Dhaka

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Arrived two nights ago by Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur.

The driver from the Hotel Pacific was there at the airport...but we had trouble finding him. An obliging taxi driver called the hotel and got his cell phone number and found him. We gave him 100 taka ($1.42 U.S.), which was too much I now realize, as baksheesh.

The traffic jams are unbelievable. It took us maybe 2 hours to get to the hotel. Interesting to see the city on the way in though. Lots of kids and others running among the traffic selling popcorn in bags, books, other unrecognizable food and begging. One of the books was Hitler's Mein Kampf?!

All of the buses are battered and bashed from numerous accidents.

Hotel Pacific is okay. We upgraded to the "VIP suite" at 2500 taka ($35) a night. You can pay a lot less...but you won't have VIP status, or Internet in the room and a bigger TV. TV has satellite so there is lots to watch if you want.

Food is cheap in the restaurant, where we ate breakfast (free for VIPs!) and no ill effects at all after two days.

It's in a great part of the city, right on the edge of Old Dhaka which is next to the harbor.

We were going to walk around on our first day, but ended up hiring an rickshaw wallah named Mohamed. He spoke fairly good English and showed us a lot of sights....including Hindu Street where they are preparing for Diwali.

Ended up at Sadarghat on the harbor where Mohamed joined us on a boat ride of roughly 45 minutes...he bargained it down to 100 taka.

Stopped for lunch at the Al-Razzaque Hotels restaurant...only menu choice was rice and chicken birinyi..but again no ill effects. 200 taka each.

Great city for walking in...reminds me of India back in the day when I was backpacking around Asia. Great vibe from the people...moderate Muslim country with very few full veils. In fact, it's more of a Muslim culture with a strong Hindu influence.

Tomorrow we are taking a ferry 3 hours to Chandpur, a port in the south that used to be a huge jute fiber center.

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