To Bangladesh (part 2)

Yup, I'm in Bangladesh for about 4 days by now. So this post I'm going to talk about some first impressions and some observations of this place:

1. Much like india
Yep, first thought in my mind as I got out of the airport, is that this is so much like India. Well not surprising, being a neighbor of India. Basically dusty, polluted, constructions going on everywhere, unstable power supplies, streets filled with auto (motorized) rickshaws (normally called auto in India)... etc. Of course there are slight differences, like the autos here are called CNGs (because of the fuel they use - compressed natural gas), and you see a lot of manual rickshaws on the road (don't see that in Bangalore).

2. Loose dress code
Well being a pretty poor country, it doesn't come as a surprise dress codes are not enforced much. It is not uncommon to see white collars (I presume, lower ranking ones) wearing sandals and jeans to office.

3. Crazy traffic
If you think KL traffic is bad, wait till you see the traffic here. Roads are chaotic, everyone trying to squeeze their way through, CNGs travelling in opposite direction (ok sometimes cars too, saw one just today). And according to colleagues here, due to bad planning, most main roads cut through the city, causing massive jam  at peak hours. For example, even travelling in short distance, say 3-5km, would take 1 hour at times (ok, this is similar to Jakarta I guess). Oh before I forget, they always honks, all the time... just like India. I think they would not dare to drive if their car horns are broken.

4. Cars with bull bars
Bull bars are also commonly known as nudge bar or kangaroo bar. And you read it right, cars. Somehow they seemed to be obsessed with installing bull bars on cars, front and back. You can see some pictures of them in FB once I uploaded them. Well I guess this is kind of related to 3. The cars probably nudges and bullies the rickshaws out of the way on the road. But so far I have not witnessed it. It's either that, or they want to make sure that in case of any small accidents, the car won't get damaged.

5. Expensive
You'd be surprised that despite being a poor country, some things are pretty expensive. Hotel, transport, food etc are not cheap. The only thing that's cheap is mobile prepaid starter pack. :P Another thing related to this is a lot of people try to get money from you. In a way I guess it's not very surprising for travelers/tourists. Because I definitely stick out like a sore thumb. Beggars goes around on the streets knocking on car windows, hotel staffs trying all sorts of way to earn money from you (one fella even kept trying to pimp girls to me).

6. Lift etiquette
One observation that I find kind of interesting is their lift (elevator) etiquette. People actually queued up for lifts. I mean, who does that? Not Malaysians, not foreigners (they would give way, but not queue). Maybe it only happen in corporate offices, that I'm not too sure. Also, nobody bothers about pressing the close button of lifts. I mean, I do that a lot, just to save a few seconds instead of waiting for the door to auto close. I believe most Malaysians do that. But here, no. They just happily wait for the door to auto close.

So there you go, some of my observations about Bangladesh.


Edit:
I forgot to add one more:
7. Power connectors
This is the first place I go that almost every wall socket and power connectors I've seen are universal plugs. Only very rarely I see India plugs around. Makes it very convenient for foreign plug devices to work here. Very good idea actually.

To Bangladesh

Yup... the inevitable has happened. I'm now sitting in KLIA updating my blog while waiting for the gate to open. Bangladesh, here I come (reluctantly... hehehe). I'm having very very low expectations for this trip, so hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised (fingers crossed)

I believe I will be there for 2 intervals of about 15 days each to make up to about a month. Reason being the visa only allowed me to stay a maximum of 15 days per visit. That hopefully would allow me to make it to my friend's wedding on the 30th Sept. That is, as long as they don't ask me to go there for the 3rd interval (fingers crossed again).

Still have about 40 minutes till gate open. Have been surfing net and stuff since an hour ago. Good thing my laptop has a battery life of 8 hours compared to my old one which lasts about 2 hours. :P

To be continued... ;)

Waterfall Trekking

Been a while since my last waterfall trekking... tomorrow will be following my friends to Lepok waterfall. It will be my first time visiting this fall. Before this I've been to other falls like Jerangkang, Perdik, Pisang... and one or two more which I've forgotten the names.

Better be getting some rest soon... need to wake up early :P

Edit:
On the way there I realized I've been to Lepok once before this. I just don't remember the name. So this is my second trip here. Much easier this time as I'm fitter, and the place was drier. The last time I was here, I slipped quite a few times on the wet muddy ground due to rain earlier. Oh and another fall I've been is Lata Khong.

损手烂脚

最近这两天不知怎么搞的，有些 accident prone，先是昨天打篮球弄伤了一根手指（现在还很肿），今天练功又弄到一个脚趾甲破裂，真的是有如损手烂脚。

脚趾甲是小事，等它长回就好了。倒是肿得胖胖的手指，希望快点消肿吧！

Travelling Again Soon

After South Africa and Kenya failed to materialize, looks like Bangladesh will be on. Well, of course, still depends if I'm able to get the Visa done up. But I guess should be not much of an issue.

So yeah, will be going to Bangladesh for about a month (hopefully no delays) for a project. Kinda scary going to these 3rd world country. Keeping fingers crossed hoping for the best :P