Trekking in
Modhupur Forest
on a Hartal
Day
|
Pictures included in the article [click to enlarge] |
 |
 |
 |
I should be bored with Modhupur forest by now since I have trekked in it so many times. But it is the first thing I think of whenever a hartal is announced. Hartals have no season and can beat all predictions of pundits, palmists and professors. It gives us an unplanned holiday with the specter of a terribly lazy day to watch a dozen boring soaps and a million commercials. A journey to Modhupur suits hartal days in many ways. It is good in all seasons and can be planned at as short a notice as a hartal.
The road to Modhupur is good, albeit a little bumpy at places. The forest is a mere 120 km from Dhaka. If you start your journey at 4 am, you are well beyond the reach of hartal enforcers by 6 am. You drive straight north from Dhaka to Mymensingh town and turn west for Modhupur. You stop where the Mymensing-Modhupur road enters the forest. Forest office bungalows are on both sides of the road. You go to the office to your right, pay Tk 15 entry fee and take a horribly bumpy brick road through the forest. After 6 km, you are happy to stop at a small pond the poetic people of the Forest Department call Gorgora Lake. The brick road threads through the forest further west to the Garo villages.
You park by the pond and prepare for a day’s trekking in the forest. Your backpack can be very light since you can come back to your car every two to three hours. Carry some food, water, insect repellant, an umbrella and binoculars. Several dirt roads branch off the central brick road. You take any of the dirt roads and trek through the forest. When the dirt road forks you take the one most traveled on. That will make your return journey easier. You are unlikely to meet another trekker to help you find your way back.
The forest is very safe - too safe for even a modest adventure. All large mammals are absent. No snakes. The biggest animal that can eat you in this forest is the leach. They come only during the monsoon. Mosquitoes will converge on you if you rest too long in shade. Your insect repellant will keep both these menaces at bay.
The biggest mammals you will see are Rhesus Macaque and Capped Languor. The forest is very young; 90% of it is10 to 15 year old Sal trees that are not attractive to the monkeys. Look up at the older Ficus trees to spot the monkey families. The largest reptile you will come across is the Monitor Lizard. The old ones can be very large and remind you of the Komodo Dragon. Every encounter with the lizard, however close, is safe. The lizard will be far more scared than you and scramble off clumsily for cover.
Encounters with mammals and reptiles will be few and far between in Modhupur Forest. However, the bird life will keep you entertained the whole day. White-rumped Shama, the most accomplished soprano of Modhupur, will sing sweetly for you everywhere if you move quietly. The loud contralto of the Lineated Barbet will continue to reverberate through the forest whether you are quiet or not. In summer, the cuckoos and the drongos will join this enchanting orchestra. There are, however, some players of the orchestra you wish were less insistent on finishing their repertoire to the very end: the crickets and the cicadas.
The sights of the bird world of Modhupur are as pleasing as its sounds. It is a pleasure to watch troops of Velvet-fronted Nuthatches crawl up and down the large woolly trunks of old trees. They are often accompanied by colorful groups of Small Minivets chirping cheerily and looking for their little meals between the leaves. It is wonderful to be startled by the Black-naped Monarchs darting past you like little blue arrows. More memorable is the undulating flights of Paradise Flycatchers with their long trailing tails fluttering over the undergrowth. Elaborate shows of unusual tails continue above you in the canopy where the Spangled Drongos and the Racket-tailed Drongos defend their territories.
You can start your return journey by 4 pm, even on a hartal day. You exit from the forest office gate and turn right. The road passes through the forest 10 km to Modhupur town. It is a very pleasant drive. If you go slow and are on the look out you may see a Changeable Hawk-Eagle perching on a tall tree. On the way you can stop anywhere and enter the forest. About 6 km down the road and half a km in the forest to your right there is grassland. In Bangladesh it is the only known breeding-ground of the rare Yellow-wattled Lapwings.
If you drive on the same road 15 km past Modhupur town you hit the highway leading to Yamuna Bridge. You turn left, pass Mirzapur and Kaliakoir, then turn right for Savar EPZ. You return to Dhaka through Ashulia and await another hartal to plan your next Modhupur sojourn.