A trip to the coast

My project recently had an all-staff meeting way in the south of Bangladesh in the town of Kuakata. I had never been to this part of Bangladesh before and it was my first time seeing the Bay of Bengal. We flew by seaplane down to the nearby town of Hazipur and from there had a short drive and ferry crossing to Kuakata. I love flying by seaplane - it's such a unique experience and there are always a bunch of excited kids waiting to greet the plane and its passengers when we land.

Being the coast, fishing is one of the main industries and there were so many beautiful boats around. All were made of wood and are the traditional types they use along the coast.

It wouldn't be a real project meeting if there weren't at least a few pictures of the team. Here is a group of a few of us after a game of cricket (I enjoyed just watching) on the beach:

And this is a picture of the full team after the end of our conference:

 To get from Barisal City to Kuakata, you have to take four ferries. The whole journey is only a little over a 100 kilometers, but due to the ferry crossings and poor road conditions in many places, it takes 4-5 hours. The government is currently constructing a number of bridges and they believe the journey will be cut down to 2 hours once complete. Here is one of the ferries we took:

It was a really nice trip and it was the perfect time of year (I'm told) to visit this part of the country - it's not hot and the weather is dry. Overall the meeting was definitely a success and I think the trip helped me score a few extra points with my colleagues as well; they seemed quite pleased at our choice of venue! :-)