Dhaka City

What an interesting city! I do miss home, but I am excited to be here and explore the city.
The first thing (among many things) one notices in Dhaka is the traffic....its insane. The constant game of chicken played by cars is unbelievable! Amidst the rickshaws, two-stroke scooters, impatient pedestrians, and the cars there little semblance of some sort of order. There are lanes marked on the road, but drivers rarely ever obide by the boundaries. So far, I haven't seen anyone get hit....near misses, yes! For example it is not uncommon for a pedestrian to wait in the middle of the lane between two passing cars. From what I understand the terrible traffic is due to small roadways. Most of the roads are two lanes (one way) and there are a large number of cars. This backs up traffic regularly particularly during business hours. Add to that, the fact that I have seen several Lexus', BMW SUVs, Land Rovers, and other SUVs (I thought this was a poor country!). The pic here is a line of traffic that spans about two miles back. The kid in the rickshaw was fast asleep for quite a while! Its not uncommon for it to take 30 mintues to travel about 2 miles.

The second thing one notices is, obviously, the overcrowded city. Though 75% of the population lives in rural villages, you would think that everyone is here in Dhaka. The picture here is the view of the city from the BRAC building. Below the bullding is a rickshaw service lot. The rickshaw drivers pay a ricksahw rental wage of approximately 200 Taka or $3/day. Each ride is anywhere from 5-20 Taka. That means he needs to make about 20 runs just to break even. Coupled with the current heat and humidity, that's quite the lifestyle....
MORE RANDOM PICS...
Rickshaws waiting for fares...gotta make that taka!

A street kid sleeping in the stairwell of an office building, trying to escape the heat...a very sad reality in Dhaka.