My first time and most inspirational tour to Saint Martin
Saint Martin, where I got my travel inspiration and also experienced my first-ever travel with my best friends. After this trip, I fell in love with the beauty of nature. Now, I’m going to elaborate on my full journey to Saint Martin. I hope you like it and consider planning a tour to Saint Martin.
It was my first trip, and back then, I was not much of a traveler. At that time, I was confused about my messy life. Suddenly, my two best friends, Rijon and Naim, came and told me to save some money from my tuition. Luckily, I had saved some money at that time. After a few days, they came and told me we were going to Saint Martin. They didn’t listen to any of my objections and forcefully took me on the trip.
How we went Saint Martin
First, we booked three bus tickets to Teknaf from our local bus station. Back then, each ticket cost $10. Without any delay, we boarded the bus, and our journey began. The bus was pretty good. If you pay more, you can get a better quality bus, like the AC type. During the journey, I sat by the window and enjoyed the scenery while my best friends fell asleep; after all, it was night. After 11 hours, we reached Teknaf and had breakfast at a roadside hotel, spending just $3. Then, my friend Naim hired a CNG (a type of three-wheeler vehicle) and took us somewhere I didn’t know. The CNG drove through a road with mountains on one side and the Naf River on the other. I started to love this scenery. Our CNG stopped at a local boat station, where Naim booked three speedboat seats for $21. After waiting for 20-30 minutes, the speedboat arrived, and we set off for our final destination, Saint Martin.
You can catch a boat from Teknaf. My friend Naim wanted us to experience a speedboat ride on the ocean. It’s a little risky but exciting and time-consuming. On an ordinary boat, it takes 3 hours to reach Saint Martin from Teknaf, but in a speedboat, it only takes 30 minutes.
On the speedboat, I felt the strong waves of the ocean for the first time. It was awesome. Then, our speedboat stopped in the middle of the ocean. Other passengers were scared, but the three of us enjoyed it. Naim even took out his fishing gear and started fishing in the middle of the ocean. Isn’t he a little crazy? Within 15-20 minutes, another speedboat arrived and took us to Saint Martin
1st day at Saint Martin
I had already fallen in love with the trip. The first thing we did in Saint Martin was find a good hotel at a cheap rate. Because we were students, we couldn’t spend too much on accommodation, or we’d have to go hungry. We found an ideal hotel beside the main bazaar of Saint Martin and booked it for three days for $27. In Saint Martin, you can stay in luxurious hotels and resorts, but due to budget constraints, we opted for a more affordable option.
After settling into our hotel room, we went for a shower in the ocean. We spent almost 2 hours bathing in the ocean. The water was clear, and the ocean seemed endless. It was incredibly calming.
Afterward, we tried to find a good restaurant, and eventually, we found one. My friends Naim and Rijon wanted to enjoy seafood, so we put a lot of effort into finding the perfect restaurant. During our stay in Saint Martin, we ate at this restaurant all the time.
After returning to our hotel and resting, we went out to explore Saint Martin. You can hire a bike or vehicle for exploration, but we decided to explore every corner of the island on foot. I think we made the right decision at that moment.
We spent the entire day exploring, taking photos and videos, playing in the sand, and even having a boxing match in the sea. Whenever we felt tired, we lay down anywhere on Saint Martin.
At the end of the day, we were very tired, so we wanted to rest first at the hotel and then dinner. But when we entered our hotel yard we were surprised. Two men singing Bangla band songs with guitar. We grabbed a place and sat there til midnight to enjoy their singing. Because of that, we forgot our dinner. So, we had to sleep without eating. Thus ended our first day.
2nd day at Saint Martin
we got up so early and ran to buy some seafish. Because we were starving from midnight and decided to eat fresh seafish in the morning. In Saint Martin the bazaar starts early in the morning and ends at 6.30 AM, so we had to get up early in the morning. Then we purchased some fish for 4-5 dollars and took the fish to our selected restaurant mama (owner). His cooking skills are so good, even though we didn’t try to understand what he made with those fish it was so soft, spicy, and way too delicious that we ate like we were hungry for years. Then we continued to explore Saint Martin with our naked feet. Slowly we discovered everything in Saint Martin, in our way an unknown creature.
At lunchtime, we tried to decide what to eat, and Rijon found lobsters. The only problem was the price. They were asking for $15+, which was too much for us. But luckily, we had a bargaining champion in our group, Naimur. After some negotiation, we managed to buy the lobsters for $11. We also ate some crabs we had caught while exploring. I know, we’re crazy.
In two days we almost went through every part of Saint Martin. so we decided we would do nothing after lunch. we went to the beach area and hired a service that offered a wooden beach bed with an umbrella. At first, we hired it for one hour but we ended up using it for 5 hours. we, especially me liked the strong wind coming from the ocean and the sound of waves. this is the place where I realized that I like traveling, beautiful places, quiet places. because these things make the mind calm and refresh the body. I believe this thing can calm anyone’s mind. We left the wooden beach bed after the evening. Then we desired to eat grilled seafood. so we went for it. here in Sain Martin you can have grilled seafood from anywhere like beachside restaurants, and bazaar restaurants. even you can have it from your hotel or resort, all you need do is inform them and pay them. we ate grilled coral fish and octopus at 7 dollars. we walked all day long and were too tired, so when we entered our room we fell asleep in no time like a dead man. and that’s how the second day ends
Last day at Saint Martin
On the third day, we thought about leaving the hotel and booking a resort for a day to enjoy our last day, but our budget didn’t allow it. Naim almost forgot that he had brought fishing gear. So, wherever we went, Naim tried his luck at fishing. At the end of Naim got huge huge imaginary fish. We spent our last day at Saint Martin fishing, eating watermelon, and drinking coconut water.
In the evening, we bought souvenirs for our families. Naim and Rijon bought dry fish, pickles, and handmade bags, while I bought pickles and beauty products for my sisters. We also bought many other things, but I can’t remember what they were.
At night, we hired two wooden beach beds for the whole night for $3. We spent the night under the stars, accompanied by a few local dogs. The next morning, we packed our bags and returned home.
See how happy we were
We spent $250 on this trip. Everything in Saint Martin is wonderful, but the prices are high. For example, a one-liter water bottle costs $0.25 in Teknaf but $0.45 in Saint Martin. This trip taught me how carefree life can be when traveling, encouraged me to travel more, and made me fall in love with nature.
I hope you will make a tour plan to Saint Martin after reading about my exciting tour experience of Saint Martin.