Exploring the Charms of Saint Martin

 Winter is like a trip to the sea. The cool weather, the calm waves of the sea and the gentle roar is another name of rest and peace. The winter season in our country coincides with the holiday season. Schools and colleges are closed. This is a family trip to St. Martin. St. Martin Island is the only coral island in Bangladesh and located in the southern part of the country. If you see the blue of the sea once, it will remain in your eyes forever.

At 7 am on 7th December 2020, we left Dhaka for St. Martin. We fall in high traffic on the Dhaka-Cumilla highway. We lost  2 hours in long night traffic. From Dhaka, we reached Teknaf first. We stayed there for a night. We start our journey from Teknaf at 9 am and floated for three hours in the heart of the Bay of Bengal. It was really nice to see the birds flying. They don't miss anything when people throw chips, biscuits, bread. We reached St. Martin on 8th December in the afternoon to see the beauty of the Naf River, the Myanmar border beyond it, and the waters of the Bay of Bengal. When the ship crossed the Naf River from Teknaf and entered the sea, I was lost in an endless deluge of indigo.

Arriving in St. Martin, everyone enjoys the beach. I've only seen it in books and on TV. I'm really impressed. St. Martin has no PDB or rural electricity connection. Totally dependent on the generator. Resort hotels usually run generators from evening to 10–11 pm. During the day, the water pump can be turned on for a while. Since there is no fan in winter, there is no lack of current during the day. The problem is with charging mobiles, cameras, and laptops. There are rows and rows of restaurants at the jetty at night, so it doesn't seem like there is no electricity on the island. They keep the generator running for the whole night. Sitting on the seashore and enjoying the beauty of the night, I feel as if there is silence amidst the roar of the sea. It's very enjoyable! I've done a lot of walking on the beach in St. Martin. Bicycles can be rented from a few places on the island, especially from West Beach. I traveled half of the St. Martin by the bike ride the day before and the other half on the next morning. It's not a very big island. Going to St. Martin and not having a Bar-B-Q party, is that it? A Bar-B-Q is available at the end of the day. On that night, I hired a sea bed to enjoy the sea roaring and starry night.

On the morning of 9th December, we hired a fishing trawler to go to Chheradwip. I went to the Chheradwip and enjoyed the beauty of the sea. It is an island totally detached from St Martin. We took a footwalk to get there. There is a coconut garden here in Cheradwip. Take some pictures and go back to the hotel. After reaching the hotel, we left for Cox's Bazar and arrive at 10 pm.

After dinner, we went to the beach to enjoy the sea. We went back to the hotel at 12: 30 am. Back to the beach the next morning. We ride on horseback. That was our last day. The sea on one side of Marine Drive and the mountains on the other - such a wonderful view. In the evening, we will leave for Dhaka.