Sundarbands = koob sundor

Hello...

We returned EARLY this morning from our three-day excursion in the Sundarbands, and wow was it amazing. We basically took a cruise ship from the port city of Khulna down through the complicated mess that is South Bengal (essentially a series of lush islands) and into the heart of the forest. The Sundarbands is like a forest/jungle/huge river/beach front. It's hard to describe, really. There is myriad wildlife, including the Royal Bengal Tiger. We spotted several tiger paw prints, but the only real "tiger spotting" we had was Keisuke running around the forest, wrapped in a tiger print towel. Some of the photos of our makeshift tiger turned out so well that our tour guides asked for copies.

We also got a chance to swim in the Bay of Bengal. It's so flat that you can walk a Kilometer out into the water and its still shin-deep. The thousands of jumping little fish leapt out of the water one after the other, one right into my swimsuit (frisky little fellow). We gave ourselves facial and body treatments with the fresh salty mud clay of the Bay. It normally would have cost about 65 bucks US. The food on the boat was awesome, and I enjoyed being back in shorts again. A fantastic trip. The only downside was my getting sea/wine-sick the last night (the whole crew of the M.B. Chuthi heard my wretching), and the humiliating ten-foot fall I took from the ship into the wooden boat when I missed my footing and slipped. Hey--it was 6:30am! My idea of vacation does not involve getting up before 10.

Anyway, that was my trip. Now its back to the grind, getting fired up for my research for the rest of my time, and getting started on my taxes. I can't believe that we have to pay government taxes on a government grant.

Take it easy, and don't cheat on those returns.

TKP