For a long time I wanted to visit somewhere far away with my whole family, by the infinite mercy of God that hope was going to be fulfilled. Because a few months ago, Zakir brother said , let’s visit Sajek. I said, no brother money crisis; The effects of last year’s COVID-19 have fallen on my forehead in a very worst way. So I can’t think of any trip at the moment. Zakir brother said, no tension, we all will go from office. I then said let’s see.
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On January 13, 2021, Zakir brother suddenly showed me some receipts of buying some tickets of US Bangla Airlines. I then realized that Zakir brother was not joking, he was really planning to go. After asking who will go, Zakir brother said we will all go with our family members.
Then the time of awaiting day arrives, We had schedule to arrive at Dhaka’s domestic flight terminal by 9:15 am on January 19. I was excited since few days of the trip. Due to which I woke up at 6 o’clock in the morning. As soon as I woke up, my son Dulquer also woke up. After Freshened up in the morning and taking breakfast, I left from Natunbazar with my whole family for Hazrat Shahjalal Airport at 8:30 am. We arrived at Dhaka Airport at 9 am very fast in just 10 minutes by rickshaw and 20 minutes by CNG.
Since that was the first Air Flight of my life, I did not know exactly where the flight from Dhaka to Chattogram was. After waiting for about 30 minutes, when I called Asif, I immediately realized that the CNG driver had taken me to the wrong terminal. Because after I got on the CNG, I told him to drop us off at the domestic terminal.
Whatever he did wrong, what problem in it? We have to do the hard work. From the airport, I arrived in a trolley with three bags and a tripod at the domestic terminal, just 300 yards from the international terminal. At 9:30 am, I went to the internal terminal and met Asif and his family. Going there, I stood in line at the airport for the first time in my life. I was little bit anxious, but the joy was no less. In fact, my tension was for the first time at Airport and on the other side for my wife Israt and my son Dulquer, who came with me. After reaching to Airport, at first we received boarding pass for 12 of us from US Bangla Airlines. Oh! I didn’t tell you about the 12 of us who were always together during those 3 days of trip.
The tourists we had on this trip, Zakir brother, his wife, daughter and aunt 4 people together, I, my wife with son, 3 people . Asif is with his wife, daughter and younger brother, 4 people. And Hafiz is the only one himself. Hafiz’s newly married wife was also scheduled to go on this trip. A departing and return ticket was taken for her. But she missed the trip because of a sudden schedule of Masters exam.
Upon entering the airport’s internal terminal, a check was made first. After this checking, it is necessary to go to the boarding side room. After checking procedure, Asif and I were waiting on the side of the boarding together. Dulquer suddenly cried for food so I went to buy food for him and met Zakir brother. Hafiz arrived just after Zakir brother arrival. The price of food inside the airport was very expensive. The price of three pieces of cake is 120 Taka which would be a maximum of 30 Taka in any outside shop.
However, after passing the boarding we all experienced another checking again for the 2nd time. This time the checking was a little different. Because this time all the body parts except clothes, pants, socks had to be taken off. All of this was done for the safety of all of us.
After finishing the checking work, we all got on a bus of US Bangla Airlines Company in the line. That bus took us 20 minutes later in front of our desired plane. In fact, the plane was not far from the airport. It only took so long to drive for lower speed. Later I found out about this, that is the rule of all airports. We got another check to get on the plane. This time they took my tripod from all the bags in my hand. Which is why I got so nervous. I thought maybe they would take my tripod.
No! My suspicion was wrong. They said that the tripod was too big to carry in the seat. They took my tripod to the cabin of the plane and handed me a receipt. The tripod had to be taken after showing the receipt.
Then we all got on the plane. The thing that surprised me when I got on the plane was the size of the chair inside. The size of an airplane chair is awkward enough for a six-foot man like me. Maybe the size of the seat was so small because it was an internal flight.
At exactly 10:55 am, the flight attendant’s voice came out. How to use seatbelts, how to stay safe on the plane, these were her words. Listening to her, I came to know many rules of the aeroplane.
After a varieties formalities, the plane finally began to fly slowly above the ground. My seat was 7A on BS-103 flight and my wife had 7C. Which was basically side by side. I got my favorite window seat. But after putting our bags there, I had to sit in the seat next to Zakir brother due to lack of space.
Soon after our plane started flying over 15,000 feet. My first flight experience was a mixed reaction. As the plane climbed up, my head began to tingle lightly. After asking Zakir brother about this feeling, he said that it was more common with new passengers who have almost new flight experience. It is wise to stop breathing at this time.
About 35 minutes later at exactly 11:30 am our flight BS-103 landed at Chattogram Shah Amanat Airport. After landing we all got off the plane. After getting off I waited in front of the conveyor belt. Because I came to know from the flight attendants that I had to collect my tripod from there. After waiting for about 10 minutes in the conveyor belt, I then collected my tripod.
Meanwhile, a 10 seated microbus was waiting for us at Chattogram Airport. After finishing our necessary work at the airport, we left for Khagrachhari in a microbus at exactly 11:40 am. I was traveling in a microbus and enjoying the nature around the airport.
Since this was my first trip with my family and close people, I was too excited for that reason. At one stage of going to Khagrachhari, at exactly 2:20 pm, a wheel of our microbus broke down. Going down to find out the reason, it was found that the wheel was damaged due to the extra pressure due to the bad condition of the road. I would say luck was a bit better because the driver had extra wheels. Having an extra wheel, we left for Khagrachhari again after a delay of about 15 minutes.
Our plan was to go to Khagrachhari and have lunch at Hotel Gairing. That’s how we booked the hotel. But halfway down the road, our hunger for lunch could not be stopped. At exactly 2:45 pm we all went to a hotel between Chattogram and Khagrachhari and had our lunch. The quality of the food was not so good. Being a local hotel, there was no good food. And so we all just finished our lunch that day with chicken meat. The price of our lunch was an average of 100 Taka each and a total of 900 Taka.
After taking lunch we all left for the hotel gairing again. After traveling for about 5 hours in a microbus, we reached our destination at exactly 5:05 pm. Arriving at the hotel we all got back a new life. I am sharing with you some important information about hotel gairing.
Located in the heart of Khagrachhari district, Hotel Gairing is a Tripura-owned hotel. We rented two couple beds and two double beds at the hotel, each air-conditioned. The couple beds cost Taka 1,800 each which we rented at a special discount of Taka 1,500 (USD 18). On the other hand, we rented two double beds at a basic rent at Taka 2,000 (USD 24), what has actually rate of Taka 2,500 (USD 30). Basically there was a complimentary breakfast in the morning for the members of each room which we did not accept. Due to which the couple room was discounted by Taka 300 (USD 3.6) and Taka 500 (USD 6) in the double bed room.
Let’s come to the description of the rooms. The couple bed room in the Hotel Gairing has a six-foot-seven-foot bed with two pillows and a blanket. There is also a single sofa, a table, a plastic chair, an intercom and a washroom. The washroom has a basin, a high commode, two water taps, a shower. There are two water taps with one for normal water and one with hot water.
The difference between a couple bed and a double bed is that there are two medium beds instead of one large bed in the double bedroom. Besides other facilities and measures are often same. In this tour at Khagrachhari my room number was 102. The room you see in my video is my room.
Checking in at the hotel in the evening, we did not have enough energy and we did not have enough time to travel. And so we all male members went out to tour Khagrachhari town. In fact, the biggest reason we went out was to fix a car to go for a visit to sajek the next morning. Locally the cars are called CHANDER GARI (Lunar Car).
As we were leaving the hotel, we met a Bangladeshi hill brother. That brother’s name was Jackie. Talking to him, We realized that he was the driver of CHANDER GARI. Asked about the package to visit Sajek, he said that the cost would be Taka 9,700 (USD 118), he would be able to visit all the spots of Sajek, including Alutila Cave in Khagrachari. After listening the price from him, we started bargaining as usual. After a long bargain, I realized that the Sajek Drivers’ Association has set a rate of Taka 9,700 (USD 118) for Sajek travelers.
Even then we went out to explore the heart of Khagrachari in search of a car. We went in front of the office of Sajek Chander Car Drivers Association and saw a crowd of people. We didn’t understand that problem was going on there. Why shouldn’t be problem there? Many people came to this Khagrachhari. They all have the same purpose. A tour of the Sajak Valley. While walking, I suddenly met a local man. He told us he would help us to get a CHANDER GARI.
After talking to someone for a while, he said to us, “Brother, although the rate is Taka 9,700 (USD 118) by the owner, I will arrange for you at Taka 12,000 (USD 146) . All we understood that the guy was a swindler. And so, without spending any minute, I called Mr. Jackie and booked him to go to our Sajek on 20th February.
Booking the car for the next day reduced our worries. This time we searched for the food hotel in Khagrachari from where we would have take snacks in the evening. As we walked, we went in front of the Montana Hotel and Restaurant at Mohsin Market in Shapla Chattar, Khagrachhari Sadar. The hotel looked good from the outside. So we all went in without wasting time. Going inside, looking at the different menus, we ordered chicken kebabs, each costing around Taka 60 (USD 0.73) and two small parathas, each costing Taka 10. There we had meal for five and took the parcel for the other four.
The front of the Montana Hotel and Restaurant
After evening snacks we were walking and on the way we saw some bananas of hills. Usually we all eat bananas from Dhaka but the taste of hill bananas is different which you all know very well. After asking the shopkeeper the price, he replied that one dozen of banani is Taka 80. After bargaining, we buy two dozen and three bananas for about 90 Taka. At one stage of purchasing bananas, a banana of a different design catches our eye. The banana was very reddish and brown in color. After asking the price of banana, the shopkeeper told us that the price is 20 Taka per banana. After hearing the price of the banana and seeing the design, we all wanted to taste that. We all tasted the banana one by one. The first bite of the banana made me feel a lot like Banana with seeds which is called ATI KOLA in our village. Later, the banana introduced different tastes in the mouth. Sometimes the banana tasted like SOBRI BANANA sometimes it tasted like CHAMPA BANANA. Sometimes it seemed that the banana tasted like BANGLA BANANA. But whatever it was, the taste of the banana seemed unimaginable enough to me.
Since we couldn’t go anywhere because we were late, I thought it would not be bad to do our own photo session in the hotel. This will save some beautiful moments and the pain of not being able to turn around. Anyway, the idea is to satisfy the taste of milk in whey. After capturing our beautiful moments on my camera for a long time and rumoring the story, our dinner time came closer.
From left: Asif, Zakir’s brother, Mrs. Zakir, Mrs. Asif, Arfa, Zakir’s brother’s aunt, Dulkar, Mrs. Durjoy, Johaira, I, Hafiz
At exactly 10 o’clock at night, All of us attended the dining at Hotel Gairing. Meals had already been ordered for the night. Five local chickens and four Rohu fish were ordered for a total of nine. Along with mashed potatoes and vegetable pulses for every one. The hotel had a piece of local chicken for 150 Taka (USD 1.82) and a piece of rohu fish for 90 Taka (USD 1.09). After taking our dinner at a cost of about Taka 1,900 (USD 23.17), we all went back to our rooms. And thus ends the first day of our journey.
Our next day’s plan was to go to Sajek Valley. Since Sajek Valley Hotel is located about 66.66 km from Hote Gairing, we have to leave very early in the morning. Because we had in mind that the mountain 66.66 km road is five times harder than the normal. We will have to wait for the next vlog to know how we reached Sajek the next day and reached the highest Konglak hill in Sajek.
The NRD 