Introducing Cox's Bazar

Welcome to beach life, Bangladeshi style. The usual question, ‘Why have you come here?’ doesn’t get asked because the answer is obvious – you’ve come to be at the seaside. Bangladeshis adore Cox’s Bazar and all across the country people will ask whether you have been. For Bangladeshis the infatuation is because Cox’s Bazar is so unlike the rest of the country, but a foreign visitor, used to the clean, liberal sands of Spain, Australia or California, is likely to be far less enamoured. The beach itself is a lovely, long (very long!), and surprisingly clean slip of sand, but by no stretch of even the most enthusiastic imagination can it be described as the ‘number one natural wonder of the world’, which is exactly how Bangladeshis, through an online web vote (which you will be asked constantly to partake in) are promoting it. The way to get the most out of Cox’s Bazar is not to think of it as a beach holiday, but rather to treat it as a way to relax with middle-class Bangladeshis at play by just surrendering to their holiday enthusiasm.