November 27, 2010
The Border Road from Birisiri to Haluaghat
off the map
Milton, the manager of the YWCA of Birisiri, told me last night that it's eight hours of cycling to get to Sherpur, west of here, so my guess is it's around 80 km. I asked him how many kilometres, but he didn't know. I then asked how he knew it takes eight hours to ride there and he replied that's what it took him when he did it. Only in Bangladesh.
This morning after breakfast Milton explains the way west and draws a diagram to show how to get out of here. I'm most grateful. Maybe it'll be useful, but who knows.
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It's trying to be sunny, but there's a haze as I push my bike along the brick paving that leads to the main road and once there I ride back towards Durgapur, looking for the left turn Milton spoke of, but still miss it. It's that small.
A man points it out. It's another brick-paved path that leads to a wide river and I get on the smooth mud path that runs along its top and think this is great.
The path curves and is flat and hard and there are just a few rickshaws and people walking, but obviously no cars. Like I said, great. It gets smaller - becoming a walking trail that dwindles away into a field. Not so great.
Some land workers point me back when I say Haluaghat and speak Bangla, which I instinctively know means this is the wrong direction.
It's gone 10:00 when I return to where I should have veered right at the end of brick-paved path, then I continue on and this route looks even worse - I'm on a sandy river bed - one that during monsoon season will be under deep flowing water.
A teenage boy kindly leads me across the sand after me asking him where this is. He jumps across streams and I follow. He even takes my photo.
We get to the same river (I guess) where there's a wood canoe that I wheel my bike on, then ask if this is the way to Haluaghat and get told that it is, which is hard to believe. Jeez.
Ten minutes of cycling along a trail later there's another canoe to ferry me across another river and I wonder how long this whole trip to Sherpur will take. The route is rutted mud that's bone dry, which turns to brick paving that's crumbling and potholed so I decide to pedal along the grassy verge.
I ride cross concrete bridges that are in various states of decay - the worst only has the two main beams - plus a long bamboo one on the path to Haluaghat, which is what I ask for each time I pause, which is often.
By noon I'm back on tarmac. It feels nice.
Villagers give all kinds of distances, so it's hard to know for sure what's what. Information is mixed too.
However, a few have mentioned a guesthouse in Haluaghat and a few kilometres from there I get told to seek the Hotel Imex International.
The hotel name sounds preposterous for such a location, but that's what I find and that's where I sleep. A bargain at 250 taka.
Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 1,066 km (662 miles)
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