The week was not without our usual misadventures, though. Atticus (who is attached at the hip to DP if he is anywhere nearby) began the week by changing the combination on DPs brand new briefcase while we were all asleep one morning. He, of course, then promptly forgot what he changed it to. Here’s the thing- it is a three digit combo, so there were 1000 possible combinations, which while a lot, is a manageable number to get through systematically (we’re glad it wasn’t 4 digits or it would’ve become 10,000 combinations!). The problem is that if you are too systematic it apparently doesn’t work. Sam went through every number from 000 to 999 by increasing by 1 digit every time, but we guess that since she didn’t reset the lock every time (by moving all the numbers instead of just increasing it by one on the single dial she changed) it never let the lock open. We tried looking up methods on the internet, and playing lockpick, but finally decided that the most reasonable thing was just to take it back and tell them it was broken- we technically didn’t lie, because we said that DP set the combo to a new combo, and it worked in the store but not today. So we omitted information, but didn’t falsify… Anyhow, Atticus felt bad and learned a lesson. DP hopefully also learned a lesson: don’t teach a 7 year old how to change your combination. Here we are trying to work things out. We’ve blurred DPs face due to his somewhat public official-ness.
We also took a super quick trip up to Srimangal, which was fun, but the REAL excitement was on the train back! Going up we got first class seats (advice for future travelers: the non-AC seats are way better than the AC seats. We had our own little compartment and unlike the AC compartments, the window opens, so you can get some good shots as you roll along the way. You are also able to buy things from the vendors outside the train through the open window, which is pretty awesome. Here are Jon and Atticus enjoying the breeze.
We couldn’t get our own train compartment for the trip coming back since it was for a train the next day and first class was sold out. Bangladesh Rails has an absurd system where you can’t buy a round trip ticket; you have to buy your ticket from wherever you will board, so we had to wait until we were in Srimangal before we could get our ticket back. This is ridiculously inconvenient and one of the many many ways that Bangladesh Rail misses the mark on what could be a tourist goldmine of train travel here. Another major improvement would be announcing which station you are at when you stop. That would be extremely convenient. Just sayin’.
Anyway, we got some pretty pics going up. Here are a few:
And the excitement? Well, as we said, we didn’t have a compartment so we were just in the regular seating area with the riff-raff (or hoi polloi, if you prefer) . The seating is much like every train or bus: two seats- the walking aisle-two seats. Atticus and DP were on the row slightly diagonally behind Sam and Jon, just across the aisle. In some wyas, the regular class is more fun- there is more food available and more interaction with fellow travelers. (Although this can also be tiresome depending on your mood- sometimes the constant barrage of questions about your origins and opinions becomes exhausting, but other times it is fun. It is always, in our experience, the result of genuine friendliness on the part of Bangladeshis though, and we try to keep a good attitude about it even when we aren’t really in the mood.)
So, anyhow, as we are rolling along about three hours into the train ride, we notice a bunch of cops/military dudes coming into the area and asking everyone about their bags. They were pretty heavily armed, which is not unusual for the police here, but still noticeable. The cops asked everybody if the bags above them belonged to them and DP mistakenly told them that the one above him was Jon’s bag, which it wasn’t. Luckily there was no contraband in the bag and so Jon was not arrested, but another person was not so lucky. As the cops walked through the train asking which bag belonged to which person, they all seemed to focus their attention on one particular bag towards the front of the car. As they investigated further they began to question a man seated up front near the bag. We were too far to hear the conversation, but we could see that something was going down. There were probably five or six cops surrounding the guy and talking to him.
Meanwhile Jon noticed that while he was trying to get a look at what was going on, a sort of suspiciously calm fellow was now standing near him. The guy seemed awfully cool and confident and he calmly and very politely (which is somewhat unusual here) kept telling people to sit down as they moved forward to try and see the action. He was just wearing regular clothes, but he just had a certain vibe about him that set off some Spidey senses. He just seemed to cool for the situation. At this point Jon started to pay more attention to this guy than the hubbub up front. He pointed it out to Sam and her impressions matched Jon’s – this guy was definitely not a random stranger that was just coincidentally now standing in the aisle next to us for no real apparent reason. Eventually the cops took the guy being questioned up front and his bag off the car. Shortly thereafter the training came to an abrupt stop and lurched around a little (who knows what that means for the guy in custody?) – again the guy near us seemed unfazed. Jon started to think that this guy was definitely an undercover cop of some sort.
Finally after we got moving again and things got back to normal, and Sam had switched seats to sit with DP for a while, a couple of guys struck up a conversation with her and DP. Mr. Cool was still around, but the train had a lot more aisle-people now –we don’t know why. It was mostly people only going a stop or two, so maybe there is a no-seat option… Anyway, the young guys chatting with Sam and DP asked if we were coming from Sylhet and DP said yes, which is kind of right and kind of not (Sylhet is the district we were in, but most likely the guy meant Sylhet city, where the train originated and what most people mean when they say Sylhet…). Mr. Cool, who was just listening to the conversation, kind of accidentally, it seemed, chimed in 'Srimangal,' to correct DP. Sam looked at Mr. Cool, made eye contact, and it was out in the open that he knew where we had gotten on the train somehow. This more or less confirmed the whole undercover cop thing, and once she had it confirmed in her mind, and once Mr. Cool knew we knew (not that it was necessarily a secret from us, there was just no private way to explain the situation) there was a bit less tension on our part.
When the station arrived we had to get ready, because the train only stops for a couple minutes, literally. Sam was asking some guys to move as we approached the station, and Mr. Cool pulled his federal agent badge out of his pocket and said in his extremely cool-as-a-cucumber manner, “It’s ok” and he then nicely got everyone out of the way and escorted us off the train. Sam asked if it was his job to see us safely off the train because of the arrest, and he said yes, the arrest had been political so it was his job to make sure we made it off the train and out of the station. He was actually a really nice guy (and as Sam will point out, quite attractive) and we said goodbye and thanked him and went on our way.
Later we read that this was probably part of this big campaign to deal with some political violence going on and one of a few hundred arrests made in a week long blitz.
So, what’s interesting here? A few things:
1. We are happy to report that our undercover cop/narc radar still works, and apparently has global application
2. We met again our white privilege- nobody else had a special babysitter to make sure they got off the train safely
3. Sometimes the trade-off for the privacy of first class means you miss out on drama- and drama is fun!
More to come on the adventures of JSAC and DP later!
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