Cox's Bazar Marine Drive - A much needed getaway!

Okay, this is the first time I am writing on Pinmapple and I am not really sure how pinning a post on pinmapple works. I was thinking just posting directly to the community would work, but I got a code for the place my wife and I stayed at during our much needed trip to the Marine Drive of Cox's Bazar and I am pasting it here.

Did the magic happen? I don't know, I guess I'll find out once the post is posted eh!

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This is the place we were staying at. The aerial wires are a constant photobomb in this country, but other than that, it was an excellent hotel!

We took the 2nd flight in the morning, so we reached about an hour and a half before our check in time. Their lobby was quite spacious, calm and quiet so we didn't mind the wait.

The view from our room wasn't exactly "on the beach" as it is at "Exotica Shampan," but we wanted a luxurious stay which Exotica Shampan doesn't provide.

We wanted a quiet, relaxing vacation so we chose to avoid staying anywhere near the main beach which is always buzzing with people. Hence we chose to stay close to the "Exotica Shampan's" private beach, it was a 2 minute walk from our hotel. The beach on the marine drive is generally deserted, and very very clean.

We wanted calm and quiet, we got calm and quiet alright! The beach was totally deserted in the mornings. On the second day we found a group from the Philippines who kindly agreed to take a few couple pictures for us. And the rest had to be all selfies. But it was peaceful, away from all the chaos you get dumped on you as a byproduct of living in the center of Dhaka!

The first afternoon we wanted to try out some of the local restaurants, we both love to try out different food. So besides going full gung-ho on relaxing, trying out as many different dishes as we could was also on the agenda!

This was a crowded place, it's pretty popular we found out. I had to be content with only getting this much of their logo as there were people sitting on either side of the table we were on and I didn't wanna be labelled as perv taking pics of strangers. Yeah no kidding, that actually happens here. A lot.

This was the "Bhorta Platter." Basically few different mashed items, and some spinach and vegetables. I loved it, I quite enjoy vegetables. My wife is quite the opposite!

My wife has been going on about ducks for quite a few weeks, so we were definitely going to try the duck curry. It was very, very decent - could beat the veggies though LOL!

Of course they also served garden salad, but nobody wants to see a plain salad right!?

We had a good rest in the afternoon. The room was super comfortable. We were supposed to go out and watch the sunset, but we realized sleep was more important...even on vacation 😂

So by the time we went out for coffee, it was already dark.

The shop you see on the side, those are pretty common here and almost every hotel will have such shops with local, overpriced goodies!

The cafe we went to was called "Senorita."

I actually wrote about this place in my post for the Cinnamon Cup Coffee weekly prompt.

After listening to the susurring of the sea in the quiet, windy evening for a good few hours we set off for dinner and this time we chose the in house rooftop BBQ restaurant of our hotel. I have been to this BBQ restaurant once before and I absolutely loved their food, the ambiance and the night view of the sea from high up. As a side benefit of being so high up, we got some real good wind which is always a blessing in the summer!

I liked how they created a garden vibe in the outdoor section of the rooftop. Almost no one chose to sit at the indoor section, the outdoor was just that nice and windy!

As we walked around the roof, we got to meet the Manager of Food and Beverage of the Hotel and once he found out we were both doctors, we got some real VIP treatment throughout the rest of our stay! He would always call us the "Doctor Couple" wherever he saw us, be it at breakfast, lunch or dinner! He reserved the nicest, most secluded spots for us. The extra bit of attention was special.

We went with seafood for dinner. I have already developed a strong disliking for squid so none of those stuff lol!

We got ourself a Coral Fish bbq...

....and a grilled salmon.

And some salad and Dipping sauce!

We stayed back another couple of hours as some of our favourite songs were played. It was a very pleasant experience.

And thus ended Day 1 of what turned out to be an absolutely fantabulous vacation!