In Bangladesh

Firstly hi Mahmud... Unfortunately my daughter left our phone on the train so we will have to contact you be email...BTW are the Bangladeshi mobile phones good if we need to buy a replacement? We need Wifi.....
We unfortunately have not really enjoyed our time here - we find India so much easier and so many interesting things to see. I suppose after 8 trips to India there is never any hassle and we do not get mobbed wherever we go. People surround us here with hostility on faces. Is this because I am a women with two kids (12 and 4.5)?Often the hOtels are either too expensive or dirty. Being vegetarian has been extremely difficult for all of us. We hardly eat. We have seen tourists only in Khulna and Dhaka. Having said that we quite enjoyed Barisal (Hotel Athena excellent) and really like Mymensingh (Hotel Khan good value, Hotel Amir starts 2500 tk, beyond or means). The hotels here are in a really central location and the old bazaar is very interesting. Short walk to train station.
Buses and trains have been fine although extremely crowded. We also really liked Biririsi, the Y's were full so stayed at other Hotel which was fine.
I dont want to offend people here but we find the treatment of animals very hard and that is a personal thing - we are vegetarian because we are animal lovers!
We are looking forward to Sylhet and Srimongol!
Will talk Mahmud in Dhaka 25 Jan....

Hi noasmum, i sorry to hear your hassles during traveling in Bangladesh. As far as I remember, you told me that Bangladeshi people are not welcoming and interested on the kids what you find in India...now you are telling different :)

You selected wrong hotels in Dhaka and probably other cities. Hotel Ramna is much better than Pacific with half of the price.

Anyway, hope you will enjoy Sylhet and Srimongol.

BTW, as discussed earlier, when you come Dhaka again, you will stay my place for 1/2 nights to show that BD people are not so bad :)

I want to add a point that we should not judge the whole community by the views and nature of the people as every country and creed there will be combination of good and bad so it is better to be optimistic and never give up our decision!!

Sorry to hear you aren't enjoying your trip. Are you quite sure people are surrounding you with "hostility on faces"?

As a foreigner in Bangladesh it's certainly easy to attract attention however I doubt this would be anything other than curiosity. Just because they are not smiling doesn't mean they are hostile :)

"I suppose after 8 trips to India there is never any hassle and we do not get mobbed wherever we go. People surround us here with hostility on faces"
Well well, how different impressions can be. I was 18 times in India and just back from Bangladesh (for 5th time). I find Bangladesh so much more relaxing than touristy places in India. People are very (too?) curious indeed and their staring reall has nothing to do with hostility. I have been helped all the time, even by people who spoke no English at all. I've never had any hassle. True, there are hardly any tourists in Bangladesh. That makes it more interesting to me, but that's also why people are so interested and curious.
Should you need some advice about Srimongal or good company for a bicycle trip around there you can let me know.
Enjoy the rest of your journey nevertheless

If people surround you with hostility on their faces, there is probably something wrong, but it is not being a woman with two kids. Maybe it is something you are doing, or something you are wearing. What are your kids wearing? I've seen female tourists walking around Cairo in shorts years ago, and yes the attention was hostile. They did not seem to know why. India is more westernized and citified than BD and people don't care as much (which can be good or bad).

I certainly agree that BD is pathetically obsessed with meat. It's true of many Muslim countries, but particularly sad in BD because there are so many wonderful vegetables there. When we asked for a vegetable dish at al-Razzaque in old Dhaka, we got a vegetable stew with scraps of chicken in it! Turkey is the same way.

I have returned today after 3 weeks in Bangladesh..hostility from locals? Certainly not my experience..intense curiosity , often surrounded by a crowd but "mobbed" ? and never hostile....always someone would be a hand to help at bus , train station etc. It was possible to get vegetarian food everywhere...paratha and dhal breakfasts...rice and veg curries in the evenings....Strange that you as animal lovers are offended in Bangladesh and not in India!

and no, you won't see many tourists... a real positive imo .... We travelled Dhaka, then8 days in Chittagong hill tracts, then Barisal, Khulna, Rajshahi area, Dhaka and saw our first travellers yesterday in Dhaka airport.

Like the above posters, we found Bangladesh interesting and refreshing because of the lack of tourists, compared to India. We certainly found no signs of hostility, just curiosity, and everyone was more than helpful and pleased to see us as tourists in their country. We find India much more hassle, due to people constantly wanting to sell us stuff, take us places, etc. As a woman I dressed in shalwar suits which are comfortable and won't offend anyone. We enjoyed the food, especially the naan and dhal breakfasts. We certainly didn't see animals treated any worse than in India - actually can't recall seeing anything untoward?? We would love to vist again, to see the bits we didn't have time for.

Incidentally, dhal is a shield used in battle. The lentil preparation is daal. The two sounds are distinct in Indian languages.

In defence of the OP, who can eat only daal three times a day?

Sometimes it's just a matter of expectations but it's easy to know that Bangladesh is not a touristy country and that it doesn't have a 'veg' tradition. That said it's easy to find delicious vegetables, curries, fruits and desserts everywhere.No need to eat daal all the time, that's just served with rice. Tried the delicious street food in Old Dhaka? I agree after a while it can be monotonous, but just for 2 or 3 weeks...? Am, I'm looking forward to going back to one of the friendiest countries I know...

Its one of the world's poorest countries, with one of the lowest levels of tourism in the world. So yes, people will stare at you, but i doesn't mean they are being hostile, they are usually just curious, and it is not rude for them to stare in their culture, as it is in most western cultures. Yes, animals are treated terribly, but when you see how many people are starving every day, and when you see things like policemen and shopkeepers beating people with sticks, then that becomes a moot point with so many people suffering. And yes, in a country where the vast majority is not vegetarian, you will not fine vege food easily. Yes, there is not so much to see and do as in India, which also means you will see hardly any other tourists. Yes, some hotels are dirty and over-priced, but there are plenty of good ones, so you must do more research to find better value ones.

Really, if you choose to visit Bangladesh on your own accord, you must expect all these things!! What else did you expect from here? At least look on the positive side of things; there is little hassle from the locals, and people go out of their way to look after you. You are lucky to meet Mahmud and have someone like him show you around, so try and get something positive out of your next trip!!!