Two delights have mesmerised me since childhood: fairy lights and fireworks. Events that feature both are sure to make me smile. I got to experience some beautiful lighting displays in Bangladesh recently.
My hosts took me to the rooftop restaurant at the Dhaka Regency Hotel one evening. High above the traffic and noise of the city below is a mystical oasis of light and space. We ate pizza under the stars and overlooking the airport nearby.
The entrance would appeal to a certain target market (not us)
We had the whole rooftop garden to ourselves
Private dining
Even the rooftop pool looks enticing
17 March was a national holiday in Bangladesh to commemorate the centenary of the birth of country's founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Large public events were planned throughout the city of Dhaka. They were then cancelled due to the risk of spreading COVID-19 but a delightful fireworks display from four city locations went ahead and we enjoyed it from the rooftop of my host's apartment building.
In the meantime government buildings and public spaces were decorated with miles of LED fairy lights. Ten storey buildings were draped in strings of coloured lights to represent Bangladesh's national colours (green and red). Others featured every colour of the rainbow. Imagine Christmas lights and multiply them by a hundred.
Others buildings featured changing light displays on a continuous loop. We sat opposite this ICT Tower for ten minutes, delighting in its rotating display, which was far too grandiose for my phone to capture.
Driving around a crowded city becomes a magical experience when surrounded by millions of LED lights.
I blogged about traffic in Dhaka while travelling to Bangladesh last year. We may complain about traffic jams, commute times and the state of roads in developed countries, but Bangladesh's traffic is something else altogether.
The whole city is actually really noisy. Dhaka is one of the world's most densely populated cities and there are people everywhere. The days are a clutter of traffic from Dhaka's 8 million residents plus 5 million commuters to the city. Car horns and bicycle bells ring out constantly as cars, rickshaws, CNGs and pedestrians make tiny gains among endless traffic jams. I'm happy to not drive myself in Dhaka and instead enjoy the skill and experience of our driver, who can navigate traffic jams and potholes with ease.
This video (not mine) shows a typical but not especially busy Dhaka street.
Here are some of my photos of street scenes around Dhaka.
A typical street corner
The road outside our office
Just one street over from one of the main roads, we were held up by traffic of a different sort. This area is a large scale building development for a new subdivision. The roads feature even more bumps and potholes than usual. I have no idea where the cattle were coming from or heading to, but just one block right featured typical traffic chaos!
A woman moves cattle and a goat just one street away from the main road
And then this happened. The photo isn't clear as it was taken through the car windscreen. A truck in front of me had about 15 young men on the back. The truck clipped a vehicle that was passing on the left. The two drivers got out of their cars and started yelling at each other, along with about 10 of these guys. Everyone else was trying to drive around them (many car horns tooting!). The truck driver got back into his vehicle and took off with a few passengers missing. The guy in white and a few others managed to jump onto the moving vehicle. Others decided to walk.
Jump on or you'll miss your ride!
From 7pm, articulated tucks and large delivery vehicles arrive. They aren't allowed to drive on the roads during the day so deliver goods and supplies overnight, racing along expressways and main streets. There are no lights on rickshaws or bicycles to see them approaching or passing these huge vehicles at night. They bravely (or recklessly) weave in and out among the traffic armed with little more than a bicycle bell. Even on a quiet side street, it's not uncommon to hear car horns through the night or someone blowing a whistle at 3am.
The evening commute out of Dhaka
Each morning I enjoyed a moment of calm around 5am as the first call to prayer rang out, then it was back to constant chaos and noise. It's a world away from the peace and quiet of lockdown in New Zealand.
