Old Dhaka

Drinking coconut water on Hindu Street

We spent a really interesting couple of days visiting Old Dhaka last weekend. Its the original part of the city that runs next to the Buriganga river, where there has been a settlement since the 7th century. I was really interested to see some of the old buildings and archeological evidence of British rule from the time when this area was still part of India, and I wasn't disappointed! Some of you may know that I have a mild fascination with old buildings that have a story to tell. For instance, I can't help but stare at the old Loughborough hospital that is a purpose built Victorian building that is lying derelict in the middle of Loughborough now, I always imagine the old patients being wheeled out to the conservatory that you can still see at the very top of the building at the back. People have broken in and taken some really cool photos of all the old hospital fixtures and fittings that are still inside, its so interesting and a bit creepy!! Anyway, this is about Dhaka. Well, we saw some really cool buildings.

Curzon Hall building

The first stop was Curzon Hall, which is now Dhaka University science Campus but was originally built as a provincial headquarters by Lord Curzon when India was under British rule. The building really is a mix of Indian and Victorian English design, it looks really regal and you can imagine students in the 1920s walking round. They have a massive square pool in the middle of the campus with steps down to it, where students can still bathe and swim now. It just is how I imagined British India would have been.

Tagore - The first Asian Nobel Laureate

The pond at Curzon Hall

It was also and still is where a lot of political action takes place. We read about Curzon Hall as one of the locations in a novel about the liberation war in 1971 so it was really interesting to go and see it for real, there was also an article in the newspaper only the other day here about student political clashes at the hall. The book we read is a novel about the war here and I'd really recommend it. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/apr/22/fiction.features

We then went to Hindu Street which is right in the heart of the old winding streets of Old Dhaka, this one you can't even get a rickshaw down it I don't think, it's so narrow. So we got dropped off from our AC van at one end and started to walk down to the other end. It was an unforgettable experience, there was so much to see! I just wanted to stop every couple of seconds and look at something else. There were amazing old buildings that were obviously archaeological treasures but that were just being used as normal buildings, stalls selling jewellery and garlands of flowers and Hindu statues. The street is called Hindu street because it is a gathering place for the small minority of Hindus in Dhaka and a place to buy anything to do with the Hindu faith.

Selling fish in Hindu Street

There was just colour everywhere, even the old boxes that are used to put the teapots in are like works of art to me! And the people are just so colourful too, everyone wears brightly coloured and brightly patterned clothes it really is just so pretty and cheerful, and there is always a line of saris or bright t shirts hanging out to dry to add to the picture.

 

The shops were tiny too, some only a metre squared maybe but with the goods really carefully laid out and probably two or three people ready to sell you them! It's a really social way of doing business, people stop and chat for ages and you have a cup of tea together, no hasty decisions made about what to buy.

Next stop was the riverfront which we had been told has to be seen if you are in Dhaka. It was a really busy area, although thankfully a little quieter because we were there on a Friday (Holy Day here). The thing that strikes you most about this place is the smell of the water, it really is putrid. I can't describe it, just a horrible toxic, stagnant smell. The river is the main sewage outlet for the city i think and i imagine there are plenty of chemicals from the garment industry that find their way here too. There are hundreds of little boats going back and forth across the river and then there are loads of massive steamers too that take people all over the country on the vast river network.

We went aboard one to have a look around and had to walk over a very rickety gang plank which i did not enjoy with the sight of the toxic black sludge beneath me! The boat was huge with just massive open spaces for everyone to cram into. The most shocking thing was seeing children swimming in the water, happily ducking and diving and sucking the water in and out of their mouths. The cholera doctors we were with were amazed at how strong their resistance to disease must have become, as we westerners would have instantly caught dysentery if we had gone anywhere near the water. I was glad to leave the water front after about 20 minutes as the smell was getting quite overpowering.

So back into our AC van to make the short journey to an Armenian Church, nice old building and cemetery in the middle of lots of winding medieval type streets but neither of us were that overwhelmed by it! Then to the Dhakeshari Hindu Temple which is quite an old Hindu temple (don't say I'm not educating you here!) and last stop was Lalabagh Fort which was built in the 16th century by a rich person (again, i'm giving you valuable info here!) it was nice but not as interesting as the winding streets and crumbling buildings that we saw so much of. Unfortunately I don't think the government, perhaps understandably are spending enough time and money on maintaining some of the amazing sites we saw like Hindu street.

The next day we ventured down to Old Dhaka without our guide and AC van! We wanted to go to Bangshal Road or Bicycle Street as its known to some to buy some rickshaw art. This is a street a bit like Hindu street with really tall old buildings lining narrow windy streets, so it was quite a challenge to find this place. As is often the case here though, if you stand around for longer than a minute you will usually attract a crowd, amongst which there will be an English speaking Bangladeshi who can generally help you out. Our willing helper turned out to be Mr Sazzad who took us to a little stall where they were selling all of the brightly coloured bits you add on to a rickshaw that make it look so cool. They were very pleased to see us and started getting out loads of pieces of art to show us. IT was as tiny shop as they all are and one guy was permanently sat crouched on the table top, ready at any moment to leap into the loft space where they kept lots of their stock, Bangladeshis are so agile! We were offered coffee and they youngest boy went off to collect it with his thermos. So we spent a happy 20 minutes there choosing some really cool art on pieces of tin while drinking sweet coffee, a nice way to do business! Our friend then took us to a 'restaurant' that had been recommended to us, Hanif's Biriani. It wasn't really a restaurant, it had the feel more of a late night kebab house, but on the scale of things in the place we were it was pretty upmarket so we sat down with trepidation to eat. This was probably the closest to street food we had come so far so we were a bit scared about the consequences! The set up was that there was no menu, you just had what the cook had prepared in his big pot and today it was Beef Biriani. It was really tasty, and the restaurant was really busy which i think is a good sign. There was a little bit too much bone and gristle and other unrecognisable things in it though for my liking so i mainly ate the rice, but it was a bargain at about £1.50 for three meals!



I'm sure i had loads more observations on our visits to Old Dhaka but the pictures will have to tell the stories! I would also like to apologise to Dr Hardisty and my mother for the appalling spelling and grammar that are in this blog (and previous ones) no excuses, i'm just slap dash!

Chloe

Colour!