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Simon Reeve's Bangladesh

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4th April 2010

Simon Reeves

The Guardian, United Kingdom

You hear the fish hunters of Narail, in western Bangladesh, long before you see them. Sharp screeching penetrates the air by the riverbank, on the edge of the village, where ranks of canoes hold large bamboo cages and pairs of furry otters, those world-champion fish catchers. Villagers in the area harness the otters for a fishing partnership that dates back thousands of years, and one that was used in Britain until the late 1800s.

At dusk, when I set out on a narrow boat with Robin, a local fisherman, and Tanjil, my guide in Bangladesh, the otters are barking noisily at each other, excited by the prospect of another night hunting, pulling in a catch on which they also feed. We drift lazily down river in the still darkness, oil lamps and candles throwing deep shadows on to the lush banks, until we reach a quiet fishing spot on a bend in the river where trees drape their heavy branches into the water, and our torches catch flashes of silver from fish hiding among the submerged leaves.

Robin opens the bamboo cage and releases his two harnessed otters into the water, carefully adjusting their rope leads so one swims around at the front of the boat and the other at the back. Then he lowers a large net into the water and shuffles it under the dangling tree branches. A swift tug on the ropes attached to his otters, and the pair are chasing fish into the net, which Robin then lifts back into the boat, dumping the catch at our feet.

It is an ancient way of life, and a side of this country that westerners rarely see. We tend only to associate Bangladesh with disasters, flooding and tragedy, but it is also a lush, beautiful country with some of the warmest and friendliest people on the planet.

I was travelling through Bangladesh on a long journey around the Tropic of Cancer for the BBC series of the same name. After circling the world following the Equator and Tropic of Capricorn for previous TV series, it made sense to complete the set by travelling along the line marking the northern border of the most extraordinary region of the planet. Thanks to endless glorious sunshine, the earth's tropical region is the most biodiverse area of the world, stuffed with amazing animals, birds, plants and trees. But it is also home to the greatest concentration of human poverty. So beautiful and brilliant, but blighted at the same time.

For more than six months I followed the Tropic of Cancer through 18 countries, starting in Mexico and crossing the Caribbean, North Africa, the Arabian peninsular, India and Asia. I saw spectacular sights as I crossed countries such as Oman, Libya, Laos and Cuba. But Bangladesh became my favourite.