Tripura Villages (Near Bandarban, Bangladesh)

Feb 5^th, 2010 - Another boat. Another bus. Back to Bandarban and the Hillside Resort. I was feeling a bit dejected as my Boga Lake/Mt. Keokradang trip was way more expensive than I'd planned and not terribly rewarding to boot. In past years kidnappings were a real threat in the Hill Tracts area. Not really an issue now (as far as I know) but it felt a little like I'd hired someone to kidnap me and then paid my own ransom. Outstanding. The Lonely Planet describes Boga Lake as stunning. Stunning? I'll give you quaint and peaceful but stunning? Nuh-uh.

I considered catching another bus to Chittagong early the next morning but instead decided to check out the village area near my guesthouse. It involved a fairly short hike to the Tripura village of Haatibandha. I am not entirely sure how many tribes there actually are in this part of Bangladesh but I've narrowed it down to a shitload.

It turned out to be an interesting morning. The hillside tract I followed weaved along a jungle stream bed. None of the surrounding forest is virgin as the Tripura people, along with all the others, practice Jhum cultivation techniques, which is basically slash and burn. The reaction I received from the folks in the first village through which I passed was similar to my Boga Lake run. Almost complete indifference with a slight hint of antipathy. To describe these people as poor is like saying the Sultan of Brunei is upper middle class. They have little and it shows.