Feature

The Perfect Destination

Munzerin Shahid

THE 29th of June was one of my most unforgettable days. Firstly of course, it was because of my much anticipated visit to the latest attraction for the food lovers of Chittagong with all my friends after exams, Kings Confectionary. I still reminisce the brownies which actually made me go “Can I just look at them forever and not eat them?”

However, the savoring of delicacies at Kings was quickly over and we were left with the confusion of where to go next.

It was all planned in an absolute state of madness that we go, to the beach! I still think how we actually came up with this wild idea when half of Chittagong is about to drown from the regular showers we've been having. It was anyway decided that we go there and all of us hopped up on taxis and went on our ways. It was actually an amazing weather with slight rainfall and eddy winds.

After about a 35 minutes ride we all arrived at the destination, each of us shortly after the other.

The beach itself is quite sandy, with a few rocky patches here and there. Most visitors come to Patenga Beach as it is known for having some of the most stunning sunsets and sunrises in Bangladesh. It wasn't anything like the beaches in Goa, but there is something very different about it anyway. No “bikini destinations” shows for the guys sadly, but it is one of the places which make me never want to leave Chittagong. The mesmerising sunset and the small kids trying their best to sell food are absolutely things that happen only in Bangladesh.

To our happiness the slight rain that was falling had halted and we were all hyped up about getting each other drenched. With a lot of hard work, we made it down the rocks. A soon as our feet touched the ground, one of my friends pointed to the ominous clouds that were heading our way. Call it uncanny or call it unlucky, the slight rain that stopped had started and not in the slight way it ended before, but in the form of one of the heaviest falls anyone could imagine. But the spirit of our exams finally getting over did not blow off and the rain infact made us all go insane and we jumped into the waters. An hour of absurd madness finally ended and we then went for the speedboats. The velocity of the speedboat added to the rough weather that day. That ride of mine was actually scarier than the ride I took in the rollercoaster of Fantasy Kingdom. But as they say, good things don't last long. Even that ride ended before we knew it. All of us were too exhausted to stand anymore when we got to view one of the most breathtaking sights of our lives. It was a view of the sun finally going to rest. It was something we had not planned and something that took away our weariness completely. It was a perfect end to our outing that day. An end we could never forget. The whole scenery was diverse, fascinating and, above all, beautiful. Even if it hasn't been much time since I've gone there, it still lures me with the attraction of beautiful weather, natural splendor, and the lapping of the sea waves at my feet. Every moment for us in the Patenga Beach has been, and will be a truly unforgettable moment in the making. Chittagong is truly, the place to be.

(Munzerin is a student of Bay View School, Chittagong)