This was not the first time that I have visited Saint Martin’s Island, the most beautiful island in the country. Just a year before this trip, I went to Saint Martin’s with my class. We were 30 people and it was one of the best tour of my life. Not a year was yet to pass when I planned for Saint Martin’s Island again. But this time the team was much smaller, of 7 people only.
The journey to the island
As we live in Sylhet, which is at the northern region of Bangladesh, the journey was very long and boring mostly. The Saint Martin’s Island is the southernmost point of the country.
We had to make 10 hours of train journey, almost 5 hours on the road, 5 more hours on the ship – taking into account the breaks on the road and the transition period, it took us almost 30 hours to reach the island!
In the train we played cards, and watched movie to get over the boredom. But it didn’t work for long. The bus journey was during night, so we slept in the bus. But the best part of the journey was in the ship. The ocean was blue & calm, yet the journey was thrilling.
The First 2 daYs, AS planned
We had planned on staying in the island for 2 nights. The resort (Neel Diganta) was booked days before the trip. It was just beside the beach and much more spacious than we expected.
After freshening up, the first thing we did was go to the beach and have our time near the ocean. But we were so hungry that we did not waste much time there and headed out for the market nearby. Fortunately we did not have to go to the market, which was a kilometre or so from the resort. just beside the resort there was a very inexpensive yet good restaurant. We had our meal there.
In the evening we went to the local market. Unlike the other side of the island where our resort is at, this part of the island was crowded with tourists. A variety of marine fishes are available in the market. Crabs, Rupchanda, Prawns, Coral and many more fishes are served fried in the restaurants. There are some Rupchanda lookalike fishes, which sometimes are served as Rupchanda. We were not fish experts, but luckily for us, we had google to teach us to distinguish between Rupchanda and it’s “cousins”.
Another food of the island I can’t but mention is it’s Coconut. In fact this island is known by another name, “Narikel Jinjira”, after the coconut. (In Bengali the word Narikel means Coconut)
The whole island is covered with coconut trees. So what’s so special about the coconuts of this place? It’s the taste and huge size of them that makes them so special. One coconut is enough to fill the stomach!
We spent most of the time of the night in the beach. That peace and tranquillity of the beach – I can still feel it! The cold breeze of the ocean made our stay in the beach even more charming.
In the meantime, we had some tea and coffee in a shop. There are one or two shops in the beach which are made of tin and bamboo, mostly because these are temporary. We got acquainted with the shop owner, who is a local of the island. He shared his stories of experiencing cyclones in the island. We came to know how the ocean swallows the island during the storms, how he survived all of those storms in his lifetime. We were so terrified listening to his stories. But little did we know that we were about to experience a glimpse of this horrific experience ourselves.
The next day we went to Chera Dwip, an extension of the island in the southern side. It is accessible on foot during the low tide when a narrow land emerges from the ocean connecting it with the main island. We rented bicycles instead. Unfortunately the sunny day made the riding difficult in the sandy beaches. After a long 1 hour ride under the blistering sun we made it to Chera Dwip. Exhausted and tired, we were barely in a mood to take pictures. My cousin, who was much older than the rest of us, got sick after riding under the hot sun. Thus the two of us had to return to the main island by trawler.
Last time I visited Saint Martin’s Island, I was so impressed by a beach named Agontuk beach. It’s in the western coast of the island and unfortunately this time our resort was in the eastern coast. Usually most people give a round tour of the island by bicycle. As a matter of fact, this is how I came to meet the Agontuk beach in my previous tour to Saint Martin’s. But this time I could not have a walk there, the rest of us were lazy enough to skip this ride around the island. But I recommend everyone who visit the island to not skip this ride.
In the afternoon we played football with some tourists who have checked in a hotel nearby. Two of them later became friends with me on Facebook. I still have contact with them.
The beach near our resort was not very ideal for swimming. The floor under the water was filled with dead coral reef, that made it difficult to walk on the water. But still we had a lot of fun in the water.
A tour like this remains incomplete without a ber-b-que party. So we had it arranged at the dinner that night. Of course, it was a fish ber-b-que.
There was another group of people having a ber-b-que party nearby. A large group of old veterans from Calcutta, who were also staying in the same resort as us. They were the most friendly people I ever met. It was an unique experience to get to know people of another culture.
That night I spent hours on the beach lying on beach chair, with my favourite music “Obak Valobasha“. It seemed as if the lyrics of this song was meant for this moment-
"May all the light fade to darkness Where the only ones awake are those faraway stars. May all the words trail off into silence Where the only thing I hear is this ocean next to me."
The day of the return & The storm
The next morning we were to return home. But just in the morning when we were busy packing the bags, the sky became dark and all of a sudden we saw a storm coming. The weather report has been giving hints of a possible low pressure in the ocean. But when the storm finally appeared we were really worried of our return. Meanwhile the resort authority told us that the ship will not be coming to take us. “When will the ocean be calm?” – we asked. No one knew. We were stuck in the island!
There was literally no way to get out of the island. We waited in the deck for a couple of hours in the hope of the storm to vanish, but things were getting worse every moment. I saw some tourists in a trawler took their chances and left the island. But after half an hour they came back, frightened and panicking. Having no other course left open, we returned back to the resort.
As time passed, the wind grew stronger. We tried to enjoy the time as much as we could. But tension grew amongst us, especially after a staff of the resort said what happened the last time a cyclone hit the island. Quoting him – “The food supply to the island was cut for a long time, which lead to huge price hike of the food. We even kept empty water bottle near us, in case the houses gets waterlogged. We had to take shelter in the cyclone centre.“
The weather app in my phone was showing that the low pressure will prevail until the next week. There was no sign of calmness. We prepared our minds to experience the worst.
I had an important presentation in my university in 3/4 days. Obviously I needed to go back home ASAP. The group from Calcutta was even more worried than me. Surprisingly, they did not have any phone with them. We borrowed them our phone to make contact with their relatives in Calcutta.
Fortunately in the next morning, the wind seemed to be weakening. The sun showed up from behind the clouds. Around 12 o’clock we got the news that the ship has been given green signal. We packed the bags and went to the deck.
After waiting for an hour or so, a tiny white dot appeared in the horizon. And behind it another one appeared, and then another. Gradually all five ships became identifiable. Everyone cheered their hearts out. Finally we were going home!
The ocean looked totally different while we were returning to the mainland. Who could say this is the same ocean which was so billowy just a few hours ago!
It is a tour I will remember for a long time. I met some amazing people in this 3/4 days and had some experience of a lifetime. The next time I get an opportunity, I will not miss to go there again!
