Day 1.

Outside Sharjah International Airport to begin the weekend trip to Bangladesh.


And about to check in for the Air Arabia 3am flight to Chittagong. An Emirati low cost carrier based in Sharjah, it was my first time flying the airline.


The 3,700 kilometer flight to Chittagong's Shah Amanat International Airport was scheduled to take 4.5 hours.


I had visited Bangladesh for four days a few years ago but only to Dhaka and inland to Khulna.

When I spotted a weekend trip to Chittagong on a Meetup group I quickly decided it was a good opportunity to head back.

Airside with my boarding pass for aisle seat 3C.


Walking across the tarmac to board the Air Arabia A320.


And a quick selfie before departure. Despite being a LCC the seat pitch was relatively comfortable and the seats actully reclined unlike other LCC's I had been on.


After take-off I put on my eyeshades and put in some earplugs to catch a few hours sleep.

Coffee, muffin and a Snickers at dawn somewhere other eastern India.


Starting our descent to Chittagong.


And my freshly stamped Bangladeshi visa for $51. There were four others on the weekend trip and we quickly recognized each other being the only people queueing up for the visa on arrival.


Just outside where I met up with Didar, our guide for today in Chittagong.


A couple of the guys had forgotten to bring a paper copy of the hotel reservation so were a little late after trying to figure out how to send it to a Bangladeshi immigration Gmail account to print out.


Didar then took us to an awaiting minivan for the ~30 minute drive into the city.


In the lobby of the Well Park Residence Hotel.


Welcome glass of mango juice.


And our room for the one night stay.


The view from the balcony. My roomate was Maher, an internal bank auditor from the UK working in Abu Dhabi but living in Dubai.


Rickshaws out on the street. I wasn't too tired or jetlagged so decided to go for a stroll.


Oranges and banana's for sale.


A Bangladeshi girl chatting on her phone.


Crowd.


Pharmacy.


Ladies chatting on the street.


Cigarette.


A rickshaw driver pausing briefly for a quick portrait.


Bunny ears.


More banana's for sale.


A driver inside the bars surrounding his auto-rickshaw.


Waiting for the next customer.


A spiderweb of cables above O.R. Nizam Road.


Mother and daughter crossing the road.


Back at the hotel restaurant with some chicken soup and spring rolls for lunch.


And some tasty fried rice and spicy curry.


At 1:30pm we met up with Didar again and headed out in the minivan for a drive through the busy streets.


A short while late we arrived at Karnaphuli Mariners Park.


Chittagong is one of the main fishing hubs of Bangladesh due to its proximity to the Bay of Bengal.


A fisherman repairing a gillnet.


A lady walking in front of the anchored fishing boats.


Looking west with more gillnets stretched out for repair.


A row of the wooden fishing boats at low tide.


A fishing boat under construction.


Each boat costs approximately ~6 million taka ($70,000) to build including engine and nets.


Wood for the boats is sourced from neighbouring Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia as well as locally.


A boat builder pausing for a photo.


Another worker with a length of caulking cotton.


The caulking cotton is hammered in between the wooden planks to help waterproof the hull.


When the boat is out to sea one crew member has the sole job of cotton caulking to ensure the hull remains watertight.


A carpenter shaving down pieces of wood to make wooden pegs for the boat construction.


We then drove a few kilometres in the minivan again to our next stop.


Roadside snack stall.


Making our way down an alley towards the Karnaphuli River.


And boarded a waiting riverboat.


Fishing trawlers moored in the middle of the river as we head upstream.


Fishermen.


Rowing downstream.


Passing under the Shah Amanat Bridge. The Chinese-built bridge opened in 2010.


Ladder.


A riverboat along side a bulk carrier ship.


After cruising down the river for ~5 kilometers we disembarked on the southern bank of the Karnaphuli River at Shikalbaha.


In Shikalbaha we visited another boatyard.


Black tar painted on the wooden hull for waterproofing.


While the Karnaphuli boatyard we had just visited was for the construction of new boats, the Shikalbaha boatyard was for repair of existing boats.


Three carpenters.


The boatyard foreman.


Chipping away.


It was a contrast comparing the boats after they had spent many years working versus the new boats under consruction earlier in the day.


A gentleman in his tar-splattered shirt.


A drum of tar being carried to the boatyard.


We then boarded the boat for the journey back.


A fishing trawler cruising down the river. Chattogram is the official name of the city.


Towing a rowboat which was struggling with the incoming tide.


Back on the northern bank of the river.


And the sun beginning to set to the west.


Peanuts for sale.


Three wheeled transport.


We then drove into the city to the Old Railway Station.


Chittagong has two main railway stations. A busy, modern railway station and the Old Railway Station which was built by the British during the Colonial period.


Station master.


The station dates from the late 19th century when a railway line was built between Chittagong and the city of Comilla.


Passengers about to depart.


Floral headscarf.


Toki headcap.


Waiting for the next train.


Three men in thobes.


A game of cricket underway as we continue our walk into the city.


Busy Station Road.


In the minivan again behind all the tuk-tuks.


And back at the Well Park Hotel after dusk.


Some Mum brand bottled water at the hotel restaurant for dinner.


Grilled chicken and vegetables for the main.


And some sweet rice pudding for dessert at the end of day 1.