Hindu Street

According to the Lonely Planet guide for Bangladesh, the Shankaria Bazzar (also known as "Hindu Street") area of Old Dhaka is supposed to be the most fascinating street in Dhaka. Old Dhaka as a whole, is supposed to be what I'll be "retrospectively romanticizing" about when I leave Bangladesh. Hmm... that's a tall order.

Like most streets in Bangladesh, it's just bursting with activity.



Doggy in the doorway




There are actually more flags of Brazil and Argentina flying than Bangladesh. Lots of Brazilians and Argentians in Bangladesh?



Nope, it's all in anticipation of the world's greatest sporting event, the World Cup (Ole, ole, oleooo...)!

According to the official estimate, there are only 80,000 rickshaws in Dhaka. According to the unofficial, it's closer to 1,000,000. Good thing a great number of them run on human power.




Generally I'm a big fan of Lonely Planet. They're extremely useful, especially when you're arriving at a new town at 2am in the morning and need to find a place to sleep/eat (err... not that I've done this). But they're not always accurate, I've been to places that they raved about, and all I can say is their writer must have been getting free meals or rooms. My bathroom at the $3 a night/guesthouse had better views sometimes. So when I see something like this written as a "suggested" itenary...

Hmm, makes you have to wonder what they suggest in other parts of the country! Well, off to the field tomorrow to find polio (more on it later)!