Man Of Few Words

Chapter 83

We ended up spending an extra night in Bandarban, partly because it turned out there was quite a lot to do there, and partly because our hotel was so nice that none of us really wanted to leave.

So we visited the golden temple, and we rode the cable cars, and we spent a lot of time relaxing on the hotel balcony, the view from which rivalled that at the top of the waterfall. The food at the hotel restaurant was amazing too, even Musa admitted it.

The golden temple, by the way, really is made of gold. It's quite incredible to see this tall golden spire poking out in among very little but huge tracts of jungle on all sides. I managed to make Iffi and Musa laugh yet again when I commented on how well preserved the architecture was after so many hundreds of years.

It was actually constructed between 1995 and 2000.

The cable car was quite newly built too, but you'd never have known. It's basically a baby taxi without wheels suspended on a piece of string over a bottomless valley. Even Iffi seemed too scared to move a muscle for the whole duration of that ride. Once again though, incredible views.

And if anyone's still concerned about my injuries, I was basically fine. Some quite decorative bruises came up the next day, and my ankle still hurt, but I had no problems walking on it. Thanks for asking.

I don't remember much else about that trip to Bangladesh. It stands as a strange anomaly in an otherwise unadventurous, narrowly focused life. Both myself and Iffi left that company pretty soon after, and we never stayed in touch. Maybe he tried to keep in contact with me. I don't know. I know I made no effort.

I did, just now, try to find him online. No luck though. I don't remember his surname at all. It's a real shame. He's a really good guy. I hope he didn't feel unappreciated by me, although I'd have to admit that he kinda was. Who am I kidding? Not "kinda". He just was.