Old Dhaka Heritage Walk

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March 20th 2009

Published: March 27th 2009

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jake and jen

mosque

one of the oldest mosques in Old Dhaka

After we got back from our nice long break, I thought it would be a good idea to get out a bit and learn more about Dhaka. It's easy to get into a routine here, and most of the time we hardly leave the dip zone (or the club...) so it was nice to see a different side of the city for a bit.

So I decided to go on a walking tour with a few colleagues for the day. We went into downtown Dhaka, to the area known as Old Dhaka. There we met up with a local Bangladeshi couple who were to be our tour guides. They were also professional architects and local activists for conservation/restoration of local and historic building in Old Dhaka, so knew lots of great historical places to take us & lots of amazing information regarding those places.

Along our walk we visited two local mosques and a Hindu temple, each very different from the next.
We continued on along narrow streets and amidst tall, crumbling buildings. Most, if not all, were residential, and enchantingly beautiful. The paint was chipped & dulled on most of the homes, and the doors were rusted, rotted

detail of mosque wall

the entire back facade was covered with bits of broken china- plates, teacups, saucers etc

and worn, their colour drained from years of dust & soot. But again, beautiful.

We went inside an old home which had been abandoned for quite some time. It was now occupied by several families. Despite it being only about 10 o'clock in the morning, it was completely dark inside. Using a lighter and several cell phones, our guides were able to point out several mughal features of the house. The unique arches in the ceilings and doorways, faded murals, inlays and other features were still present inside the main living quarter. Before leaving we made our way to the roof, where several women were washing clothes. We said our hellos & then we were off for the spice market.

On our way to the spice market we walked through the "french" part of Old Dhaka. I wasn't quite sure what they meant by this, other than that I did notice more buildings with protruding balconies & fancier designs on the iron gates, railings, windows etc...

So, the spice market. The spice market never closes. Merchants work around the clock, selling spices out of large burlap sacks day & night.
Walking along the narrow lanes of the

Hindu statues

at the Hindu temple

spice market was not easy. Workers frequently squeezed by us carrying oversized bundles on their heads. We dodged shoppers, roaming chickens, debris, onion peels, puddles and overflowing bundles that protruded into the already cramped dirt lanes. The aroma was overwhelming and it was difficult to keep from sneezing every few minutes. But it was a lot of fun, and the merchants were very curious and excited to see so many foreigners heading their way. Many tried to entice us to buy their spices, but we were nearing the end of our tour and still had one more stop to make: the boat docks.

The narrow lanes of the spice market empty into a main road which runs parallel to the lake. All along the shoreline, men were walking to and from the boats with baskets on their heads. They were unloading the goods and carrying them to the nearby market. It was a busy scene, and off in the distance you could see even more boats making their way towards the shore, loaded almost to the max with fruits and vegetables and other goods piled high. We didn't stay here too long, because people began to gather around us

walking along...

this man followed alongside us for about half the tour

and we soon became a scene ourselves. This in turn caused roadblocks for the workers carrying their heavy loads. So we stayed for a few minutes, took it all in, and then made our way back to the start of the tour where our van was waiting for us. I would definitely reccommend this walking tour to anyone visiting or living in Dhaka.

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