Scenes from the "zero point" road trip

A few weeks ago, Shazzad, Amanda, Jarrod and I went on a road trip to Syhlet.  We wanted to go somewhere that none of us had even gone before. We chose Jaflong, an area on the Indian border in Sylhet that is supposed to be beautiful.  It's also where most of Bangladesh's rock quarries are located.

Sylhet is about a 5 hour drive from Dhaka.  We get up early and head out there.  By the time we arrive, we are very hungry.

With great concentration, Amanda and I manage to read the Bangla notice on the table.  It says that we can't

linger after finishing our food.  Maybe we were better off not knowing!!

After a delicious meal, we headed out of the town to wander around the tea gardens that Sylhet is so famous for.  The weather is perfect and we pretty much have the hills to ourselves today.

We head back to the BRAC learning center where we're staying.  It has a nice campus where we can relax.  As it gets darker, we are joined by hundreds of crickets and a lot of frogs.

We wake up early to get on the road to Jaflong.  Like all things in Bangladesh, beating the crowds is half the battle.  We stop on the way for a quick breakfast of piping hot bread with omelette (mommelete in Bangla) and lentils.

The landscape changes from the gently rolling hills to proper mountains that lie just over the border.

We cross over to the other side--to see what we can see.  There are small towns of people who primarily live here to collect rocks and sell them.

On our way to "zero point"--the border between India and Bangladesh.  Another example of why it's good to focus on the journey, not the destination.

 On the way back, we stop by a lovely new resort in Lalakhal for lunch.

And then it's back to Dhaka.  Weekend flew by!