Motorbiking in the Hills

Jamin and I took a couple hours one evening to go for a motorbike ride out into the hills. I have been out a couple times with Holly for short rides but never that far out. It was great fun to get out into some unknown territory and through a number of small villages exploring the countryside.  The trail started out on nice paved roads, then to brick roads and finally to simple dirt trails before back to brick and eventually we met up with pavement again. We did about an 80 km loop by heading North toward Chakaria then heading into the hills toward Lama, starting south through the hills and eventually going Southwest until we hit the highway in the next major city south of the hospital. The scenery out in the hills is incredible with the views from the hills looking down on the rice paddies in the valleys, driving through the rubber tree plantations, meeting the locals going about their everyday business along the sides of the roads, etc.

Jon

We started out on paved highways. Watch out for oncoming traffic!

Jamin on the Honda XL in the hills

Rice paddies in the hill valleys

Jon taking a quick break to enjoy the scenery

Tobacco plantations in the valleys

Tobacco Plantations (cash crop)

Rice paddies

Brick Roads

 

Rubber Tree Plantation in the hills

Collecting rubber sap by making notches in the tree and collecting the sap in cups (much like maple syrup)

The rubber sap is dried out in trays then hung out for final drying

Kids chasing after us on the motorbikes

Jamin & Sarah

It was great to have my brother Jamin & his wife Sarah here for a couple weeks.  Jamin was able to provide some valuable electrical engineering advice and input for the new hospital project along with giving recommendations for upgrades to the existing facility's systems to improve power stability. Sarah was able to help with teaching English at the nursing college, with Holly's girls sports clubs and doing various other tasks to assist with the new hospital project. It really feels like just a couple days ago that I was waiting for them in the Dhaka airport and now today we just dropped them off again. Despite their first two days in country being Hartals (country wide strike) and the last two days being large demonstrations in Dhaka, including what was labeled by the American Embassy as a "Siege of Dhaka" today, we had no major travel issues.  Only minor schedule changes and transportation adjustments. Thank you for coming out to Bangladesh Jamin & Sarah.

Jon

Jamin working in the office

English class at the Nursing College 

Jamin looking at the generator substation

Sarah working in our new office

Jamin gathering electrical data

Volleyball at sports club

Dulahazara Safari Park

Dulahazara Safari Park is only 1 Km south of the Hospital. I would say back when it was originally built it had a good idea, the animals all had very large enclosures that you had to actually use a "Safari" vehicle or go up into tall structures to see the animals. Now however it seems as if the large enclosures would no longer contain the animals so they are penned up like any other typical zoo.  The only difference is now there is a long walk between cages as there is so much land that was designated as roaming areas. It was still an interesting visit as I wanted to see a Bengal Tiger.  

A man (potential tour guide) getting his head rubbed by a monkey

Lots of Monkeys... Picking through garbage.

Asian Bear up in a tree

Really high up in a tree

Bengal Tigers

Very huge Hippos

Burmese Python

It was a hot day - you can see the sweat on Jamin & Me

Group photo with Mr. Elephant

Feeding the elephant some grass

Another quick fun side trip.  Right now we are heading to Cox's to catch a flight this afternoon back to Dhaka.  The last 10 days of their visit has just flown by.

Jon

Bandarban Trip

Last weekend we were able to do a quick trip to Bandarban in the Bangladesh Hill Tracks with Jamin and Sarah.  We spent the night at a "Resort" (aka very rustic cabins) in the hills outside of town.  In the morning we hiked down the large hill that our cabins were situated on to the river and found a young man to boat us to town. We were able to act like tourists for the day so took in some shopping and visited a number of sights. The Bangladesh hills are remarkably beautiful.

Hillside Resort in Bandarban

"Rustic"

Beautiful view of the hills from their dining area

Hiking down to the river

Jon & Holly taking a photo by the river

Waiting for a boat to pick us up

After some waiting this young man showed up

Hot Sunny day on the water

Shopping at the market for gifts

Largest Buddhist Temple in Bangladesh

No shoes allowed and the ground was scorching hot. Stay off the black lines.

The Bandarban Hills

Up at one of the highest points in Bangladesh (was formerly known as the highest point)

Swinging Bridge

Holly was the only one brave enough to jump in this gondola

It was a short but enjoyable trip and we were happy to share it with Jamin and Sarah:)

Holly