This is the second part of a series of articles about the author’s trip to Keokradong.
Read Part I here.
Trekking the hills would be a ride, and we knew that. We had to stay very precise with our timing. Good for us, we already had reason to celebrate.
We had reached Boga Lake by 11 AM. This was much earlier than we anticipated. This meant that we had more time to spend here. And for that, we were thrilled.
We had to sign again at a check-post inside the premises. We then unpacked at our cottage and got changed. We realized that the little reception that we had was now gone. Our accommodation was a single-room cottage, and it cost us BDT 200.00 each. The cottage is entirely made of hay and wood, with a tin roof. It is elevated from ground level with the help of tall tree trunks and wooden stairs. Inside, there were two large mattresses and multiple quilts to keep us warm at night. Our cottage stood right on the bank of a lake. The water was crystal clear.
The Paharis are very clean as a race. There wasn’t a sign of littering anywhere. The environment was not only shiny but also very cool.
It was too early for lunch. Besides, we were all tired. Our elevated cottage had a balcony that extended above the lake. We sat there and gossiped for a while. At two o’clock, we went to a secure part of the lake. We bathed for a bit. The water was chilly. Being able to take a bath after traveling for this long felt divine. Unfortunately, swimming, fishing, or even boating in the lake are prohibited. Upon being asked, the Paharis told us that they had faced safety concerns in the past. The paddle-boats parked on-shore only bore testament to what they said.
We walked down a set of stairs before we got down in the lake, so we had to climb them again. We then came back to our cottage to get ready for lunch. The problem with Pahari (hilly) areas is that they build everything atop steep mounds of land. Climbing such piles for every individual purpose could feel unnatural for us city-dwellers. Here, the dining space was on one elevated ground, the office was on the same land, the tong was on another high land next to it, there were shops that sold groceries, apparel, and bamboo sticks on another piece of land further down the road, and the toilets were on an even more elevated ground. It wasn’t easy, but then we thought of the road to travel the next day. It did not hurt as much anymore.
Food everywhere is the same: an egg package consisting of aloo-bhorta (mashed potatoes), morich-bhorta (a mashed assortment of chilies), rice, egg curry, and dal (pulses); and a chicken package consisting of aloo-bhorta, morich-bhorta, gourd, rice, chicken curry, and dal. They have khichuri (yellow rice cooked with dried pulses), aloo-bhorta and scrambled eggs for breakfast. The only exception you’ll find is on top of Keokradong, where they had mutton for dinner. The mutton costs more and is in high demand. Half of our party missed mutton because they were late for dinner. The egg package costs BDT 150.00 per person, the chicken costs BDT 200.00, the breakfast costs BDT 120.00, and the mutton package BDT 300.00. We had the egg package for lunch and the chicken package for dinner.
The Paharis take less salt and more spice with their food. We all had to adjust.
After lunch, we came back to our cottage and roamed. Our guide managed two liters of Pahari delight as a welcoming gift, one liter of each variant. We humbly accepted and went indoors with them. Later on, when we were exploring the village, a generous local Chander-gari driver offered us a lift to this bridge at the foot of Keokradong. The bridge surprisingly had cell reception. We made our necessary phone calls and clicked a few photos. Every single corner of every single place was worthy of a photograph. Then we came back on the exact vehicle.
Not too far from our cottage was a small opening, wholly exposed to the lake. There was a beautiful sitting area adjacent to the bank. Hillsides could be seen on either side of the lake. The bank, however, was railed off, beautifully I must add, with bamboo sticks. I guess this was done for safety purposes. We got a guitar and a Cajon which we carried from Dhaka, and the twelve of us sat down in the area. It was almost evening, and the clouds had already been coming down on the water. The distant kept getting more and more distant. Fortunately, we had both the drummer and the guitarist of Minor Mistakes the Band in our party. We sang until 8 PM, and then we grew tired.
As we were climbing back up the stairs that led us down to the lake, we realized that the Paharis are very tolerant as a race. Not too far from the lake is a temple. On the opposite side of the same road stands a mosque. Beside the mosque, we saw a church. Such brotherhood is a rare sight anywhere within Bangladesh.
In the evening, the temple was busy with Puja while the Muslims were in the mosque praying. One did not in any way seem to be hampering the other.
We then roamed around for some more time. There was the tong close by where we sat and gossiped with the locals. Boga Lake is devoid of electricity. Only the office place had cellphone charging facilities. It contains limited AC outlets, and you have to pay a fixed bill to use any of those. They charge BDT 20.00 for cellphones and BDT 50.00 for power banks.
At around 8:30 PM, we sat down for dinner. We took the chicken package, as previously mentioned. Despite the hard “zum” rice and the curry lacking salt, it all tasted great for some reason. It must’ve been the atmosphere. After dinner, we came back to our cottage. We were instructed to keep the windows facing the road closed since the Paharis like to sleep early. We did not want to disturb them. We closed our windows and lay down on the balcony. We played cards deep into the night. Our heavenly drinks had kept our blood warm. We never noticed when we had fallen asleep.
To be continued…