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Sight Seeing in Chittagong, Rangamati and Cox's Bazar

by Anam Mahmud
WE had just said out goodbyes, to Cox's B^zar. We would be reaching Chittagong soon. All of us were eagerly waiting to see this fantastic city.
Chittagong, the second largest city of Bangladesh and a busy international sea port, is an ideal place for a vacation. We could not resist the attraction of its green hills and forests, its broad sandy beaches and fine cool climate. The Chinese traveller-poet. Huen Tsang (7th century A D). had described it as "a sleeping beauty emerging from mists and water". In the 16th century Portuguese seafarers had given It the title "Porto Grande." Chittagong, remains true to both these descriptions even today. It combines the busy hum of an active seaport with the soothing quiet of* a charming hill town.
During-- our stay in Chittagong, we spent most of our time in viewing the different places of Interest. We hired two micro-buses from rent-a-car services and visited the important tourist spots of the city. Like other visitors & pilgrims, we had also’ been at tracted by the tomb of Sultan Bayazid Bostain!. situated on a hillock In Nasfrabad. about 6 km north-west df Chittagong town. At the foot of shrine's is a large pool with several hundred tortoises. What had. attracted me most was the myth that is associated with this spot. Tradition has it that these animals are the descendants of evil spirits (genii) cast into this shape because they Incurred the wrath of the great s'^int who visited the place a)» nil. 1.100 years ago. Some
of us paid a visit to the mazar of Bayazid BOstami to pray.
What perhaps had impressed me most was Foyz. Lake. Set amidst picturesque surroundings, it Is an ideal place for outings '& picnics. Thousands of people flock'to
this place every w«4 k. Its* -beauty cannot be described in words.
We also visited a World War
Il cemetery. In a well-pre-seA'ed, quiet and picturesque spot. Within the city li^iuried in eternal peace over 700 sol-
diers. from Britain. Australia, Canada; New-Zealand. India. Myanmar, east and West Africa, the 'Netherlands and Japan, who- laid down their Ilves on the Myanmar front during World War II. Dates -of birth and death are written ip each
grave along with beautiful po-eins. I
Later we came to the court building. Situated on the fairy hill, this building commands a panoramic bird’s eye view of Chittagong. This had been the scene of Intense activity during
the Independence War in 1971.
In the evening we started lor Patenga beach, with h view to- watching the sun-sit. The sun sank in to the deep ocean with an explosion of red The gentle breeze, the rocks on i he beach* the fishing boats out at sea and the [-oar of the waves lent the atmosphere and incredible romance.
From Chittagong, our next destination was Rangamati. a 77 km road winding through green fields and lush hills took us to Rangamati. It is the head quarters'of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which is a wbnderfui repository of scenic splen •lours with flora and fauna of varied descriptions. It is also connected by water-way to Chittagong. We thoroughly enjoyed the bus-journey to fjangamati. The ranges of the hill tracts rise steeply, thus looking more Impressive than what their height would imply, and are crfcwned by narrow ridges. The valleys of khe hill tracts are covered with thick-planted forests. The vegetation varies from semi-evergreen to tropical evergreen, dominated by tall teak trees. Rangamati is a favourite holiday resort because of it's’ scenic beauty. Homespun textiles, bamboo handbags, flower vases, silver jewellery, and the. the tribal men affd women who fashion them, ar.e other attractions. Almost all of us were busy with' our cameras attempting to capture the wonderful moments in picture. We went on to have a wonderful and relaxing cruise'bv boat, on Kaptai Uk^. n our way back to Dhaka. In the ooach, we were all in a ■ nostalgic mood.