Bangladesh Overview

Overview

The predominant geographical feature of Bangladesh is certainly the river system. There are the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghua rivers as well as many smaller flows and canals. These all allow boat journeys, often in vintage paddle steamers as methods of transportation or as enjoyable activities in their own right. The local sailboats that are prevalent are especially beautiful. The range of wildlife and historical sites is expansive. The former are generally found in the forested regions of the Madhupur jungle, the mangrove swamps of the Sundarban and the tropical rain forest of the Chittagong Hills. The barking Deer and Hoolock Gibbons will almost certainly be heard before seen with their respective distinctive bark and whistles. There are not a great deal of elephants but this will soon be forgotten if the mighty Bengal Tiger is spotted. The demarcated stripes provide year round camouflage, so careful observation will have to be made. The capital, Dhaka has more than 700 mosques and historic buildings which on their own would keep a visitor busy for a long time. Within the area the imposing Lalbagh Fort is impressive as are the Mausoleum of Bibi Pari and Audience hall that it encloses. The really wondrous sites require leaving the capital and the making of trips deeper into the country. Puthia holds some medieval Hindu temples, Kantanagar, the highly decorated temple of the same name, built by the Maharaja Pran Nath of Dinajpur and the Shait Gumbad Mosque near Khulna, one of the few not to have been overrun by the jungles and rivers. However, the main site is the UNESCO protected site at Paharpur. This is a vast Buddhist temple and monastery which generally requires more than an ordinary car just to be accessed. The tea producing regions of Assam and Sylhet should not be overlooked, especially the Bangladesh Tea Research Institute at the latter. Finally, after seeing Cox's Bazaar, the visitor might like to find some space on Inani Beach, which has claims on being the longest in the world. The national language is Bangla (Bengali) and is spoken everywhere. The english speaking population is small, although places in the upper class neighborhoods of Gulshan and Baridhara in Dhaka might have more of an abundance of people with english speaking ability.