Is it safe to travel to Bangladesh?

[Anonymous]

If this is your second trip back, you still didnt figure out what you can eat while there? Is everything off limits, because I dont think it would be. Bangladesh may be developing but it is very advanced in terms of International cuisine to International visitors. Dhaka is very metropolitan. You can get cuisine of pretty much any place.
How long did you stay there or were you already pregnant with your second from here while on the visit there?
And your husband is right, elephants on the street there is like extremely rare.
If you didnt wear pants, what did you wear? And why isnt pants a “good thing to wear” - truly curious about this one.
Reading this post I have a hundred questions - it all sounds very strange.

Been to Bangladesh many times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband is from Faridpur, Bangladesh. Are there any Bengali or Americans here that could give me tips? My husband is not very helpful. We have a 2 year old. This would be the first time I have traveled to Bangladesh or any south Asian country. My stomach is very sensitive as I have a gluten allergy. Today for example I got sick from eating out. I am often nauseous 5-7 days out of the month. I am worried about car travel and getting sick. Should we get a special vaccination before traveling? Any tips would be helpful. Most likely we would travel in February. I can't believe I am considering this but would it be easier if I wear a full burka so people are not starting at me? Bangladesh isn't a country people visit for tourist travel from what I understand. Thank you in advanced.

Maybe see a shrink and get over your imaginary food issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is from Faridpur, Bangladesh. Are there any Bengali or Americans here that could give me tips? My husband is not very helpful. We have a 2 year old. This would be the first time I have traveled to Bangladesh or any south Asian country. My stomach is very sensitive as I have a gluten allergy. Today for example I got sick from eating out. I am often nauseous 5-7 days out of the month. I am worried about car travel and getting sick. Should we get a special vaccination before traveling? Any tips would be helpful. Most likely we would travel in February. I can't believe I am considering this but would it be easier if I wear a full burka so people are not starting at me? Bangladesh isn't a country people visit for tourist travel from what I understand. Thank you in advanced.

Maybe see a shrink and get over your imaginary food issues

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand how you can be married to someone from a country you know so little about. A full burka?

In any case, yes, you will probably get stomach upset. Most travelers there do. But it sounds like you may have other issues like anxiety? Maybe hold off a year or two until the kid could get more out of it.

How unnecessarily judgemental. Why does she need to know everything his country especially when her husband is doing little in educating his own family about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If this is your second trip back, you still didnt figure out what you can eat while there? Is everything off limits, because I dont think it would be. Bangladesh may be developing but it is very advanced in terms of International cuisine to International visitors. Dhaka is very metropolitan. You can get cuisine of pretty much any place.
How long did you stay there or were you already pregnant with your second from here while on the visit there?
And your husband is right, elephants on the street there is like extremely rare.
If you didnt wear pants, what did you wear? And why isnt pants a “good thing to wear” - truly curious about this one.
Reading this post I have a hundred questions - it all sounds very strange.

Been to Bangladesh many times.

Op here. For the majority of my trip, I will be in Faridpur which is very different from Dhaka. I don't know what made me sick so the food thing is still tricky. I was sick for weeks with a fever that kept coming back. I found out I was pregnant when we got back to the US while I was at the hospital. I also have two kids now. Last winter they were sick every weekend. I'm not sure what I said about being sensitive to gluten when I made the post 5 years ago but after my second child was born I became even more sensitive to it. I wear orthotics in my shoes and can't walk without them. Eating gluten gives me joint pain. I have tried introducing it back into my diet and my knees always start hurting. It's been very hard for me to accept restricting my diet but it's the only thing that truly helps.

[Anonymous]

A couple thoughts from a Bangladeshi-Am whose travelled there lots (as a kid and later with kids). I've also led groups of aid workers (some with no experience in a non-Western country). Here's my advice....

Pants - i think they mean pants with a short top. women wear "pants" all the time - it's called shelwar (a.k.a. the bottom of shelwaar kameez). Wear tunics or kameez tops that go to the knee and you're good.

Water - Locals know the good bottled water. Unless they are 100% from the village with no education whatsoever, they will know the good brands. Years ago it used to be Mum but I think there are other good brands too. You could also boil the water and run it through a brita filter that you bring. But safe bottled water is plentiful.

Grocery stores - there are many grocery stores with Western products in Dhaka and Chittagong. I haven't been back since 2019, but I imagine it's expanded to much towns as well. Shwapno is a major retail outlet and according to google, there is one is Faridpur. If you can't find a grocery store, there's always magi noodles (instant ramen). I read upthread that you may be gluten-intolerant - ask if you can get chawaler ruti (roti made with rice flour). Also, bread is very available - they call it pawa ruti.

Elephants - pretty rare! I have only seen one in my 20+ visits over the years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple thoughts from a Bangladeshi-Am whose travelled there lots (as a kid and later with kids). I've also led groups of aid workers (some with no experience in a non-Western country). Here's my advice....

Pants - i think they mean pants with a short top. women wear "pants" all the time - it's called shelwar (a.k.a. the bottom of shelwaar kameez). Wear tunics or kameez tops that go to the knee and you're good.

Water - Locals know the good bottled water. Unless they are 100% from the village with no education whatsoever, they will know the good brands. Years ago it used to be Mum but I think there are other good brands too. You could also boil the water and run it through a brita filter that you bring. But safe bottled water is plentiful.

Grocery stores - there are many grocery stores with Western products in Dhaka and Chittagong. I haven't been back since 2019, but I imagine it's expanded to much towns as well. Shwapno is a major retail outlet and according to google, there is one is Faridpur. If you can't find a grocery store, there's always magi noodles (instant ramen). I read upthread that you may be gluten-intolerant - ask if you can get chawaler ruti (roti made with rice flour). Also, bread is very available - they call it pawa ruti.

Elephants - pretty rare! I have only seen one in my 20+ visits over the years.

Op here. Thanks for the water suggestions I was hoping to get an American perspective. What works for them may not be the best for us. It seems Mum may be fine. I won't have to splurge for Evian? Wouldn't supermarket bread products be made with tap water?

As for the pants I wanted to pack jeans. This time I am going to wear maxi skirts and long tops. I found the tunics there uncomfortable and hard to clean. They don't have a washing machine at his house. I want to feel comfortable. Staying there for a month will be hard without a washing machine and warm running water. Dh does have family in Dhaka who have offered for us to stay with them. They will give us their car and have their driver drive has whenever we want to go. I thought of staying in the area where expats stay for a night or two with my sister-in-law and his mom. They don't travel much. I would love to take them out to a spa or something fun. They haven't traveled outside of Bangladesh. My husband seems to be a bit clueless about their interests. When I suggested taking them to a hotel or eating out he said they don't do those things. I think a lot has changed since he left 15 years ago. I also saw they have a few golf courses. Our oldest son plays golf. The election is approaching and we are hoping the craziness will be over by the time we arrive in mid-Jan.

[Anonymous]

Any pathogens in the water would be cooked out of the bread. Dry foods like bread, cookies, crackers are safe.

I've never seen Evian in Bangladesh and probably wouldn't even trust it if I saw it (they can copy the label!). Stick with known local brands.

Washing clothes - there may be laundry services where they pick up the clothes from your house and deliver them washed/folded. If you're staying in Dhaka, all modern luxuries are available to you. You can safely eat in nice restaurants and you can definitely find grocery stores that sell most American or western products.

Sorry, they probably won't enjoy a spa day the way we do here. Outings they would enjoy are going to a restaurant (you'll want to pick a higher end restaurant for food safety/comfort purposes, and they will balk at the prices), an amusement park, a trip to a shopping mall (like Bashundhara Mall, Jamuna Future Park, etc), a trip to a monument or Dhaka University. The things we find charming, relaxing, luxurious, visit-worthy, are usually not appealing to them at all. Don't be discouraged if they laugh at your suggestions. It sucks, but we really have a completely different outlook coming from America.

This is my perspective, having most of my relatives in remote villages as recently as the 2000s. Now many are married and moved to cities and are lower or middle class. They enjoy going to restaurants for special outings/occasions but it's not something they do often.

Just saw that you're going in January. Ugh. I really hope the election resolves by then, but if it doesn't you'll need to press your DH to talk to his friends about the areas in Dhaka that are safe/insulated from potential hartal/strikes.