Srimongal: Natural Rockstars

We were very lucky to be able to travel to Srimongal

Srimongal: The Greenleaf Guesthouse

We jumped on a train from Dhaka and arrived at Srimongal very late around 11:30PM and were met by Sam the owner of the Greenleaf Guesthouse. Out of all the Bangladesh places we stayed, Greenleaf was our favorite place to stay. Greenleaf has excellent facilities and was very comfortable. The best part of Greenleaf was the helpful staff. Sam was extremely accommodating helping us out with anything we needed. One night I was craving some chocolate cake so Sam took it upon himself to find us some sweets. He jumped on his motorcycle and searched all around town. Sadly, he was unable to locate chocolate cake but did find some birthday cake that he brought back and we enjoyed together.

Day 1 - Tea Plantation; Birdwatching

Srimongal is exceptionally different than Dhaka city. It is famous for being a tea plantation, gateway to a nearby national park and just a chill place to hang out. In Srimongal we visited the nearby Lawachara Forest. We hired a guide one day and hiked for hours through the forest seeing monkeys, huge spiders, insects and enjoying the serenity of nature. We went to a bird watchtower and saw thousands of migratory birds. Liz really enjoyed looking through a scope and enjoyed hours of birdwatching. 

Sun rays in the jungle

Shrimongol's famous seven layer tea

 Day 2 - Bike Riding / Paparatzi

Our final day in Srimongal we hired bicycles to ride around the town to the nearby tea plantations and national park. We rode for a few miles and were enjoying the scenery The day we rented bikes happened to be the Bangladesh Liberation day and there were hundreds of Bangladesh tourists also driving through the park that day. This meant that we were very popular. Cars started pulling off the side of the road and someone would ask us if they could take our picture. This happened again and again to the point that we could only ride for a few minutes without someone pulling off the side of the road and asking for a picture. We finally managed to escape the paparazzi by going into the tea fields near the road. Earlier one of the families that took our picture really wanted to escort us back to Srimongal because they warned us that it was not safe. We did feel safe but were a little wary sitting by ourselves in the tea bushes admiring the scenery. After talking for awhile, we heard someone approaching. I jumped up and instantly saw a man with a giant curved knife. I was concerned for one second and thought we might be getting robbed but noticed that the man was just as surprised to see me. It turned out he was a tea plant trimmer and he went on his merry way after a quick hello. We made it back to town without incident and had a great time sharing the story with a few other travelers we met on the road that evening. In all it was a great day.

Liz, her bike, and tea