15-Nov-2012 -- My son and I set out from Dhaka early in the morning for a 3-day tour of western Bangladesh during which we hoped to reach as many as three confluence points (also see 23N 89E and 24N 89E). We were greatly aided by our companion guide and translator Shuchak and our intrepid driver Kabir.

This first confluence was roughly 90 km southwest of Dhaka and 16 km east of the city of Gopalganj. Having to traverse Dhaka, even relatively early in the morning, took 90 minutes. The required ferry crossing of the wide Padma river took another 2 hours. As a result it was early afternoon before we reached the vicinity of the confluence. This part of Bangladesh is especially flat and low-lying, with the result that most of the fields were still underwater in this early part of the dry winter season. Life centers on the secondary roads which are greatly elevated relative to the fields. Both houses and a wide variety of agricultural and light industrial operations take place near or occasionally on the road.

After parking, some friendly local residents gave us a cart ride to the best location for approaching the confluence on foot. We then crossed through a Hindu kindergarten and walked some hundreds of meters along the muddy ridges that separated some of the fields nearest the road. It soon became quite evident that reaching the exact confluence would require crossing quite a lot of flooded land. Since we had much driving left to do this day we opted for an incomplete visit. Although this was an incomplete visit, it was actually quite fortunate that the confluence point was fairly close to one of the most substantial roads for at least 10-20 km in any direction. The location of the precise confluence can be seen on the right side of the south view.