Rangpur, North Bengal
I got an early start from Sikkim and reached the Bangladesh border by early afternoon. Interesting to travel through three distinct countries cultures by land in half a day. First impression back in Bangladesh is the amount of people everywhere- even compared to India. Every few miles is another bustling village along the road. The entire country is the same size as Wisconsin with over 150 million people.
Yet another coincidence. Less then two hours into Bangladesh on a local bus, my mobile phone rang and it was Stijn Pieters, a Belgium photographer I had spent some time with a couple of months back in Dhaka. He called from Rangpur, the place I was heading to. We ended up traveling together in the region for the next four days. Some of the university and apartment building in Rangpur reminded me of Eastern bloc architecture. Just a few kilometers outside of town by richshaw we visited a village and were immediately welcomed by the local steering commitee of over 50 people.