My Bengali Paradise

After our trip to Bogra, I was in no mood to hop on another microbus and drive another 300 kilometres, however I am incredibly happy that I got dragged along.

On Wednesday we had a 4 hour drive from Bogra back to Dhaka. After that I had to immediately leave to pick up my Indian Visa which meant another 45 minutes in an auto rickshaw in Dhaka traffic. I had a little trouble because I forgot my receipt that showed that I had paid for my Visa, but luckily the guy remembered me so he let me have it anyways.

After that it was back to the hotel where people were waiting for another microbus to go up to Sirmangal, the tea capital of Bangladesh. I was in no mood to get on another bus, but I was told there was space and that i needed to bring my stuff down quickly and get ready. Before I knew it I was on a bus hurtling through the now dark countryside. If you thought day time highway rides were scary, then don’t even think about trying a night time journey. It was a mix of giant busses with blinding lights, and rickshaws and mini busses with no lights, plus at night it is a lot harder to see the speed bumps and pot holes.

I was grudgingly packed on that microbus but now I am so very glad that I was. Once we were on the road we started calling hotels. The first wanted $40 US a night, so that was an immediate no. The rest did not have up to date phone numbers in our version of the Lonely Planet. Eventually we got lucky and Nishorgo Nirob Eco Cottage had space for the six of us for that night (Wednesday) and Thursday night for only 500 taka each ($7-$8 CAD).

When we arrived at 11pm the manager was waiting for us and there were three double rooms for us in two little cottages. We could not see much in the dark but there was a path between the cottages through a little forest and a couple small bamboo bridges over some streams. We were just happy to have somewhere nice to stay.

Nishorgo Eco Cottage

The next morning we had a breakfast of chapatti bread, some vegetables and potatoes, a couple bananas and some tea. The manager said he could give us a tour of the tea estates that afternoon, so we had the morning to relax and explore around the cottages.

The Riverside Gazebo

There was a little Gazebo which overlooked a bend in the stream that ran next to the cottages. It had an inviting ladder down to the river’s edge, and we set about trying to explore as far up and down the river as possible. It was not long before we braved jumping across the river, wadding through it and eventually even lying down and having a mini swim in it.

The view from the Gazebo

We went back up to the cottages and dried off while reading our books. The manager said we could have lunch and then he would take us to the tea estates. So we ate some home cooked Bengali food and then walked up the road a couple minutes to the Zareen Tea Estate.

All I need is a tan and I could pass as a local

The Tea Estate was incredible, they had a factory and an approximately 600 acres farm in behind. They employed over a thousand workers, they got paid only 48 taka (much less than a dollar) per day plus a food allowance, but could get more if they picked more than their quota. Our the hotel manager was explaining that it was not very much, but it was a steady year round job that paid no matter what.

The view from up in the Tea Estates

The tea estates were beautiful, it was hard to get a good picture on my camera, but the sheer size of them was amazing. We were even able to climb up into the bushes and see them pick the leaves up close. They keep the plants 34 inches tall which is the perfect height for picking. Then they pick the 3 newest leaves on the tops. Basically the newer the leaves the better the quality of the tea will be that they produce. So the newest but also the smallest are the best.

The perfect tea leaf picking height

The women who pick the leaves have a sheet which they tie so that they can hang

 it behind them from their head. Then they have both hands free to pick leaves and put them in the bag behind them. They were incredibly fast at picking the leaves. I cannot imagine walking up and down those slopes with a couple kilograms of leaves on my head, I had trouble just carrying my camera. Plus even while you are picking the occasional poisonous snake could bike your legs at any time, although apparently that happens only very rarely.

They were picking incredibly fast (she actually said she was slow, because the plants were farther apart here) and you can only kind of see, but she is carrying a big bag of leaves from her head

That night we headed into the town of Sirmangal and couple kilometres from our cottages. We managed to find a very nice Bengali restaurant, bought some bus tickets back for Saturday afternoon, and had a frustrating discussion with a couple hotels trying to find somewhere to stay for Friday night. In the end we were told to call back the next day when they would know how many rooms they would have available.

All the different types and qualities of tea

Some other pictures from the day:

The whole family came out to see us

The rice paddy on the way to the tea estate

After that it was back to our cottages for another night in our wonderful little rooms. After just one day I can say that this is definitely my paradise in the hills of Bangladesh. It is just too bad that they are full for Friday night and we have to move out. But if you are ever in Bangladesh, set aside a couple days and head to the Nishorgo Nirob Eco Cottage, close to Sirmangal. It is an amazing little place, great rooms, beautiful setting, friendly staff and for that good feeling in your belly - a portion of every room fee goes to protecting the forests here.

Cheers,

Mike

PS – We liked it so much that we decided to stay another night, even though that meant we had to cram all six of us into one room! They are going to give us an extra mattress, so it will be two people to each mattress.