Roaming Old Dhaka...
This has been one of those weekends which makes you wonder what you did to get so lucky...
After playing poorly in a softball game early Friday morning, I was looking forward to a day spend sulking in front of the tv, however my neighbor and team-mate Julien convinced me to take him and a couple of others on a tour through Old Dhaka.
A group of 5 of us, all French bar myself, set off around midday to the "real" Dhaka, as expats refer to it, our first stop being Mother Theresa's Orphanage. I was quite pleased to see how easily I remembered the way there... Although most stores were closed due to prayers, Friday being the holy day, it was nevertheless impossible not to be impressed by the sheer number of storefronts littering the streets... certainly a completely different world from Gulshan...
We arrived at the orphanage during the kid's nap time, but I was still permitted to take the group around and show them how the place works. Interesting to note that we arrived on the very day the orphanage gives out food rations to single mothers in the area...
After leaving the orphanage we headed straight for the river. I negotiated a boat to take us to the nearest port, so that we could eventually make our way to Lalbagh Fort. Being close to the water in Dhaka is not quite the same experience as being close to the water in rural areas... suspicious objects were constantly floating by, and the smell, though not quite unbearable, was not exactly the most pleasant experience.
Once at the port we failed to convince any rickshaws to charge us a fair price, so we proceeded to walk in the general direction of the fort. In the process we made friends with a dozen or so local kids, who had a great time having their pictures taken... eventually we made it Lalbagh Fort, were we managed to entertain yet another group of kids by playing cricket in the lawns of the fort... maybe cricket isn't as poor a game as I originally thought... just joking Jez...
As we were leaving the fort, Julien made reference to a "white palace" he had heard of, suggesting we see it. I had no idea what he was talking about, so we accosted a guide who was serving some foreign tourists, who gave us a name of another attraction, not sure if that was what we were looking for... we confidently boarded more rickshaws, gave the afor-mentioned name and were whisked off to our next destination.
It was a Pink Palace, not white. Close enough.
It was still closed for lunch, so we decided to tour around the block for a little while, which is when we made a surprising discovery... nestled in amongst the stores and restaurants, there stood a tiny, poorly lit room, enclosing 10 old-school arcade games from the early 90s... for 2 taka you could play to your heart's content... another experience I'm chalking up on the "Random Dhaka" board...
Eventually the palace opened, and it turns out it is actually a museum, and a quite random one at that...
When we were done with the museum we did what any self-respecting expat would do... we went back to Gulshan for some Movenpick ice-cream...
Although the day made me forget my poor play in the morning, I appreciate more the diversity of experiences you can have in Dhaka, and am constantly amazed at expats who claim there is nothing to do in this city...
After playing poorly in a softball game early Friday morning, I was looking forward to a day spend sulking in front of the tv, however my neighbor and team-mate Julien convinced me to take him and a couple of others on a tour through Old Dhaka.
A group of 5 of us, all French bar myself, set off around midday to the "real" Dhaka, as expats refer to it, our first stop being Mother Theresa's Orphanage. I was quite pleased to see how easily I remembered the way there... Although most stores were closed due to prayers, Friday being the holy day, it was nevertheless impossible not to be impressed by the sheer number of storefronts littering the streets... certainly a completely different world from Gulshan...
We arrived at the orphanage during the kid's nap time, but I was still permitted to take the group around and show them how the place works. Interesting to note that we arrived on the very day the orphanage gives out food rations to single mothers in the area...
After leaving the orphanage we headed straight for the river. I negotiated a boat to take us to the nearest port, so that we could eventually make our way to Lalbagh Fort. Being close to the water in Dhaka is not quite the same experience as being close to the water in rural areas... suspicious objects were constantly floating by, and the smell, though not quite unbearable, was not exactly the most pleasant experience.
Once at the port we failed to convince any rickshaws to charge us a fair price, so we proceeded to walk in the general direction of the fort. In the process we made friends with a dozen or so local kids, who had a great time having their pictures taken... eventually we made it Lalbagh Fort, were we managed to entertain yet another group of kids by playing cricket in the lawns of the fort... maybe cricket isn't as poor a game as I originally thought... just joking Jez...
As we were leaving the fort, Julien made reference to a "white palace" he had heard of, suggesting we see it. I had no idea what he was talking about, so we accosted a guide who was serving some foreign tourists, who gave us a name of another attraction, not sure if that was what we were looking for... we confidently boarded more rickshaws, gave the afor-mentioned name and were whisked off to our next destination.
It was a Pink Palace, not white. Close enough.
It was still closed for lunch, so we decided to tour around the block for a little while, which is when we made a surprising discovery... nestled in amongst the stores and restaurants, there stood a tiny, poorly lit room, enclosing 10 old-school arcade games from the early 90s... for 2 taka you could play to your heart's content... another experience I'm chalking up on the "Random Dhaka" board...
Eventually the palace opened, and it turns out it is actually a museum, and a quite random one at that...
When we were done with the museum we did what any self-respecting expat would do... we went back to Gulshan for some Movenpick ice-cream...
Although the day made me forget my poor play in the morning, I appreciate more the diversity of experiences you can have in Dhaka, and am constantly amazed at expats who claim there is nothing to do in this city...
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