20 February 2021
Last night we planned to wake up very early. While ordering breakfast at the hotel, I asked the hotel authorities and found out that there would be no breakfast before 8 am. That’s why we all had a plan to get ready at once and go down for breakfast. Because we talked to Jackie Bhai, the driver of the moon car, to get out by 8:30 in the morning.
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https://iamnrdurjoy.wordpress.com/2021/02/22/nrds-tour-057-bangla/
At exactly 7:56 in the morning, 9 of us went to the hotel restaurant to have breakfast. When we went to take breakfast and saw a lot of people, we could not understand that there was a lot of crowd in the hotel that day. And so I, Zakir brother and Hafiz serve our breakfast together. An interesting incident happened there that day. Seeing Zakir brother and us serving the food, some tourists think of us as hotel men. It’s ridiculous but funny too.
After breakfast, we hurriedly packed our bags and left for Sajek in CHANDER GARI. I had already talked to Jackie Bhai, the driver of CHANDER GARI, and so he arrived at the Hotel Gairing at exactly 8 o’clock. This punctuality of the hill brother is very enviable.
We checked out from the remaining 1 couple rooms and 1 double room out of the 2 couple rooms and 2 double rooms that we rented in the hotel Gairing. The main reason we reserved those two rooms was to take a rest and freshen up ourselves.
Anyway, at 8:54 in the morning instead of 8:30 in the morning, we left for Sajek Valley in the CHANDER GARI. The beauty on both sides of the hilly road in Khagrachhari fascinated me. After about 1 hour and 8 minutes, we arrived at the checkpoint to enter Sajek Valley at exactly 10:09 am. Regionally, this place is called Baghaihat. The Sajek Valley is about 33 km from there.
There are some rules and regulations for entering and leaving Sajek Valley that I am sharing with you. You can enter and exit Sajek Valley two times in the day. The first is between 10 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. Another is between 3 pm and 3:30 pm. At these two times, the vehicles enter Sajek from one side of Sajek Valley and exit from Sajek on the other side.
As per the rules, After going to Dighinala we gave information on all 12 travelers. This is the main reason why we have to wait at Sajek’s check post in Baghaihat. After storing information of all the vehicles and travelers, one group of Bangladesh Army vehicles went in front and another group went behind the vehicles, and take all vehicles with travelers to Sajek with many guards.
After traveling on a hilly road for about 2 hours and 30 minutes, we finally reached Sajek. After a total of four to four and a half hours of mountain travel from Hotel Gairing, we all arrived at our destination Sajek Valley. Upon entering Sajek we had to go through enough hassle to get to the booked Hotel Megh View Resort. Hotel Megh View Point Resort is located on the way from Sajek Valley to Konglak Hill. I am sharing with you some information about our resort in Sajek Valley.
Hotel Megh View Point Resort is a two-storied eco-resort with one basement. The hotel has a total of 8 rooms, each of which has double or twin rooms. The rent for each is Rs 5,000 (hotel rent may vary according to time and demand). Going through the middle of the rooms downstairs to the front, there is a platform where any tourist can enjoy the view of the natural clouds in the morning and evening by sitting, lying down, and standing. The most interesting thing is that there is a dining area in the basement of the hotel. There is a Kitchen in there.
Arriving at the Hotel Megh View Point Resort we all stayed in our room. My room was downstairs next to the main stage. From that room, one can easily and very nicely enjoy the scenic view of Sajak Valley.
After freshening up in our room, We stayed at the dining table in the basement of the hotel at exactly 2:20 pm. A complimentary lunch was arranged for us from the hotel that day. Their package included chicken, pulses, and mashed potatoes. But we order extra two bamboo chickens. Bamboo chicken is chicken cooked in bamboo. I went to the chef and tried to find out the recipe for bamboo chicken. The gist of what he tells me about bamboo chicken is that 1 bamboo chicken is rubbed with a whole chicken and all the other spices and ingredients. After germination, everything is mixed well together and wrapped in banana leaves. After wrapping the banana leaves, it is inserted into the bamboo. After being wrapped in bamboo, it is placed in charcoal over medium heat. After keeping it for about 15 to 20 minutes, when the bamboo burns and turns black and there is a smell of meat, it is taken out of the oven and served hot bamboo chicken.
The bamboo chicken that day was quite different when it comes to food. Each bamboo chicken cost BDT 500 (USD 5.95). It was very spicy. Bamboo chicken can be a favorite food for those who like to eat Spicy food.
After lunch, we were all ready. And I called Jackie Bhai, the driver of the CHANDER GARI. At exactly 3:50 pm we all set off together for Konglak Hill. Since Konglak hill is 1 km away from our resort, it didn’t take us long to reach Konglak hill. My experience that day was quite different. Because I climbed to the top of the hill with my son in one hand and a stick in the other.
Every tourist has to carry small bamboo wicker to climb the mountain. Because the bamboo wicker helps enough to keep the balance. Depending on the age, the price of bamboo wicker ranges from Tk 5 to a maximum of Tk 20.
Every tourist has to carry small bamboo wicker to climb the mountain. Because the bamboo wicker helps enough to keep the balance. Depending on the age, the price of bamboo wicker ranges from Tk 5 to a maximum of Tk 20.
Except for Hafiz, each of us had a baby in our lap, which is why we did not dare to take them to the top of the mountain. That is why I, Asif and Zakir brother with our three children, gave our wives a chance to go upstairs and waited for them to go down to a local shop. We then continued to enjoy hill banana and Tea.
After a while, Zakir brother’s wife and Asif’s wives came down after enjoying the Konglak hill. My wife didn’t want to come down because of her extra joy. I fell into great misery. I was relaxing in the shop with Dulquer and wondering if I would go back to CHANDER GARI. I thought if I got angry I would lose myself. I have come to a place like Sajek, will I come here again? As the number of tourists increases day by day, the current beauty will gradually disappear.
By thinking and thinking, I suddenly saw my wife come down with bamboo wicker in one hand. I was very excited to see him. I quickly put Dulquer on her lap and went upstairs with a stick. Going up, I saw that the higher I went, the more dangerous the mountain was. It’s good that I didn’t bring Dulquer so high. Because I have acrophobia. Once I go up and look down, I am sure to be in danger.
Thinking about these, I went upstairs and saw Zakir brothers being seen from far. I took a selfie in front of the signboard on Konglak hill and went straight to Zakir’s brother. We all enjoyed going there and taking lots of photos and selfies. My moments spent in the Konglak hills were fun.
After enjoying many good moments in Konglak hill, we all went to the old helipad of Sajek at 5:57 pm. There was a lot of crowd at the helipad that day as it was a holiday. We all went there and enjoyed the popular bamboo tea. It is a popular dish there. Tea is made into normal and served in bamboo. I liked the tea served in a new way. And yes, I didn’t share with you that Bamboo Tea is available at Taka 20 per cup. The most interesting thing is that the price of milk tea and non-milk tea and all types of tea are the same.
After enjoying some beautiful moments in the old helipad of Sajek, we reached our hotel at exactly 6:20 pm. We went there and saw that a barbecue party was being arranged for us. At the barbecue party, we all went to the hotel dining hall and gathered. The hotel authorities have to be informed in advance to make a barbecue. The price of a barbecue chicken is Tk 150 (USD 1.79) per piece.
After taking breakfast in the evening, we all were gossiping. My wife served tea with fun Thai grass for everyone. At one point we all got into funny stories. I couldn’t imagine when that time ended while sharing our story.
At one point in the story, the hotel authorities called us to have dinner. We all met again at the hotel dining room at 10:05 pm. This time our dinner recipe consisted of broiler chicken with pulses, mountain pumpkin vegetables, and mashed potatoes. The price of one piece of chicken in that hotel is around Taka 100 (USD 1.19).
At the end of the dinner, we all went to our room. All of us had planned to enjoy the morning sun of Sajek the next day. Since I had a lot of joy and a little thought, I never counted when I fell asleep at night.
And this is how the second day of our journey passed. In the next blog, I will share with you how we reached Hotel Gairing in Khagrachhari by car from Sajek Valley. How our journey ended and when we reached Dhaka Shah Jalal Airport via Chittagong Shah Amanat Aiport from Hotel Gairing.
The NRD 