A tiny little tea stall on the side of the road near or house. Note that this is actually built on stilts, suspended over the drainage ditch. Once again, they manage to make use of every possible open space in the crowded city.
Archive for the 'Urban Scenes' Category
I pass this outdoor barber stand on my way to work each day. It looks like the barber does a brisk business, offering both haircuts and shaves. I think he charges between a dollar and two.
Rickshaw Rest Stop
Published October 13, 2008 Dhaka , Food , People , Transportation , Urban Scenes 1 Comment
This is a roadside restaurant for rickshaw drivers and others who are looking for the basics – bananas, bread, and a cigarette. (Others nearby offered slightly more filling options, including eggs and noodles.) Because of the food price increases, rice has become unaffordable for people at the lowest income levels – like rickshaw drivers. They might only eat bananas and biscuits after pedaling their rickshaw around all day in the sun.
Gulshan Circle
Published October 12, 2008 Dhaka , People , Transportation , Urban Scenes Leave a Comment
We had lunch in a restaurant overlooking Gulshan Circle 2 today, so I could take some semi-aerial pictures of the circle. Only half of the actual circle in shown here, to give a little bit more detail. This was lunchtime on a Sunday, the first day of the workweek here. (We were off for Columbus Day. Thanks Columbus!) Anyways, you can see tons of people waiting for the bus, and get a general idea of the traffic flow.
The most amazing part of the panjals constructed for Durga Puja is that they were put up right over the existing roadways. The area of Old Dhaka where most of the festivities took place is a crowded maze of tiny roads, and for this week it was pedestrian-only. The temples were built on bamboo scaffolding right over the walkways, making full use of all available space in the already crowded city.
A frequent sight around here: the Gulshan Goatherd. Gulshan is our neighborhood, one of the upscale suburbs of Dhaka. These goats call it home too.
In the free-spirited nature of Dhaka traffic, usually the rickshaws park directly under the “no rickshaw parking” signs. There were no rickshaws in the immediate vicinity of this sign when I stopped for this picture.
Ladies like this pass by every day to sweep the street in front of our house. Since trash collection services are limited and/or sporadic (as far as I know) keeping the streets clean is a rather large task.
We tend to attract a lot of attention when we venture out in Dhaka. This is M with … a bunch of people. We were on a walking tour and this friendly group surrounded us when we stopped to check out some old buildings. The kids love seeing their picture in the digital camera.
How’s my driving?
Published September 21, 2008 Dhaka , Transportation , Urban Scenes Leave a Comment
This is a close-up of one of the three-wheeled baby taxis here – the CNGs. The sticker says “Dial for Traffic Complaints.” We spent a long time pondering what exactly constitutes a traffic complaint – driving against traffic, honking excessively, turning out of the wrong lane, cutting people off, swerving madly, etc. are all totally normal traffic behaviors here.
Electric Baby Taxis!
Published September 20, 2008 Dhaka , Transportation , Urban Scenes Leave a Comment
Recent weeks have brought a technological breakthrough to Dhaka – electric baby taxis. The streets here are packed with the tiny, tinny green three-wheelers, commonly known as CNGs here because they run on Compressed Natural Gas. Basically they’re three-wheeled mopeds with a passenger seat. Recently we’ve started to see electric baby taxis designed just like the old CNGs, except electric. They’re much quieter – noise pollution is a huge issue here – and should help with the air pollution as well.
A picture of a famous Bangladesh building today – the National Parliament Building in downtown Dhaka. The building was designed by American architect Louis Khan, and construction was completed in 1982. Currently Parliament is not meeting, as a caretaker government took power in January 2007, but the situation looks hopeful for national Parliamentary elections in December of this year.
A shot of the lobby at the Westin Hotel in Gulshan. A gorgeous new hotel in Dhaka, the Westin has a couple of the best restaurants in town as well.
