Carved up, dried fish
crab designs
March 2012
Then and now
The modern Cox's Bazar derives its name from Captain Hiram Cox, an officer of the British East India Company, a Superintendent of Palongkee outpost. To commemorate his role in refugee rehabilitation work, a market was established and named after him. It is one of Bangladesh's main tourist spots. The city has the longest uninterrupted natural beach in the world. Every Year more than a million visitors arrive here from around the world.
(Wikipedia)
On my first trip to Bangladesh, AH made sure we went to Cox's Bazar, the country's main tourist hotspot. The place was all about the beach and on my visit in 2012 it was a collection of uneven, ramshackle development along the beach that was catering both to tourists with virtually no money alongside those who had it in abundance. At its heart though, Cox's Bazar was a beach spot for the masses and the beach felt that way. Due to the lack of planning and zoning, walking around the "town" (if you could call it that) was not enjoyable. The entire focus was on the beach. The beach was superlative in its width and, of course, its famous length. At the main beach, the water was brown and uninviting and was littered with human garbage (but not enough to put one off).
AH and I headed out of town in a CNG and as we rode south, the water progressively turned bluer, the development switched back to simple fishermen and farmer's dwellings, and the traffic decreased tenfold. The real gems of the area were actually all the beaches and villages south of the main town of Cox's Bazar. Traditional boats were pulled ashore at each village and cut sharp, black silhouettes on the sand and blue water behind. It was actually beautiful.
AH had to leave to get back to work and put me in the unsteady hands of his friend of a friend, Faruq, who attended to my needs occasionally and bizarrely. After having lived in Bangladesh, I have come to realize that some people never met a foreigner and actually behaved bizarrely in their attempt to "act normal". Rather than just be themselves, many people in Bangladesh took on a new persona with foreigners thinking that was what we (Westerners) expected in human interaction. It led to a lot of misunderstandings and bizarre behavior.
I had my only bad stomach of the trip in Cox's Bazar from the food in the five star restaurant at the expensive hotel I had booked. I had been careful of what I ate and drank the whole first trip to Bangladesh and was more than a little worried I would fall ill. When I finally was in a place where I thought that poor food preparation hygiene would be the least of my worries, I got sick. The irony, really ...
The tourist shops along the pathways to the beach were filled with dried fish and handmade natural souvenirs for Bangladeshis who lived far from the sea. I loved those fancifully carved fish because they almost looked like "lanterns". They were on sale next to stalls that sold small actual lanterns made of shells and the similarity between the two was bizarre. The beach was actually devoid of vendors except the guys from whom you could rent a beach chair (quite convenient). Unfortunately, there was no vegetation along the wide strand which meant no protection from the sun. Umbrellas were not only a good idea, they were required for any long exposure to the sun for people whose skin was not naturally prepared.
As with many Asian countries, the locals mostly went swimming fully clothed. I had seen that in places like Saudi Arabia and Indonesia as well. Only a handful of guys wore only boxer trunks and went swimming. The women were all wearing traditional clothes - I couldn't even imagine that felt comfortable.
Back in 2012, any foreigner on the beach was an immediate sensation. Luckily on my beach visits I had either AH or Faruq to run interference for me. Literally hundreds of people crowded around us as we walked down the beach. I think if I had been on my own I might have felt overwhelmed. I actually didn't enjoy the beach much because of that. I had a much better experience further south, out of the tourist zone, where local people were too busy with their daily lives to worry about some random foreigner taking photos.
In sum, my first visit to Cox's Bazar was interesting, but not remotely my favorite part of Bangladesh.
Fast forward
Myanmar started to ethnically cleanse Rakhine state, populated by the Rohingyas. They fled en masse across the border into Bangladesh and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) set up massive camps for them in and around Cox's Bazar. In flooded Western aid workers, and Cox's Bazar was forever changed. It exploded in development and prices went up ridiculously. Crime increased, too. Any time the UN shows up to help, they bring the aforementioned problems in their wake. If in doubt, look to Cambodia and Haiti which are still in "UNHCR recovery". How can it be that an act of "helping" ends up hurting a country when looked at on the macro level?
fast forward more
I moved to Chittagong, north of Cox's Bazar to take a job. In Chittagong, Cox's Bazar (part of the Chittagong Division) was THE place to go for a weekend. Everyone went. It was the equivalent of living in the Northeast USA and "going to the shore". Now, however, Cox's Bazaar was changed - countless UN workers lived there. Unrestricted hotel development to house those workers exploded across the city. People flocked there for jobs and the amount of garbage increased. If I had been unimpressed with Cox's Bazar in 2012, it had not gotten better a decade later. In fact, it was worse (which was a huge shame).
the future?
A new rail link for passengers and freight was nearing completion between Chittagong City and Cox's Bazar. It would reduce travel time immensely. The journey should be a two hour journey, but actually took five due to poor roads and heavy traffic. With the train, the hope was that the travel time would just be a couple of hours and Cox's Bazaar might actually be visited as a day trip from the regional capital. By chance I met one of the lead engineers on the project (Tim from the UK) and he claimed the project was on time - it would be a game changer for everyone if Cox's Bazar were suddenly an easy train ride from Chittagong.
Cox's Bazar is Bangladesh's major tourist destination. As with the rest of the country, too many people are crowded into too small of a space with too few resources. If one day it recovers from its haphazard development, it could actually be a great destination. As for the "longest sea beach in the world" - I guess so? Didn't these people ever look at Florida?