TEKNAF, the southernmost town on the Bangladesh mainland, is a transit point to St. Martin Island

There are almost no cold winters in the South Asian subcontinent. Winter here is actually the most comfortable season, not as hot as summer, nor as humid and unpredictable as the rainy season. We set out again during Eid al-Fitr, and this time our destination was St. Martin, a secluded island isolated in the sea at the southernmost tip of Bangladesh. It was not easy to get to this island. After more than 9 hours of overnight bus ride from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar, and then transferring from Cox’s Bazar to go 80 kilometers south to TEKNAF, the southernmost fishing port town on the mainland of this country, we were already exhausted, our internal organs were almost shaken out, and our buttocks were numb. Finally, after passing the small town of Ukhia, the road began to parallel the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. From the car, you can see towering mountains not far away, which is Myanmar. The wide Naaf River outside the car window is the boundary river between the narrow strip of land in the southern part of Bangladesh and Myanmar. Before arriving at TEKNAF, you will pass by a cruise ship terminal, Teknaf Ship Jetty, which is where the cruise to St. Martin departs. At that time, there was only one cruise a day. I missed the departure time and had to find another way to get there. This decision made this day very embarrassing, full of ups and downs and uneasiness. To be honest, I still recommend taking this direct cruise. About 2 kilometers south of the pier is a hotel called Ne-Taung. If you missed the boat, you can stay here for a night; or if you come back from St. Martin and don’t want to travel back to Cox’s Bazar at night, you can also stay here for a night. The hotel is located at the foot of a hill. There was a power outage when I went there the next day. The decoration is full of nostalgic atmosphere of the colonial period. Portraits of the founding father Rahman and his daughter, then Prime Minister Hasina, are hung on the wall at the front desk. But I really recommend staying for one night, because it is difficult to experience this feeling anywhere else. At night, move a chair to the balcony, facing the dark and silent mountains of Myanmar and the Naaf River, watch the cigarette smoke dissipate into the void, and fall asleep listening to the concerto of insects. Let’s talk about TEKNAF. It is a crowded and noisy border town. However, the relationship between Bangladesh and Myanmar is tense, and they are determined to never have any contact with each other again. There are no direct flights and the border is closed (if you are interested in the tragic plight of the Rohingya people, search on Baidu). Tourists come to TEKNAF basically to take a boat to St. Martin. After arduous communication with the locals in English, Bengali and body language, I roughly learned that there are three ways to go to St. Martin. One is to take a cruise ship from the pier we just passed. There is only one trip a day, departing at 9 am, and no one will be accepted after the time. The second is to wait at TEKNAF for the local fishing boats that depart at 4:30 pm. The locals mainly travel between TEKNAF and St. Martin and the fishing villages along the way in this way. The third is to take a tuk-tuk and continue south for twelve or thirteen kilometers to a fishing village called Shahparirdwip at the southernmost tip of the mainland. The pier there can charter a speedboat to St. Martin. It is said that the scenery along the way to Shahparirdwip is very beautiful, but the locals actually expressed that it is very troublesome to go to Shahparirdwip, but I ignored it, so I was really displaced later. In addition, the information provided by the locals is actually very inaccurate, and they often change their minds. Later that day, I went to Shahparirdwip, but found that the roads along the way were damaged and there was no speedboat at the dock to go to St. Martin Island. If I want to go, I must confirm again and again.