Yesterday was an awesome day. After a nice and slow morning, Hasan came and picked me up around 12 and we headed for Old Dhaka. On our way there we stopped at shining white Baitul Mukarram, the biggest mosque in Dhaka. It was fun to see all the mosque-goers arriving for their friday mass.
Old Dhaka has really narrow streets and so it was quite an adventure to make our way through all the rickshaws and people. I'm so impressed with anyone daring enough to drive in this city; you must have nerves of STEEL. I really enjoyed watching everything going on outside the car. So much to take in and look at.
Our first stop was the Sadarghat boat terminal where we managed to find a man who offered a little tour on one of his boats. It was a small wooden row boat and because it was friday the river was free from the huge ferries that usually traffic the waters, otherwise I would have thought twice before getting in. The water is really dirty and all the sewage from all of Dhaka has its outlet into the river, but the tour was a really nice way to enjoy the everyday life of the bangladeshis. Little wooden boats packed with families, people cleaning themselves and swimming along the river banks, cargo boats filled with sand for construction sites driving past.
Our next stop was the Pink Palace of Ahsan Manzil. It was built in 1872 by Nawab Abdul Ghani, one the most influential persons in East Bengal in the last half of the 19th century. It was restored in 1980 and now seemed to be a quite popular friday excursion for bangladeshi families, as the garden was filled with people. The palace it self has definitely seen its glory days, but it was nice to get a glimpse of what it might have looked like some 140 years ago.
The last stop of the day was the house of the National Assembly. A very cool building designed by Luis Kahn in 1963, during the Pakistani rule.
You're not allowed inside the building, but on the opposite side of the road is a park were we went for a stroll in the sunset and enjoyed the festival-like spirit of bangladeshis enjoying their friday evening.
It was so amazing experiencing Dhaka together with someone from here. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if I was to try to do the tour myself and SOOO appreciate having met Hasan!
I ended the day with going to dinner in Gulshan 2 with my flat mate Nobuko and her swiss friend Nora. Gulshan 2 is the upper class area of the city and it almost feels surreal after spending the day in old Dhaka. The contrast couldn't be any bigger. After dinner we went to the Nordic Club for a drink before we headed home in a rickshaw. I was a really cool and quiet evening and nice to cruise the streets at a time when there is no traffic.
I ended the day with a Skype call with my man and went to bed as a happy little swede.
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| Cute kids outside the mosque |
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| Outside of Baitul Mukarram |
Old Dhaka has really narrow streets and so it was quite an adventure to make our way through all the rickshaws and people. I'm so impressed with anyone daring enough to drive in this city; you must have nerves of STEEL. I really enjoyed watching everything going on outside the car. So much to take in and look at.
Our first stop was the Sadarghat boat terminal where we managed to find a man who offered a little tour on one of his boats. It was a small wooden row boat and because it was friday the river was free from the huge ferries that usually traffic the waters, otherwise I would have thought twice before getting in. The water is really dirty and all the sewage from all of Dhaka has its outlet into the river, but the tour was a really nice way to enjoy the everyday life of the bangladeshis. Little wooden boats packed with families, people cleaning themselves and swimming along the river banks, cargo boats filled with sand for construction sites driving past.
Our next stop was the Pink Palace of Ahsan Manzil. It was built in 1872 by Nawab Abdul Ghani, one the most influential persons in East Bengal in the last half of the 19th century. It was restored in 1980 and now seemed to be a quite popular friday excursion for bangladeshi families, as the garden was filled with people. The palace it self has definitely seen its glory days, but it was nice to get a glimpse of what it might have looked like some 140 years ago.
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| People in the Pink Palace garden. |
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| Pink palace |
The last stop of the day was the house of the National Assembly. A very cool building designed by Luis Kahn in 1963, during the Pakistani rule.
You're not allowed inside the building, but on the opposite side of the road is a park were we went for a stroll in the sunset and enjoyed the festival-like spirit of bangladeshis enjoying their friday evening.
It was so amazing experiencing Dhaka together with someone from here. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if I was to try to do the tour myself and SOOO appreciate having met Hasan!
I ended the day with going to dinner in Gulshan 2 with my flat mate Nobuko and her swiss friend Nora. Gulshan 2 is the upper class area of the city and it almost feels surreal after spending the day in old Dhaka. The contrast couldn't be any bigger. After dinner we went to the Nordic Club for a drink before we headed home in a rickshaw. I was a really cool and quiet evening and nice to cruise the streets at a time when there is no traffic.
I ended the day with a Skype call with my man and went to bed as a happy little swede.
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