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)
... read more