Bogura
Was in Bangladesh again for another forum. We arrived in Dhaka with a confused weather–the sun is shining now, but moments later, it's raining. We stayed only for 24 hours in Dhaka. We flew to Bogura in the afternoon, after the opening of the forum in the morning.
This activity was scheduled back-to-back with other activities in Bangkok and for the first time I decided to bring a huge luggage. I was generous with my clothes selection this time, which I regret once we were in transit to Bogura. By the end of this activity, I swore to never bring a big luggage again in such events. It was a hassle having to transfer from place to place with a huge luggage.
Anyway, I was glad the venue is outside Dhaka. Traffic in the capital city is so much worst than Manila's. You just waste your time transferring from one place to another.
Bogura is in the countryside. It was a short flight from Dhaka but the land travel to the Rural Development Academy (RDA), the venue of the forum, took almost 5 hours. We were booked at the RDA for the rest of the forum. Its name alone suggests that it is an agricultural academy. The vast academy compound has a lot of trees, plants, rice paddy, and vegetable gardens. They also grow cattle, poultry, and other animals and they also have a dairy processing unit. I've never been to UP Los Banos, but basing from stories I heard from friends, RDA is very much more like it.
Upon arrival in the village, there was an interactive demonstration on Maria Seed Technology waiting for us. Villages gladly showed us how the process is done through an elaborate demonstration.
It was Ramadan that time, so most of our Muslim colleagues were fasting. Sometimes, we were also graced with their iftar, this aside from the main dinner, of course. Best of both worlds. 😄
Our vegetarian colleague usually brings her own baon, and one time, she really already want to finish all the food so she gave us some. And what do we do with mushroom sisig? Wrap it in a pita bread and pretend it's beef. Presenting my pseudo-shawarma!
Honestly, I've never really gotten used to South Asian food. Their food are very different from ours and sometime, my taste buds just don't seem to like the taste so I usually play safe and just eat the plain food or those with less spices.
One of the things that fascinate me about Bangladesh are the colorful trucks. Colorful vehicles seem to be a common thing in South Asia. On our way to the airport, I was seated at the frontseat and even if I want to sleep, the bus driver was too fast too furious. He was probably worried we won't make it, but we did and everyone is safe. 😄
