M goofing off again. Luckily there were no tsunamis while we were in Phuket, but we knew where to go just in case.
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An elephant we saw at the beach a few days ago. You could ride this friendly fellow around on an “elephant safari”, but once we realized that it cost $1 per minute we settled for feeding him the free bananas.
And here’s a close-up of the crabs on sale at the same restaurant. I nearly ordered one before I realized that they were still very much alive, although they sat very still while I took this picture. Yes, they do cook them before they serve them to you, but I just can’t pick out a live animal and ask for that for dinner. I wouldn’t survive a day in the wild.
M playing with his food. We went to one of those seafood restaurants where you’re supposed to actually pick out the fish you want before they cook it up for you right there. This grosses me out, as I prefer my food a few steps removed from animal form before it lands on my plate. For example, I really, really prefer if it comes without the head. Anyways, this is what M had. He said it was good. I went with shrimp, which I did not have to select myself.
… and internet costs a small fortune. Besides, I’d really rather be beaching than blogging while I’ve got the chance. Back in a few days.
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.
Fish – and some shrimp – on sale in the market downtown. Across the street, live crab was selling for 10 taka each, about 15 cents.
