OLD DHAKA

Our visit to Old Dhaka on Friday deserves an entry of its own. It was our (myself, Elise and Zaneta’s) first time out on our own so armed with some very basic Bangla we set out for an explore. It was a Friday which apparently is a quiet day in Old Dhaka - but for us it seemed far from quiet!! We went and explored a Hindu Market which was like stepping off the street into a hidden world, with an undercover area filled with people selling spices, fruit, vegies, fish, meat, live chickens, eggs, etc. It was probably my first “Whoa, I’m in Bangladesh” moment. Walking around the market we were followed by people asking us where we were from and trying to make general conversation – it certainly motivated my desire to learn Bangla properly as it is so frustrating not knowing the language.

We drove around Old Dhaka for a bit – the streets were a lot narrower than other parts we’d been to, which gave it a different type of feel. Had lunch at a local restaurant where the waiters didn’t know English but brought us an array of different yummy foods to try – thankfully however, one waiter knew how to say “muttons brain” in English!

We also went to Lalbagh Fort, a huge fortress and museum from the Moghul period in the 1600s. Was very impressive. Somehow, however, it felt like we were the main tourist attraction for the Bangladeshis there, with families requesting photos with us, children and adults following us around (I felt like the Pied Piper at one stage) and people not so subtly taking photos of us with their mobile phone cameras!! Think I’ll need to start charging 10 taka! :)

Here are a couple of photos from the Fort…