River Naf is an international river which is shared between Bangladesh and Myanmar. According to my knowledge the Naf river is the only one that is shared between Myanmar and Bangladesh. The eastern coast of the river is Arakan state of Myanmar (which was formerly known as Burma), and the western coast is Teknaf of Bangladesh.
River Naf originated from the Arakan hills of Myanmar and after flowing as a transboundary river falls into the Bay of Bengal. The river is having 1-3 kilometer width between the two countries at some places and the depth of the river is 128ft an average depth and highest depth is 400ft. Being near to the ocean the water of the river is salty. Also the water level rises based on the high and low tide of the sea. Keeping similarity with the Bay of Bengal the river has almost the same color of the ocean.
The southernmost island of Bangladesh is Saint Martin’s island. This island is located at the mouth of this Naf river. All the cruise ships of Saint Martin’s island use this river to go to the island. During the cruise I found the view of the Myanmar side is more beautiful compared to Bangladesh (maybe the grass on the other side of the fence is much greener?). Small hillocks from the Myanmar side were clearly visible. But hardly seen too many human population on that side.
During the Naf river cruise you could see the boatmen catching fish from the river. Fishermen from both countries catch fish in this river with the only one condition of not crossing the border. Both the Myanmar and Bangladesh naval troops keep a close look on that matter.
Naf river,
Upazila: Teknaf,
District: Cox’s bazar,
Country: Bangladesh
Written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog alonelytraveler.com
Friday, 20 January 2012
