From Dhaka to Khulna by Rocket (October 22-26, 2008)

The next day, Christiaan, Magda, Raphaella and I meet at Christiaan's hotel in the Old City. We take a "van" (a bicycle pulling a flat wooden surface used for transporting goods or people) to Shadarghat port and find the Rocket that will take us to Khulna. We share two second-class cabins, I with Magda and Christiaan with Raphaella. It is a restful trip, and I go to sleep early. We are still on the boat for most of the next day and I simply sit, gazing out at the calm water, watching green leaves and twigs float by and photographing the occasional fishing boat. At one point, a man from deck class comes into the second-class area to talk with us. He is so excited to be talking with us. He is the man who presents us with the acronym for BANGLADESH I mentioned in my introduction. He shows us his wife and Raphaella plays with his baby. The staff try to tell him to go back to his class, but we insist that it is okay. At night, a little girl from a lower class seat comes and tries to teach me some Bangla words. "Brishty," she keeps saying. I later realize this means rain. At other times I wander around the boat aimlessly, seeing what I can find. I spend a short time at the front answering questions of Bangladeshis: "My name is Jenni. As in Jennifer. Yes, like Jennifer Lopez. I am from America. My job is in the NGO sector. Well, really non-profit. But that's like NGO." Magda can't handle all the questions, but I am more patient and show no signs of perturbation. But I can't take it for long and return to my cabin area.

We arrive in Khulna the next night and find a hotel listed in our guidebook, Society Hotel. It is cheap: about 70 taka per night. Magda is impressed with the cleanliness and the mosquito nets. I'm a little bit harder to please. Magda points out a cockroach and I get scared. But she likes the little creatures. She tells me that as a kid, she had a pet cockroach ordered from Madagascar, and when it died she preserved it in picture frame like a biologist's specimen. From this point on, whenever I see a cockroach this is what I recall: the pleasure such a horrid creature was able to bring my friend Magda.

We realize quickly that a day trip to the Sundarbans is not possible. Raphaella's Bangladeshi visa is already expired so she needs to cross into India the next day, paying a bribe to get past immigration. The Sundarbans tour is, furthermore, not in our price range. Christiaan decides to go with Raphaella back to Kolkata. I am once again not feeling well, so I decide to take rest for the day. Magda heads out on a day trip to Bagerhat to see Shait Gumbad Mosque.

The next day, Magda leaves, determined to see other parts of Bangladesh, and heads east, back to Dhaka and then to Chittagong Division. As with most destinations in Bangladesh, it is necessary to first go through hectic Dhaka rather than directly to the destination, because of the obstacles of waterways and lack of transportation routes. She wants to go to Chittagong to see the ship-breaking yards along its north shore. A controversial industry, ship-breaking threatens public health, the environment and the rights and lives of workers. Earlier, I had met a Belgian photojournalist at the Indian Embassy in Dhaka documenting this human rights issue. His other assignment was acid-burning, in which women are usually the victims and men the perpetrators, attacking because of the woman's refusal of an affair or sexual advance.

The day Magda leaves, I am feeling a little better and decide to see the Shait Gumbad Mosque in nearby Bagerhat. According to my Lonely Planet guidebook, the mosque was built in 1459, the same year Khan Jahan died. It is "the largest and most magnificent traditional mosque in the country. Shait Gumbad means 'the Temple with 60 Domes'-a misnomer given that there are actually 77." Based on the description, I am eager to visit. But upon arriving, I am disappointed, and my impression of Bangladesh as a country devoid of spectacular architecture and artifacts is again confirmed. The mosque is nice, but after having traveled in the Middle East and India, it simply doesn't compare to other sites. Still, I am glad I came. I take a picture of the photogenic old man who runs the toilets and washing area. He is overjoyed to see his photo on my digital camera.

Mizan calls my mobile and suggests I come back to Dhaka. This way I will be able to take rest and feel better before heading to India. Also, I will be able to see his wife Shobnam again and wish her a proper goodbye, as she has been at her parents' in Jhalakathi. Initially I do not want to take the boat all the way back to Dhaka when I am so close to crossing back into Kolkata. But he insists and picks me up the next night.