First Circumnavigation of the World - Hong Kong, Dhaka, Bhopal and Delhi

Day 1 - We depart late on a Friday night, bound for Hong Kong. We arrive Sunday morning....

Day 3 - Hong Kong. First impression, the islands look like the beginning of Jurassic Park 3. This illicits a level of excitement hedging on uncomfortable. We were creeping on hysterical. Shortly thereafter and less $13, I am whizzing into central Hong Kong on the airport express. My first destination was the Peak Tram. Luckily, it was early enough on a Sunday that the queue was short. The ride up was neat enough with startlingly steep stretches that pressed you into your seat. Arriving at the top a short 8 minutes later, I was immediately take by the number of dogs present at the peak. My black pants were quickly gathering fluffy white hair as if I had brought one of my own along. This, in combination with several of them attempting to hijack my lunch, was an environment of merriment and happiness usually reserved for dog parks. Turns out the Hong Kong Humane Society was having a massive dog walk (Star Wars themed) starting at the peak.

So after petting all the beasties, I headed out on the trail that circles Victoria Peak. The trail takes about an hour, but the humidity was quickly apparent as was the weight of the carryon I was hucking full of mostly medical supplies for the remainder of the trip. The views were stunning and caught Victoria Bay from many angles. Although the generally lush forest surrounding the trail was astonishing, the prize of it all was the India Rubber Tree.

 

 

The India Rubber Tree

It was the most surreal plant I've ever seen. With branches that seem to climb, creep, and rejoin themselves from every angle, it was stunning.  A dramatic example of the diversity in the world ecosystem.  The photographs won't do it justice, but I won't ever forget.  Once I had properly oohed and aahed over the views, I spent a bit of time at the markets, grabbed some lunch on a terrace overlooking the bay and grabbed a tram ride down to the bottom of the peak. I briefly checked out a motorcycle show, the site of the recent protests at City Hall (basically an abandoned tent city at this point), and made my way back to the express train that zipped me back. Filling out my post cards on the way, I was blessed with a more helpful than normal post office experience ("mam, use the water, don't lick the stamps") and off to a quick shower before heading to Dhaka. 

Day 4 - Advance in Bangladesh

 After sleeping like I'd run a marathon, we started the day with breakfast in the hotel.  The selection was exceptional and reinforced my belief that I eat more like the rest of the world than I do America.  I was happy as a clam with hummus, fruit and nuts for breakfast.  They even had croissants for the westerners.  Whoop whoop!  Once that joy was past, we headed to the local office.  It is interesting that the majority of the hospitality industry and businesses speak English.  Most folks are quick to return a smile, even if they are maybe not accustomed to receiving one.  The office works with sourcing of garments.  My favorite thing in the office was the clearly American sized mock dummy.  Another intersting sight was the bamboo scaffolding on the neighboring building.  We then visited a few local retail stores before heading to the garment factory.  A few notes on Bangladesh being a predominantly Muslim country.  Women and men do not mix openly.  So, my partner and I traveling together was probably causing a bit of discomfort.  The garment factory we visited was a great example of the customs surrounding this enduring separation.  The factory had separate entrances, dining facilities, work stations, bathrooms, medical stations and even fire escapes for each gender.  Being a female with short hair was slightly hilarious as you are scanned for weapons at nearly every factory, office or even the hotel.  Well, men can't scan women and at a glance I can pass for pretty boy (women obviously don't chance short hair here).  So I've had a lot of near scans interrupted by the sudden awareness that I'm a lady.  Good times.  Also, make a note lady terrorists, this is where you can sneak a weapon in.  Just kidding, but seriously, a security fail.  The factory was arranged from the top floor being sample making and CAD for the patterns to the bottom floor with packaging and shipping.  It was absolutely fascinating to see the process from design to delivery.  It wasn't a sweat shop scenario at all, but definitely a factory on all counts.  The most interesting parts of the tour were the services available to the workers.  For example, they have a medical clinic and childcare.  While initially intrigued by the cute kiddos waving and smiling, it later hit me they had no toys and were basically just lined up on mats all day.  They were so open to the world.  It struck a quick contrast to the downward glances and social avoidance of most adults.  When I asked the manager about why people were carrying their shoes after lunch, he explained that most workers live in the slums nearby.  Due to the lack of sanitation and potential contaminates, they are not allowed to wear their shoes in the factory, but instead put them in lockers for the day.  Sad, but interesting.

 

CNG - aka the Richard Scary Car

 

The streets are busy.  There are a lot of pedestrians, rickshaws, CNGs (which remind me of a Richard Scarry book drawing) and tons of other mechanisms for moving way too many people in too small of a space.  It is truly amazing how many humans can fit in a tiny cart.  The most interesting traffic moment of the day was a blind man being led through the street by a young boy.  With the chaos and confusion everywhere, they were quite fine going about their travels.  The most unusual new sound is the Muslim call to prayer.  The eerie calls float across the city like ghosts.  The people don't seem to change their path or stop, but it is dominate over the honking, shouting, stop and go of traffic.  I'm already up to 2 mosquito bites.  Here's to tropical disease.... 

Day 5 - More Advance Work in Bangladesh

There wasn't anything revolutionary about today, but there was a 5 minute micro experience.  Given the Islamic culture I asked my coworker to take me for a walk today.  It seems so ridiculous, but it makes me infinitely aware of the cultural differences between people.  That being said, we were on the quest to purchase sketchy street maps of the US.  A friend of mine had acquired a map that was so full of errors it kept you rolling and looking for more errors.  Unfortunately, we were only able to find geographically correct maps, but made the purchase for the sake of process and adventure.  The few minutes we spent outside of the relative safety of a vehicle, the business of going to and fro was on full display.  This has been reminding me of a song from a childhood movie (insert hyperlink).  Through the honking and carryingon, their system seems to work, seems to get people where they need to go.  I could watch it for hours.  The rest of the early evening was spent as a voyuer into other people's lives.  I have a great view of the building rooftops adjacent to the hotel.  People exercise, pray, do laundry and sit and chat out there.  The call to prayer from the nearby Mosque doesn't exactly stop traffic in the city, but it is definitely impossible to ignore.

 

 

 

Day 6 Dhaka to Bhopal

This day was full of airports and security and planes.  The day started with total chaos at the Dhaka airport.  After 3 security screenings, we finally got to our gate. As we watched the last round of bag checks, we noticed the screener pull a sock out of the guy's carryon. He went on to produce a spooky, archaic knife out of the sock that had somehow made it through the first 2 checkpoints.  They simply let the knife clatter to the floor in the discard pile and moved on like he hadn't tried to smuggled a weapon onto the plane....not optimal. Once we made it to Delhi and then onto Bhopal (via a very cool giant prop plane), we met our contact inBhopal and started the drive to the hotel. All the desperation, oppression and stern faces seemed to have evaporated in our change from Dhaka to Bhopal. The city was busy, but moving quickly. The national military headquarters loomed, illuminated on the hill  in the distance.  It felt different, and better and not so menacing. We passed a wedding parade of sorts on the way in.  I was so fortunate to be downstairs when the party arrived at the hotel. The celebration was almost beyond jubilant with the groom upon a white horse surrounded by drummers doling out intense and joyful beats.  Jubilation was contagious.  It reminded me of how blessed I am to experience these moments, see the world and become a deeper well. 

Day 7 Bhopal Advance - Happy Thanksgiving

Today was full of winding roads, full of people and cows and stray dogs.  Every alley, side street, intersection is full of the business of life.  People are cooking and selling, digging trenches, bundling grasses, herding cows, just being.  This is interesting for contrast to Dhaka where the poverty was similar, but the people were despondent.  They had given up.  This population is thriving at the level they can.  That being said, we drove by the Union Carbide plant, or what remains of it.  After hours of study on the topic, it was eerie to see it sitting there.  No malice, no longer a threat, surrounded by the exact kind of squalid living conditions that it was 30 years ago.  This city seems to have moved on to some degree.  Regardless of who you ask, 2,000, 8,000, 25,000 maybe killed in that disaster and the city has reinvented itself.  The plant has rebuilt outside of the city and people have reclaimed what is likely still contaminated ground for their shanties.  The once deadly machinery that pushed MIC along the ground just sits.  It seemed odd to me.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had lunch at a former palace turned hotel.  Here's to mysterious Indian food, the day before a commercial flight.  In the evening, I finally ventured out to the market adjacent to the hotel.  It is striking how few women are out and about.  All of the stall owners are men, being shopped at by predominantly men for clothes oriented to a female consumer.  Odd place indeed.

 

Day 8 - Bhopal to Delhi (Specifically Gurgaon)

The flight in the turbo prop ATR sounded like some sort of medical mission flight (lots of coughing, hacking, sneezes).  Sometimes you just have to sleep through the madness.  Since is was a travel day, we gave ourselves some room to relax.  Having completed 6 flights in 8 days, it was a bit needed.  The hotel is absolutely amazing.  The hospitality is a bit overwhelming, but not terrible.  After my work partner and I were delivered to our rooms, we call each other to exclaim after our good fortune.  Followed by a lunch on a teakwood deck in a reflection pool (how can I make that up), we went our separate ways to familiarize with the grounds.  Walking past incense after incense, it was almost like a temple.  The pool for swimming became my next focus.  I read, I napped, and then, swam.  The best part is that I'm still bucking my perception of an India full of cobras and monkeys.  As I slid into the pool, my first thought was, Do cobras swim? Completely irrational, but heh, it's been a long week.  So I floated here and there and actually played in the water for the first time since summer.  I tried to sneak up on a bird like an alligator.  Delightful afternoon.

 

Day 9 - Advance in Delhi

We ran routes and assessed meeting space. Not a very exciting day, but I did get to ride in a CNG (pictured below).  Pretty cool! The wind and dust whips into your face. The smells of the city come to you. I noticed a pretty healthy wild pig population. Apparently the urban nomadic population feeds on them. Pigs are cute - even dirty city pigs... Otherwise, just a normal work day.

 

Day 10 - Day Off

So a day off is normally quite exciting, except in the instance where you are pretty much stricken to your hotel due to security risks.  So we are on a 9 acre luxury hotel compound.  The morning and afternoon were spent at the pool.  The neat thing at the pool is the two consistent critters.  The first is a very small red dragon fly.  He is literaly appearing to be on fire.  The next highlight is the bird that chills out on the wall that separates the pool sections.  His legs are bright yellow and long, with a black and white body.  There is a little red by the eye to set off the whole ensemble.  Anyway, in the interest of not going nuts and over observing wildlife, we scheduled a tour to the local "Kingdom of Dreams" theater.  It was a hoot.  Very akin to Branson, but India style.  Unbeknownst to us, there is a lot of skin in a Bollywood play.  I have to agree that given the amount of highly athletic dancing, less clothes are better.  And my oh my were they fit.  Goodness...

 

Days 11 - 15

These were full on working days.  We traveled with an executive to 3 cities, 2 countries in one day and frankly got sleepy and a little cranky by the end.  I'm so thankful to have an opportunity to see the world through work.  

The paragraph above was supposed to serve as a light conclusion to a long journey, but our last day served to be thought provoking.  Immediately after this entry, as we made our way through Dhaka, we saw an elephant walking in the street.  The level of excitement I had seeing the elephant was paramount to a teenage girl seeing Justin Bieber.

 

A later conversation with a woman that serves in the capacity of providing education, protection and awareness for women in the factory industry created more intrigue.  She jokingly asked if I would ever consider a temporary posting in Bangladesh.  I can't say it didn't pique my interest.  I love fire codes, compliance, health and safety, etc.  The interesting thing is that I felt the need to laugh it off as an impossibility with a colleague; however, it isn't the case.  Of course I'm not hauling off to Bangladesh, but it is always worthwhile to gnaw on that sort of prospect with some seriousness.  To fully consider the dramatic lifestyle change and risk is a challenging exercise at the least.

This visit has also brought an awareness of a deep apathy towards poverty and dispair.  I had assumed to have been grieved at the sight of abject poverty.  Everyday you see children, elderly, men and women living in a version of hell.  They rarely have shoes, ribs protude as if that is a natural genetic expression, dental care is a non-issue, and the gaze can empty and drawn.  This should have stirred compasion, but it didn't.  Curiousity in spades.  Long looks down alleys that certainly weren't going to be images of vibrance.  Photo upon photo of poverty in it's purest form.  I wish it stirred me.  For the sake of focusing on my mission at work, I'm glad it does not.