Bangladesh, unforgettable

We are proud of so many good things happening in Bangladesh. We lived partly in Uttara, and in transit while travelling outside Dhaka. Considering the distance, Uttara may seem remote; but communication has made everything easy for the population here. Bus service, oh my goodness - you would be surprised. Without a minute wasted, you can travel to almost any direction at any given time; direct bus, taxi, rickshaws and what else you need; they are found in hundreds if not thousands, thanks to private entrepreneurs, drivers and others involved in this sector. This is really one of the large employers in Bangladesh.

There are shopping malls with updated facilitiesthere are many; easily comparable with those here in Vancouver. Retail chains like PSP, WesTec, Cat's Eye and of course Aarong - they have incredible selection at their disposal. We find a good similarity with Super Store, Wal-Mart, and London Drug and so on and so forth.

The trip to Calcutta was a disaster. Since the opening of the direct Dhaka-Calcutta bus service, this was my first trip. We were four travelling together. Night travel by a luxury bus from Kamalapur was enjoyable. But the immigration officials' behaviour at the border points was frustrating. In my opinion, immigration and border check posts are dens of corruption. Neither you can leave Bangladesh part nor enter into the Indian side without paying bribe. The same dirty thing you have to go through when you are coming back. I talked to several travellers about this. They told me that those corrupt officials would not even spare a dying patient travelling across the border for treatment.

Is there anything we can do about this?