Buses in Bangladesh...mostly dominated by Japanese, Korean and
Tata brands. Those who do operate European makes are often quick to
advertise this to middle-class Bangladeshis.....and the occasional
tourist like myself. Green Line for example, are quick to advertise
their MAN, Scania, Volvo fleet. Soudia operates a fleet of Merc
coaches, and Hanif operates a fleet of B9Rs.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite matter where the bus is from if
the driving sucks. I took the Scania coach thrice and the buses
broke down twice. The first was because the driver kept
half-clutching and the clutch eventually burnt. zzzzzz
The second was equally stupid. The driver was weaving through
the roads merrily, braking, honking, accelerating, and then he had
to brake especially violently at one point while on the oncoming
lane, and that's when all of a sudden the pneumatic system failed
and the brakes on the right rear refused to let go....leaving the
bus stranded awkwardly in the middle of the road. As the pictures
you see here.
A B10MD public DD taken from my office while waiting for the
rain to stop. That bus is bodied by Alexander, hence the striking
similarity with our Olympians. And the tri-axle bus is Hanif's
proudest possession, the B9R.
Below is a picture of a typical rest-stop for coaches. My bus
can be seen here. Picture was taken in the wee-hours of the morning
on the way to Sylhet. Such a bus is known as a chair-coach and is a
much cheaper alternative to the aircon coaches that broke down on
me twice in a row. Mostly Hino AKs. Uncomfortable, stuffy and
violent driving styles, people are known to puke in the bus. And
usually people are used to it and if you motion to the window,
they'll open it to let you puke!
My first experience of that was on a motorcycle. I barely missed
the flying projectile.
My second brush with that came on this trip to Sylhet, when I
felt a couple of rain-drops as I slept. Only thing...it wasn't
raining. And that hit home when the guy behind me stood up and
abruptly closed MY window!
