I have no pictures from Dhaka, but fresh memories. I returned today.
I saw next to nothing. It was a short (4 day) trip. I was picked up at the airport. Stayed in the hotel the whole time, and was then taken to the airport. And I still have things to say.
Not much to say about the airport, upon arrival. Then the driver showed up, as I went through customs. Hotel's driver. Passing through people all wanting to help (!), we got to the car, and off we were on the road to the hotel. Pan Pacific.
The hotel is 14 kilometers from the airport. We took it in 1 hour and 35 minutes. I have never seen such traffic. Never imagined that all the cars blowing their horns for 1 hour and 35 minutes non-stop could be so disturbing. We would move for one minute, and then stop for 5 minutes. Young boys and men were moving with the cars, selling popcorn, water and other stuff. Hundreds of them. I started to think that it was the same person.
What do you do when you are in a non-moving car for more than an hour? You watch the outside. Brazilian flags were everywhere - just as I was thinking that Bangladesh has a special relationship with Brazil, I remembered that the World Cup was on, and that this was all about soccer. Then I learned that a few days ago, during the Argentina-Nigeria game, there was a power cut, and people in their thousands had taken to the streets in protest. And the government had to issue a warning to all factories of the city to not to work during matches and therefore save energy. And all this, from a country which is probably 200th in the FIFA rankings.
I also saw the Bangladeshi enjoying one of their (favorite) pastimes. Get on the roof of a building. Watch the traffic, smoke, chat. If you are a woman, dance. It was weird, and just as I was thinking that it was a coincidence, I saw it again. I was in the hotel, it was pouring outside. Opposite the hotel, on the roof, a well dressed woman was dancing in the rain. I wondered why.
And before I knew it, I was on another plane, heading back to the US.
I saw next to nothing. It was a short (4 day) trip. I was picked up at the airport. Stayed in the hotel the whole time, and was then taken to the airport. And I still have things to say.
Not much to say about the airport, upon arrival. Then the driver showed up, as I went through customs. Hotel's driver. Passing through people all wanting to help (!), we got to the car, and off we were on the road to the hotel. Pan Pacific.
The hotel is 14 kilometers from the airport. We took it in 1 hour and 35 minutes. I have never seen such traffic. Never imagined that all the cars blowing their horns for 1 hour and 35 minutes non-stop could be so disturbing. We would move for one minute, and then stop for 5 minutes. Young boys and men were moving with the cars, selling popcorn, water and other stuff. Hundreds of them. I started to think that it was the same person.
What do you do when you are in a non-moving car for more than an hour? You watch the outside. Brazilian flags were everywhere - just as I was thinking that Bangladesh has a special relationship with Brazil, I remembered that the World Cup was on, and that this was all about soccer. Then I learned that a few days ago, during the Argentina-Nigeria game, there was a power cut, and people in their thousands had taken to the streets in protest. And the government had to issue a warning to all factories of the city to not to work during matches and therefore save energy. And all this, from a country which is probably 200th in the FIFA rankings.
I also saw the Bangladeshi enjoying one of their (favorite) pastimes. Get on the roof of a building. Watch the traffic, smoke, chat. If you are a woman, dance. It was weird, and just as I was thinking that it was a coincidence, I saw it again. I was in the hotel, it was pouring outside. Opposite the hotel, on the roof, a well dressed woman was dancing in the rain. I wondered why.
And before I knew it, I was on another plane, heading back to the US.