Bangladesh

The majority of the world considers Bangladesh to be a frying pan flat country. Yet within this flat framework are primeval swamps in tiger filled  Sundarbans National Park, the unseen relics of long-forgotten Buddhist kingdoms in  Rangamati, lush and lurid tea plantations around Srimangal, tribal groups with Burmese faces, glorious beaches at Cox's Bazar that stretch for eternity, freshwater dolphins and deep-water whales, and some of the most open-hearted people you will ever have the honour to meet. This is a country where genuine adventure is not just a possibility but a certainty. You can chug down mile-wide, slug-brown rivers on a 19th-century riverboat, fish with otters, and hunt for the world’s deadliest honey. All this in a country whose loftiest peak is as tall as the highest mountain in Scotland.Dhaka is more than just a city, it is a giant whirlpool that sucks in anything and anyone foolish enough to come within its furious grasp. Around and around it sends them, like some wildly spinning fairground ride bursting with energy.Sylhet is a strange kind of place. The majority of British Bangladeshis are from the city or its environs and are likely to wax lyrical over the place. Those with stronger ties to the homeland continue to pour money back into the local economy and this has helped to create one of the most surreal city centres in Bangladesh.The sticky city of Chittagong,the second-largest city in Bangladesh, with a population of around four million) is the country’s busiest port. The constant stream of super ships that line its docks bring with them more than just material goods – they bring ideas, fashions and philosophies from around the world. It’s this cosmopolitan exchange of minds that makes Chittagong such a fascinatingly different side of Bangladesh to explore for a few days.