My last couple of days in Bangladesh were amazing. I spent the whole time meeting the best people and seeing all kinds of microfinance!
The main highlight of my last days were visiting BRAC where I saw specifically their microfinance programme which was really interesting but also the health, education and food sustainability programmes which also includes microfinance but in really varying ways (BRAC is the largest NGO in the world so it was structured really differently to most organisations I'd seen). I also visited BASA, and everyone was so accommodating and really helpful so I would like to say thank you to them.
A few of the Bangladeshi's I befriended ran a foundation which involved textile industries and giving the women who worked in them better wages. It was nice to meet them and their families and to hear their experiences working for a better company.
When I travelled to Thailand and there were no delays this time but when I got to the airport I was told there was a 500 taka charge due to a new carbon tax. Initially I laughed and told them I wasn't paying it (thinking it was a scam) but soon I realised it was true and that I wouldn't be getting on my plane if I didn't pay it. So even half an hour of complaining and arguing didn't influence them and then I had to pay to get on my plane.
When I got to Bangkok it was so incredibly different to Bangladesh and it straight away almost seemed more like Europe. It seems to have all the latest mod-cons and really new public transport. The place where I am staying is really nice and has a lot of cool travellers; it is not on Koh San Road which is the famous "party street" so it gives you the option to be more chilled out whilst still being to have a good time.
Unfortunately I haven't been too well whilst I have been here so haven't been able to do too much. I had a slightly infected toe but it was getting a lot better but then horrifically when I was with some friends in Bangkok there were bugs running over my feet a little bit (which didn't concern me) then I noticed it was getting painful and I looked down and a cockroach was biting me (I didn't know they even bit!) and there was a lot of blood. The guys who owned the bar helped me a lot by pouring what must have been pure bright blue alcohol and scrubbed at it till it was raw. So after this event my toe has got a lot worse and on top of this but probably not helped by it I have had a bit of a fever the last couple of days but I think it has passed now. So tomorrow I am going to the doctors about my toe and hopefully I will be back to full fitness soon!!
In addition to the health issues my trip to the island which I have research planned has been delayed as it is to stormy weather making it unsafe which is disappointing and seems so unlucky. But I am planning on making a lot of phone calls tomorrow to sort out the next few days a quickly as possible so this shouldn't be an issue for long I hope!
So I reckon I have got my bad luck out of the way and in all honesty I can't think of a better place to do it than Bangkok and I am excited at the opportunity to stay here a bit longer!!
Thanks for reading and I plan on uploading a lot of the pictures I can from the trip so far tomorrow :)