Our trip began in Dhaka domestic terminal, where I had very low expectations of the Novo Air flight I was about to take to Cox's Bazaar!

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the quality of the plane (small but clean) and the service (we even got a refreshment box with sandwich, crackers, mango fruitbar and yoghurt drink). The flight was only 40 mins until we arrived at Cox's Bazaar airport ( no more than a one room building) - note when travelling overseas domestically hang on to your bag tags as the officials check to sure you are entitled to your bag!

The hotel 'ocean paradise' shuttle met us and took us the 15min trip to the town's centre.

Along the way the view was like the outskirts of Dhaka, still lots of rickshaws, huts selling items along the side of the road, goats, cows, people, with a hint of countryside (rice paddy fields ) and a glimmer of the ocean from the road.

We arrived at the hotel - a massive and expensive looking building - in the midst of the almost country setting and were shown to our adequately appointed rooms with all the mod cons, LCD TV, air com and big king beds. We then had lunch in the restaurant (Desi Chinese yum!) even though they technically were not open yet (lol lunch starts at 2pm in Bangladesh!)

A van had been arranged for the day to take us around all the attractions of the area. We piled in and visited a number of Buddhist temples (including one with an enormous golden reclining Buddha statue). We then got dropped at the public beach, where I braced myself for an unclean and crowded environment, only to be again pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness and beauty of the beach, especially with the beautiful sunset hitting the water!

The thing I found funny though was that even though this was claimed as the 'longest unbroken beach in the world' all the people all seemed to stay together in the water in one place - all 200 or so of them!!!

Many many pictures later we walked back to our hotel, well what we thought to be our hotel, only to find out we had walked 10mins past it!! Dinner was on the hotel's rooftop with delicious naan and flame grilled kebab, then off to sleep as we had had an early morning flight.

The next day was Christmas Day and after a workout in the hotel gym and a pretty decent buffet breakfast we checked out and jumped on the shuttle to head to 'Mermaid Beach Resort' one of Cox's Bazaar's premier resort locations.

The ride was about 25mins from the town through some beautiful countryside on a narrow road alongside the beach. We were welcomed to the resort with mini bouquets of flowers and welcome coconut drinks.

We ordered lunch from an expansive menu, I had capsicum and mozzarella stuffed chicken breast with vegetables and mash potato (it was Christmas after all!) where the others feasted on fresh fish and crab.

We were then shown to our bungalows, quaint huts with their own balcony and hammock, with wooden finishes inside. The bungalow had air conditioning and LCD TV, waterfall shower and huge bathroom - everything for a relaxing holiday!

My hubby and I then made use of the high tide lagoon that was just infront of the resort and went kayaking in the beautifully still water and took in the scenery of the resort, including the giant 'cosmic turtle' building, the sun loungers, cool eclectic artwork and fishing boats before going back to the bungalow for a snooze in the hammock!

After a rest we thought we would take a swim in the ocean and started out, only to realise the low tide had pulled the ocean out and we had to walk for 40 mins over sand and mini lagoons with racing currents to get to the actual beach! We took a dip (pretty much fully clothed as no such thing as a bikini here!) and attempted to swim, however found the current so strong that I told my hubby, do not swim with the current otherwise you will be swept halfway down the beach!! We therefore swam against the current and due to its strength and our swimming - we stayed in one spot!! New exercise - Swimming treadmill lol!! The current was getting stronger so we made our way back to the hotel where I read that it is actually only safe to swim in high tide and not in low tide - whoops - should have read that earlier! Luckily we were smart enough not to go too far out and swim against the current, I could see how there could be many accidents here with people not used to beaches and swimming!

After a quick change we headed out to the outdoor 'lounge room' to sip mojitos under the stars before being treated to our very own fire dancer! He even breathed fire a few times, it looked amazing but i hope that wasn't kerosene in his mouth!!

I then feasted on freshly caught red snapper and prawns and even had movenpick icecream for dessert!

So even though it was totally different to usual - I had a pretty great Christmas Day!

After a great sleep and a semi outdoor buffet breakfast, we made our way back to the airport in the hotel shuttle and back to the busy city that is Dhaka!