Enjoying a romantic sunset cruise on the Buriganga River in Dhaka

16 December…..We sat in the local version of a Thai tuk tuk travelling slowly through the crowd and chaos of the narrow streets but with a strange twist.  The cab for the driver and the passengers were all claustrophobically caged by a strong steel wire screen with a barrier between us and the driver and a lock from the inside.  Our driver battled his way through the worst traffic we’ve ever seen – and that’s saying something – until, amazingly, we finally made our hotel three hours later.  We had eaten snacks sold to us through the cage but we were cramped and stiff and tired from our long journey.  Welcome to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh and the craziest city I have ever been to. 

Julie locked into our cage on wheels - strangely fun

How did we end up in this ‘cage on wheels’ as Julie called it and why were we in Bangladesh?  And as one of my work colleagues said when I told them we were going there, he said, “what, on purpose?” 

Yes, absolutely on purpose, and more to the point, why not Bangladesh?  For us there were a few key elements in our choice of destination for this nine day break.  First, I admit, I have a fascination with the Indian sub-continent, it’s a wonderful place to visit for a thousand reasons.  Julie humours me in this regard by joining me at least once a year to India.  And secretly I know she loves it too.

Chaos on the street - sometimes its faster to walk

But more importantly, Bangladesh has spectacular attractions, beautiful national parks, stunning world heritage locations, the longest continuous beach in the world and dozens of other world class features that make it a fantastic destination for intrepid travelers.  And the fact the country has almost no tourism infrastructure, is almost 100% alcohol free due to its strict Muslim beliefs and is one of the most impoverished countries in the world all make it a challenging but fulfilling place to travel. 

A large load handled by two men - be careful on the downhill!

The irony of these mesh caged auto rickshaws, as they called them, is we couldn’t figure out why the cages existed.  We never once in our entire time in Bangladesh felt threatened, challenged or at risk in any way.  We were constantly surrounded, literally and extensively, by curious and friendly people, almost to the point of exhaustion but not once was there anything but genuine interactions with the locals.  It was an overwhelming confirmation of the friendliness of these people and the welcoming nature of their society despite all the daily challenges they face. 

Julie is always looking for a good bargain

Old Dhaka down near the wharf was a fascinating place of crowds, colour and curiosity

But when you talk about Dhaka you really need to focus on Old Dhaka, the ancient part of the town on the banks of the Buriganga River that has an endless supply of narrow streets, shops, animals and people – most of them pedaling their wares from their cart or the basket on the head. 

Oh yeah, one other feature about Dhaka – rickshaws.  We’re talking old fashion pedal rickshaws where usually a spindly old guy pedals his passengers through the bedlam for only a few cents per trip.  It is said there are 400,000 rickshaws in Dhaka alone, I feel like we saw most of them.  They are a fundamental part of life in Dhaka and the rest of Bangladesh, many of them elaborately decorated in bright colours of religious or cultural scenes in what is now officially recognised as ‘rickshaw art’.  We loved it.

A typical street scene in Old Dhaka - no road rage but very little forward progress

The hard core centre of Old Dhaka is the wharf area on the river called Sadarghat.  Our first cage on wheels journey took us to this important spot and after paying a couple of Taka to enter the wharf area we became enveloped in the full blast of life on the river.  We were immediately surrounded by eager smiling people, almost all men, intensely curious of why we would be there and very keen to try their horrible English on us.  They asked us a million questions but the overwhelming favourite was ‘Which country?’ and when we answered ‘Australia!’ faces immediately lit up.  The recognition was very strong and the conversation frequently turned to cricket, the cultural sporting love of their life.  I honestly believe I had over 100 conversations about Ricky Ponting during our exploration of Bangladesh, and if not him, Brett Lee. 

Beautiful colours and a friendly smile

We learned very quickly on this first day that Bangladesh can be translated to ‘in your face’ because that is what the entire experience is.  The people, the noise, the smells, the activity around us, every moment was a National Geographic cover photo.  It was sensory overload in the most enjoyable way imaginable but at zero risk….it was all quite joyful actually.

Life and commerce on the Buriganga River at dusk

As inevitably happens, a decent sort of guy who spoke a bit of English, Mafsud, latched on to us and we allowed him to lead us onto one of the many crowded boats docked at the wharf.  From the boat’s roof we were able to watch the amazing spectacle of the Buriganga River and life as commerce ebbed and flowed along its slow moving ink black waters.  This was an amazing scene where old wooden boats rowed by men in ancient traditional garb carried people and goods this way and that in a manner probably untouched by time. 

The scenes on the river were priceless and timeless

With our new friend at our side we hired a small boat and spent the next hour or more being rowed up and down the river, across to the other side, along the ghats where people bathed, amongst the ferries, through the water hyacinth, all the time waving to locals, marveling at this almost biblical scene and taking a thousand photos.  It was well after dark before we finally hit land again and shortly thereafter climbed into our fateful auto rickshaw to endure the aforementioned three hour journey home.  Our strategically chosen hotel was one of only a few places in town where we could buy alcohol and we certainly deserved it after the harrowing ride back and to help us absorb all the amazing experiences of the day. 

The hectic ghat on the other side of the river

Taking a rest in peaceful grounds of the Pink Palace

Hungry for more, and up early due to the loud call to prayer at 05.30, the next day we went back to Old Dhaka again and walked along the old streets for hours, including a visit to the shoulder-to-shoulder Shankharia Bazaar as well as visiting two excellent attractions – the 19^th century Ahsan Manzil, otherwise known as the Pink Palace, which helped us appreciate the before and after of English rule and their aristocracy, and the remains of the ancient Lalbagh Fort. 

Shops had a wide range of colourful outfits for the women

But life for westerners in Old Dhaka is full on.  We were on a constant loop of saying ‘hello’ in response to all the friendly greetings and the locals’ have a tendency to stand incredibly close to you and intensely stare at you which was at first a bit off-putting.  They have no appreciation for the quaint western concept of personal space and the competition for attention amongst them inevitably meant some crowding. 

Elegantly dressed women at Lalbagh Fort

And the colours!  The ladies all look so fantastic with their colourful saris, matching head scarves and (in some cases) face scarves.  The shops all carry a huge range of colourful fabrics and clothes, the rickshaws are painted in bright colours, everything has a vibrant look to it even if a lot of it is run down and in need of care. 

A group of photogenic friends at the Pink Palace

One of the bizarre and unique aspects of these friendly locals is their demand for photos.  We were constantly stopped so people could take photos of us with their phones, frequently posing for multiple shots with different combinations of people posing with us.  I would guess we posed for maybe 200 or 300 photos during our visit and we must be on an endless stream of Facebook pages.  Julie said this must be what Brad and Angelina face all the time in public and from there onward it seemed a bit easier to cope with the attention we received in the context of movie stars.  Next time I see Brad I will share my experiences.  And to top it off they would catch our attention and ask us to take photos of them, even if we were trying to walk away. 

Julie surrounded by her fans at the Lalbagh Fort

Never to be daunted, I even stopped in a little barber shop to get my haircut, drawing a large crowd of curious experts who shouted out suggestions to the barber and were clearly very excited to see a westerner get a haircut.  Julie was satisfied with the outcome and the haircut cost me about 60 cents but I think I gave him a tip.   

A professional Bangali haircut for about 60 cents

A fascinated audience gathered for my haircut

At the end of the day we boarded our dirty and rusty 90 year old paddle boat, inappropriately called the Rocket, and settled into our overnight journey down the river to explore remote national parks and world heritage locations of southern Bangladesh.  If any of it comes close to our high-intensity experience of Dhaka it will be a fantastic experience.

Maybe lost in translation?

A man enjoying some personal hygiene amongst the bananas