touchdown; Rangpur or bust

It is officially our fifth night in Bangladesh and we have finally made it up to Rangpur, our home base for the next 5 weeks! It felt like coming home when we arrived at the guesthouse today and were greated by all of the amazing staff that were the highlight of my last trip. Other than a few minor changes (like a second guest house starting to take shape through the construction) the place and the people haven't changed one bit. They are as helpful and as accomodating as ever.

Rangpur is like a breath of fresh air when compared to our last couple of days spent in Dhaka. Dhaka is an ever expanding 'megacity' and with a population of well over 15 million it's fair to say that it is a congested at the best of times. I always find it interesting driving out of the city and watching the crowded streets fade ever so slowly into garments factories, which fade into brick kilns with large smoke stacks, which finally fade into rice paddys and the slower paced life of the country.

Our days in Dhaka were filled with shopping for our traditional clothing, the salwar kameez, a meeting and security briefing at the Canadian Consulate, a day trip to Saonargoan and the Bangali Taj Mahal (which was quite the treat) and of course a night out at our favorite Bangali Italian restaurant Spaghetti Jazz. The days were always long, largely due to the fact that getting anywhere in the city through the crowded streets took about an hour at the very least. Needless to say it is nice to be back in Rangpur and feel a bit of freedom from the back of our well driven van. We have been in Rangpur for only 7 hours and already Aslam has taken us on a tuk-tuk and rickshaw trip to the local shops, haggled on our behalf to get us a few more outfits for the field, cooked us two amazing meals, and charmed all of the ladies into understanding why we all love him so much.