Bangladesh

07 June 2010

Friendly people were the highlight of my trip to Dhaka.
Pictured here at the Pink Palace.

Farhana, Jaiedy, Rauf, and Nadim were Bangladeshi friends that I met at the university in Kuala Lumpur who urged me to visit their country.

In Dhaka, I got to meet Farhana’s brother and sister, Farzana and Abir, who were great fun and made me feel extra welcome. 

In KL, Jaiedy had emphasized the historical importance of the Bengali language movement as a pivotal force pushing Bangladesh to break away from Pakistan. So I visited the Shaheed Minar monument to the martyrs of the language movement. It's pictured here with sweet kids selling odds and ends.

I saw other interesting historical places and educational museums, but nothing surpassed the exhilarating entertainment of just driving around Dhaka!
I loved the fantastic chaos of throngs of wildly painted bicycle rickshaws, motorcycles, three-wheel tuk-tuks (called "CNGs" in Bangladesh), and all kinds of pedestrians from elegant matrons with dazzling saris to workers with only a lungi.

Although this is monsoon season, I was lucky with only a few brief intense showers.
Ultra-modern Parliament building