Bangladesh: Cox's Bazar (Part 1)


A source of pride for the Bangladeshis is Cox's Bazar, a fishing town in southeast Bangldesh close to the Myanmar (Burma) border. Many consider it to be the longest sandy sea beach in world. But Guinness Book of World Records lists the one in Brazil as the longest at 254 km. Cox's Bazar's however is unbroken at 125 km long.

FROM HOTEL BALCONY

Excitedly I woke up early to sneak a peek at the beach from my room's balcony. It was drizzling with grey skies. Got a little worried that the beach day might be a dud.

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Immediately across the hotel is a little plaza (garden). It's still underdeveloped, but if you see on the right side, there is construction going on, another hotel I feel, next to the beach. The colorful roofs on the left are shops and restaurants.

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Rainwater accumulated on the streets and this resourceful CNG (for compressed natural gas, which this baby taxi uses) driver uses it to wash the mud off his vehicle.

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I spotted a fish all the way from my balcony.

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Pleasant surprise to find wild horses (yap there was more than one) were seen walking down to the beach. I don't know what they do at the beach in the morning (and at twilight - photos coming soon).

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Meeting at the beach

ON THE BEACH


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Wide sandy beach, with only rental chairs, not developed yet. Although we are sure that the next time (if and when) I come here, I would not recognize this place. We have seen many constructions going on while there.

THE HAWKERS

Aside from the water itself it's the hawkers that kept me entertained and gave my camera a work out.

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Bananas anyone?

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Selling jalmuri - a local snack made of puffed rice and chili and other components.

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Selling accessories made of shell.

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What about coconuts, fancy some today?

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A personable kid selling shell jewelry.

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By the look on her face, the boy could be making a sale.

And now for a new kind of selling technique that the Bangledeshi kids have perfected and in fact used on me (and everyone else later). It's like a scam, but a funny kind of scam. May be a scam is not the right word, a trick perhaps, but for the sake of this post let's call it SELLING TECHNIQUE, but here goes......

There are hawkers selling tea and coffee. They walk around lugging thermos. Following them are kids 10 years and above carrying mugs.

Their modus operandi goes like this. They would observe who belongs to what group. They would wait until the group disperses to do his/her own thing. Then they "attack".

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Two of them approached a lady offering a mug of tea or coffee.

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When the potential customer rebuffed them, they would point to the member of the group/family saying it was from him/her.

Naturally the person would take the offered beverage. I did. The kids would wait until all the beverage is consumed before they ask for payment. I was taken, big time!!!!!

It was more amusing than anything. It was like being punked!


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Comments

  1. Gosh so many peddlers on that beach, that can't be relaxing at all.

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  2. nice but lots of people. if i were there i would have lots of people photos too just doing their daily routine :P

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  3. I never heard of that "selling technique" before LOL.

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  4. What a good reportage with beautiful photos! Sounds just great to visit so many exotics places in the world.
    I am curious, where is the beach the longest at 254 km in Brazil?

    PS: Yes, I had great time with my daughter. Thank you!


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  5. Wonderful shots. I can't get over your spotting a fish from the balcony.

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  6. Another great look at Bangladesh!! Wonderful captures and so interesting! Hope you have a great weekend!!

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  7. Beautiful series of shots. Happy sky watching.

    My sky.

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  8. Terrific captures of the busy activities on the beach and the lonely horse in the street! How could you see the fish...amazing! I´m fascinated!!!

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  9. Lovely to see your photos.
    Happy SWF to you!

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  10. Fantastic collection of wondrous images!

    Happy Sky Watch,
    Merisi

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  11. Very beautiful photos and interesting post for SWF!Thank you for it and have a nice weekend!

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  12. Wonderful set of images from the city.

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  13. Wonderful photos from your trip! I love the views of the beach, the city and the people. The guy with the bananas is my favorite.

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  14. Love these images. Great to see another part of the world.

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  15. Lovely pics of Bangladesh!

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  16. fascinating photos of Bangladesh. thanks for sharing these.

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  17. What an awesome beach, but I think the kids would annoy me after a while.

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  18. What a beautiful place. I hope the beauty isn't spoiled totally by "progress".

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  19. An interesting look at this far away place and its people. I wonder, though, about the beach after the horses have been there. I think they would make it less inviting. I know I don't care to follow in their wake on a mountain trail.

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  20. The marketing techniques the kids come up with. Great captures of life from there.

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  21. Interesting collection of vendors along the beach!

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  22. A wonderful glimpse into your world.

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  23. Great shots. Thanks for your visit!

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  24. The girl selling shell necklaces is so beautiful! The photo of the man carrying bananas is my favourite.

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  25. A fine series of the action on the beach. Wild horses are a surprise. Nice, detailed shots with fine color.

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  26. Interesting how the kids get you to buy tea or coffee! Now I feel like I have been fore-warned, if I should ever be lucky enough to visit Bangladesh.

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  27. nice post. very interesting selling technique ;) there are similar techniques in sinai, egypt also on the beach.

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  28. It still boggles my mind that Bangladesh is a tourist mecca now, as it does not seem like the place I've read about in past years...you are bringing me up-to-date! I would want to buy the coffee from every kid I saw even after I knew the trick. So it's a good thing for my pocketbook that I won't ever go there ;>)!

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  29. The park although you said its under developed, it still looks for green. Maybe a touch of colored flowers would brighten it up!

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  30. I'd probably just chalk it up to experience if that modus operandi happens to me - at least the price of a beverage shouldn't be costing you and arm and a leg.

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  31. I think Bangladesh tourist spot
    is extremely nice. I think in the lakes web site include a lot of nice info. I think tourist spot of I love Bangladesh turist spots.

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