Features

Bangladesh - Farming and Fertility

Bangladesh is one of the most fertile areas on Earth, yet it is often plagued by natural disasters on a scale most of us cannot even imagine. For example, Hurricane Katrina was responsible for the deaths of nearly 2,000 people, yet the devastating Bhola Cyclone of 1970 killed roughly 250 times as many in Bangladesh. Cyclones, floods and droughts bring death and disease to the people of Bangladesh, yet they also bring life by renewing the fertility of the land. The Monsoon floods that cause the country's rivers to overflow their banks spread rich and nutrient-packed soil over the low-lying islands that constitute the broad river deltas where most of Bangladesh's crops are grown. To compare, the historic floods of the river Nile in Egypt allowed farmers to build one of earth's first great civilizations, yet since the construction of the Aswan High Dam the floods have stopped and farming in the valley and delta of the Nile has become much less productive.

Bangladesh - Center of the Ship Breaking Industry

As dawn breaks on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, a surreal scene unfolds: thousands of workers stream down to the rusted hulks of beached ships, some of them huge oil tankers. Soon the sounds of hammering and metal cutting can be heard as sparks from welding torches float through the air like fireflies.

Best Beaches in Bangladesh

Mention the word "Bangladesh" and travelers seem to get caught up in a world of images akin to monastery's and riding atop elephants in search of Bengal tigers. All that is well and good, but those in the "know" understand that Bangladesh boasts some of the most pristine and stunning beaches found anywhere in the world.

Experience Bangladesh as a Volunteer

Few trips to a foreign country can be as worthwhile as when you spend time as a volunteer. Sure, you can travel to Bangladesh and visit the sites and experience the culture and cram as much as you can into a brief one or two week visit. Or you can volunteer at any number of locations, performing any number of jobs and stay anywhere from four to 12 weeks and really get to know what the country and its people are all about.

Bangladesh: Dhaka - Land of the Rickshaw

Dhaka (formerly Dacca) is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. Located in the geographic center of the country in the great deltaic region of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, Dhaka has one thing most other Bang cities do not: rickshaws. Hundreds of thousands of rickshaws.