakable hoots. Our searching eyes found two owlets sitting in the gathering dusk on the electric line passing over the barren field. They were waiting for the field mice to come out.

We left them to their own affairs and walked to the Modhumati river. A half moon had cast a magic spell and flooded the river silver. We could see as far as the farthest bend. The river lay there prattling some mysterious songs to the universe.

We listened as a perfect night closed in.

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It was time to come back. This time at Mawa we were extra cautious while getting on the speedboat. One after another we filed ourselves. No rush. Ah. All safe.

After about fifteen minutes we were in the middle of the Padma and something queer caught our eyes. Lots of speedboats were moored in the mid-river. What are they doing, we wondered. First I thought they were tourists enjoying the Padma cruise. But what interests should tourists find here? Then they must be some kind of geological surveyors looking for minerals. But then why so many women and children?

Just then our speedboat passed by one stationary boat. To our surprise we found that the outboard engine had been taken apart and the boatman was fiddling with it. Then we passed another boat and its engine was also dismounted. We passed another and another. And then we realized what had happened. The river was so shallow here that the boats were all stuck.

Hardly a second went by before our boat suddenly stopped with a sudden jerk and three of us just simply tumbled over into the river. The same three. I stood up sheepishly, all wet once again. But then I again started laughing maniacally.

Whoever has ever heard of the Padma flowing just ankle deep in midstream?

Source : The Daily Star

Cambodia by Bicycle

Whenever you see three Cambodians, remember the fourth one who was killed by the Khmer Rouge.” A friend shared this sobering thought on the eve of a special adventure I was about to embark on: a bicycling trip from Bangkok to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. While this undercurrent of sadness was a part of the trip, my adventure was also filled with unexpected challenges, friendly people, and awe at seeing the magnificent ruins at Angkor.

After spending our first day (March 14) cycling in Thailand, we reached the Cambodian border at Prum at noon of the second day. We bicycled onward 17 km to Pailin and stopped there for the night. Pailin is famous for two things: sapphire mines nearby and several retired Khmer Rouge officials. Luckily I did not run into the latter while exploring the town in the afternoon. The streets of Pailin were torn up for installing sewage pipes and it was dusty and hot. Many more children than I had seen in Thailand played in the streets. The market reminded me of the bazaars of the smaller towns of Bangladesh, with the vendors waiting with their offerings while their children entertained.

The next day was our most difficult: 92km from Pailin to Battambang, the second largest town of Cambodia. Expecting another hot day (mid-30s) we started bicycling at 7am. Having braved Dhaka’s traffic and shattered roads for many years, riding through Pailin’s potholes was easy for me. But just outside the town I ran into trouble. That’s because we started climbing the foothills of the Cardamom Mountains.

Source: The Daily Star

First China-owned luxury cruise ship sets sail

 

Cruise Ship

China Star’s maiden voyage

Billed as “the world’s only six-star, twin-hull cruise ship,” the 12-deck China Star (中华之星) will embark on her maiden voyage from Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour on March 8 at 2.30 p.m.

The 131-meter-long, 295-ton vessel will carry 200 passengers and 200 crew on a two-day, one-night voyage around the South China Sea.

According to China’s state-run newspaper, Global Times (in simplified Chinese only), China Star is the only mainland-owned cruise ship.

The China Star has a checkered history. China Cruises Company Limited (CCCL) bought the 20-year-old Finland-built ship from Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho (何鸿燊) last June for US$45 million and shelled out another US$20 million refurbishing her.

The company changed the 172-cabin cruise liner’s name from Asia Star to China Star in order to express its CEO’s patriotism.

What’s onboard?

According to Huang Weijian (黄伟建), 40, CEO of CCCL, China Star will be a “high-end business and entertainment venue which will have the normal cruise amenities and be a platform for Chinese mainland culture.”

Chinese features have been included on board to keep passengers from the mainland happy.

“We also added balconies to the cabins, and expanded the biggest one to 24 square meters,” said Huang.

Besides Western dishes and drinks, the restaurant serves green tea and traditional Wenzhou fish cakes.

Entertainment facilities include a theater, a karaoke room, a game center, an indoor wine and cigar bar, an open-air bar, a library, two Chinese spas including a foot massage parlor and duty-free shops.

“Later on, we plan to bring in ‘more culture-oriented events,’ such as holding beauty pageants and inviting film crew to shoot onboard,” Huang added.

China and luxury cruising

China Star is part of the effort for CCCL to realize its ambition of building a “cruise ship fleet” in China.

The company has announced its plan to purchase two to three 1,500-passenger cruise vessels in the next two years.

”The development of cruise tour in mainland China has seen an ‘explosive growth’ in the last two years,” explained Huang. “I’m pretty sure it will be the world’s biggest market for cruise tour shortly.”

Most recent statistics revealed that 790,000 Chinese travelers cruised overseas in 2010, a rise of more than 20 percent on 2009.

And mainland China received 223 international cruise vessels in 2010, which is 42.9 percent more than the previous year.

Although the Middle Kingdom has moored many foreign cruise ships since Costa Cruise took the global lead and entered the market in 2006, no mainland company had stepped into the luxury cruising business before.

According to Cheng Weihang (郑炜航), general secretary of China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association, the gap in the market was caused by the high investment threshold and Chinese people’s lack of experiences in running cruises.