Couchsurfing meetup in Bangladesh
One night we were attending a Couchsurfing meeting at the completely opposite side of the city, such a hustle to get there, but Bana and I managed, even being the first one there.
It was the anniversary of the Couch Surfing community in Dhaka and also we were celebrating Victory Day as well. We were meeting in an apartment from a member, in which more and more people were joining.
It wasn’t taking long, until the apartment was super crowded and no space for anyone anymore. We were in a small room with over 20 people, of which there was only one girl. I don’t know how it must have been for her.
Nevertheless it was very interesting, everyone was sharing some stories about themself and also a few ambassadors from the application were attending. The most interesting person for sure was that one guy from India, who was telling crazy stories. Starting with hitchhiking in almost every country in Africa, it was very interesting to listen to him.
There was food also on the table, which I wasn’t receiving, because I was meeting up with another local near our home, Bana stayed there and brought the food later.
Being anti German
people in Germany are known to be on time, well I tried. I looked on google maps and would have been on the meeting point roughly 20 min to early, but ended up being almost one hour late. I felt quite bad about it, but for her it was okay.
We went to a restaurant and wow the food was good and tasty, but super spicy, so hard to enjoy, everyone was seeing my pain in the restaurant.
We took in a different restaurant some cake and brownie which was for sure great for my mouth to relax a little bit.
She was cool, learning more about the culture and everything. Bana was texting me from now and then, because he was running out of battery, but ended up making it home where I was opening him.
She was allowed to stay over as well and left in the morning, so that Bana and I had time to explore the city more.
Going out with the guy from the plane
We got the guy from the plane, as mentioned in the last article. We were able to see the city a bit more from the local perspective. Together with him Bana and I went to a restaurant, where they only served meat, not the best option for myself.
I was running around in the streets to find something to eat, but wasn’t successful without my wallet. By just having cash on me, I forgot the credit card at the host.
I returned to the place and was begging them to just give me some rice and potatoes, which ended up being the best food I had the whole trip with Bana. It was quite plain, but super super tasty. I enjoyed it at least.
Exploring the really bad regions in Dhaka
It was time for Bana to explore shady regions of the city, I was meeting up with another local person during the time. It was for him something he really had to be doing. I wasn’t seeing the excitement for it, but told him to join after I was done with the meetup.
The meetup was good, but I was more excited to meet Bana and go for some adventure. I left and went with a motorcycle, probably the most interesting experience for sure. The guy was picking me up and went very quick, a lot of fun!
I had a helmet but for sure would have died in an accident that time. We got a good distance done, but then it happened! Traffic, but what for traffic. This was just the normal rush hour, but it was terrible. For 3km it took me more then an hour, such a pain in the ass, literally the seat was quite uncomfortable after being almost 2 hours on it.
We arrived and the first thing I saw was a little kid searching for something in the trash in the water. It was a terrible situation over there and people were basically just living their lives.
When I met Bana, he wasn’t looking as good, he experienced some shit that day. On the one hand it would have been cool to join him, but I wasn’t super sad about not being there that time.
We were basically just meeting to drive back again, there was not much time spent together over there.
First being on a Rikshar and then taking each motorcycle and being another hour in traffic until being home.
Watching a movie in Bangladesh
On our last day together, Bana wanted to go to the movies with me, so I thought “why not?”. We ended up at the one mall which we went to the other day and went inside the movie theater. Some time had to be killed before, so an extra backpack was bought in order to carry everything home safely.
The movie theater was just rough, totally old and felt like going to a little lost place. Prices were cheap and we were able to also buy drinks right in the cinema, not normal for me, but it was quite cheap. We were watching the new Wonka movie and both of us didn’t like it that much, but having an English movie in Dhaka is kind of a cool story.
After the movie it was time for our paths to cross, we went back to the apartment and were waiting for my ride to arrive, to take me to the airport. I was flying back to Delhi to fly back to Germany from there.
Time in Delhi
In Delhi there was a long layover, so I ended up sleeping at the airport, pulled my air mattress out and slept there while being looked at by the locals.
In the morning, a guy from Couchsurfing came over to spend some time with me while we were talking about many things. That was quite nice. He brought me some food and I was able to eat something after he left.
It was quite enjoyable when comparing the airport to the city. The time went down quickly and I was flying to Germany, somehow everything worked out with the singing bowls.
Frankfurt, such a pain in the ass
Arriving in Frankfurt at 18:40, while my boarding for the flight to Hamburg was happening at 18:30! I was already leaving the plane later than my boarding. I was sprinting as if my life was depending on it. With more than 10 singing bowls in my hand luggage, I felt like being a soldier in combat.
My heart was beating fast and I was only tasting blood. It was time for passport control and security check, before I was able to run to the final gate.
I was being rude, by crossing to the front without properly asking, but I wasn’t having time for it. My luggage was taken out while being at the security check and they were just super slow, terrible. Somehow, and I don’t understand how, I managed to get my flight somehow, something I wasn’t thinking might be a possibility.
Quite happy I arrived in Hamburg, just without my suitcase, such a bummer. The suitcase was shipped to me two days later though with all my singing bowls and syntactic sticks to be ready for reselling and enjoying myself.
What’s up next?
The next article will be about a trip to a new country, so stay tuned!
