Walking along the mighty river.

This is what makes me smile. Walking along the riverbank works as medicine. Spending time on the river bank was so relaxing and refreshing.

One of the major attractions of our rural area is the river. There's nothing specific to explore. But the surrounding life and the refreshing view are enough to make the trip unforgettable.

I recently got the chance to explore the mighty Saniajan River.

Saniajan River is located in the northwestern part of Bangladesh. Saniajan River touched the Indo-Bangladesh border and originates from the Himalayas. There's also a Dam nearby, which I have visited almost 20 years ago. This time I explored the riverside from the Saniajan bridge.

The river is so wide. During the rainy season, it looks pretty scary. We took a rickshaw van and went to the bridge. People come to the bridge to hang out during the afternoon.

We leave our van under the bridge and went on walking. The weather was so nice and gentle, we quite enjoyed the walk. As it's in a very rural area so there were not many vehicles on the bridge. It's safe to seat on the side of the bridge and enjoy the view.

The charming afternoon sunlight was a perfect touch for the day. It took only a few minutes to reach the middle of the bridge.
Then the photo session started! Who would miss such a chance to have a good portrait of nature?

Our First surprise!

We got to see live fishing. There were a few fishermen on both sides of the river. I got to let my son see how fishing is done in river areas. It was such a raw experience which we never get in cities.

Our second surprise!

If you zoom in, you will see, there were some temporary houses on the riverbank. I never saw this type of homeless people in rural areas. It's almost common in cities. But rural dwellers are mostly sufficient or at least has a shade on top of their head. So seeing homeless in this area was quite surprising to me.

Later, I came to know that they are Bede or Beday, an Indo-Aryan nomadic ethnic group of Bangladesh. They are well known for boat houses/temporary living, traditionally live, travel, and earn their living on the way. They build houses in random places, beg from the locals for a few days, sell their handmade ayurvedic medicine, and sometimes organize snack shows/Dances.

Then we moved on to exploring the bridge more and walking around the area a little bit.

What made me happy is the natural beauty of the riverside. It seems like nothing has changed. The rural site looks the same as it used to be 50 years ago (in a good way). The lifestyle sure improved a lot but the natural beauty is still preserved. It reminded me,

"A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure."