Travelling Tim

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May 10, 2005

The Best 8 Pounds I Ever Spent

A final bit of sightseeing in Dhaka: I went to visit the Lalbagh Fort, in the old city. Built in 1677 under the guidance of the 3rd son of Emperor Aurangzeb, it was handed over to Shaista Khan for completion. Unfortunately, the death occurred of his daughter, Pari Bibi. This was considered such a bad omen that the fort was never finished; today, only a few buildings remain, surrounded by a huge set of walls. The rest of the area is today a most attractive set of gardens, very popular as an escape from the city noise.

You may be wondering about the title to this diary-entry: 'The Best 8 Pounds I Ever Spent', and what it refers to. Well, the answer is coming up right now - it refers to the cost of a first-class cabin ticket on the famous Rocket Steamer from Dhaka to Khulna, in the south. You can see a photo of the Rocket Steamers on my previous blog page. Some of you may have seen the recent Michael Palin TV series 'Himalaya', in which they featured. After seeing the series myself, and reading about these old paddle steamers in various guidebooks, I just couldn't resist taking a journey wherever they went. The cost of a first-class ticket is indeed just 1010 taka, or about 8 pounds. For this, you get a berth in a twin cabin on the upper deck, plus use of the first-class dining-room, and the first-class observation deck at the front of the steamer.

The BIWTC ticket office takes some finding: a Dickensian establishment in Motijheel, where ceiling fans lazily move the dust around, and ancient paperwork slowly climbs to meet them. The ticket requests are entered by hand in an old ledger by a very friendly gentleman who complimented me on the clarity of my diction. Ticket in hand, I caught a 'Baby Taxi' down to the Sadarghat ferry jetty to board the 'M.V. Tern', built in 1935 and still going strong. There was an unbelieveable number of people on the jetty, as it was berth for a large number of other ships as well, not just the Rocket Steamers. I found the right one, and was welcomed aboard by the steward, who was expecting me. I was the only foreigner on the Rocket today, and attracted the usual friendly attention as elsewhere in Bangladesh.

We set sail on time, and dinner was served in the dining room at 8:30 pm - a tasty egg curry with fried rice and mixed vegetables. I spent the evening sitting in one of the armchairs on the front observation deck, drinking tea and watching the lights of other river traffic pass by, whilst a welcome breeze kept everyone cool.

The trip takes a total of 27 hours; departing from Dhaka at 6pm, and arriving the following evening at Khulna about 9. The day was very relaxing: a late breakfast of omelette, toast, and mango jam, then a day spent watching the riverbank go by, reading, and listening to the BBC on my small radio. Lunch and dinner were served as required, and the ship's small shop sold additional snacks, drinks, bananas etc.

We stopped at various small towns and villages along the way, to pick up or drop cargo and passengers. Not all the stops had a jetty; at these towns, the 'Tern' would anchor in the river, and the passengers would arrive on small and rickety launches from the bank.

It was quite an anti-climax arriving at Khulna, which although quite a big town, has little if anything of interest to the tourist. It would have been very tempting to stay on board the 'M.V. Tern', and make the return journey to Dhaka !!

Posted by travellingtim at May 10, 2005 02:02 PM