#  >  > Non Asia Travel Forums >  >  > Travel the World Travellers Tales Forum >  >  A little more Bangladesh.

## Cujo

I never really get many pics on the Bangladesh trips and I realized why. It's not a place to go out for a walk. There is a huge undereducted, poor poulation. the place is a big bloody mess, the corrupt government is ripping the people off with huge import duties, for example 300% on a new car. There is virtually no public transport, so people need cars but the tax money sure isn't being spent on roads. many city streets aren't paved, let alone rural areas. There seems to be virtually NO money spent on infrastructure.
 Having said that, 22 no bid contracts have just been awarded for the building of gas powered power stations (despite the fact there are gas shortages) and a certain sector of the community is doing very well thank you.
 I have visited 2 private homes (apartments) there and they are very nice, insulated from the clusterfuck just outside their doors by a high wall around the first floor carpark (no garden) wherein reside armed guards so the entrance to the elevators is through the carpark via security doors.
 The buildings are 5-8 floors high.
We took a trip to the outskirts of Dhaka to inspect some land that has been purchased for a factory which gave me a slight glimpse into another Bangladesh.
I think surreal best describes the place. (once we've covered shitheap, dump, clusterfuck etc)It's muslim so can't get booze outside top hotels and restaurants but most of them don't mind a beer (or wine or whiskey for that matter).
 They like music, there are virtually no taxis and those that there are are old, tiny blue russian things that have been absolutely battered.
Desspit my best efforts I wasn't in the right place at the right time with the camera to get a pic of one of these. here are a few random pics.

I took a few waiting outside the hotel for my ride one day.

This is a Dhaka Tuk tuk. millions of them. They run on Gas. The air is surprisingly clean for such a city.
 









This is a typical city bus, they ALL look like they've been scraping by one another.


Tuktuk anyone


Unfortunately this lush and rich area is destined for industry.






The mowed patch is the site of the new factory. just that morning I had been reading in the paper about the problems they have growing enough food to feed themselves.


A roadside tea stall


Sheltering from the rain






This bloke


Makes the best cuppa I ever had.


Rural bus


Looks like there might be work for English teachers.

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## Davis Knowlton

Nice pix, Dug. I left there thirty years ago; it doesn't look much changed. Once you got outside of the city, I was always amazed at how green and lush everything was - when it wasn't totally under water.

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## wefearourdespot

how's the sex scene in Dhaka ?

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## Bower

Nice report, Thanks, always interested in place i've yet to visit.

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## Stinky

> how's the sex scene in Dhaka ?


I've never been there but I saw a program on Bangledadesh prostitution a few weeks ago, it made for some pretty grim viewing. 
Lots of enforced prostitution, lots of child prostitution, lots of kids sold by thier parents  into prostitution. 

Plenty of good shagging to be had too but you need to tread carefully and keep your wits about you.

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## wefearourdespot

so , how much does a street ho charge for 1 hour of yum yum ? 
Anyway those TV programs are a load of bullshit  ::spin::  , for example they said in Malindi (Kenya) whores could be had for 500 schilling , went there and was asked 1500 , besides, the place was a real dump. :deadhorsebig:

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## HollyGoodhead

does this really need to be turned into a sex tourist thread?  I'm sure that wasn't the op's intention, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Nice pics Dug.  Are people mostly friendly there?

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## Stinky

> so , how much does a street ho charge for 1 hour of yum yum ? 
> Anyway those TV programs are a load of bullshit  , for example they said in Malindi (Kenya) whores could be had for 500 schilling , went there and was asked 1500 , besides, the place was a real dump.


The prices bandied about were about the $2 mark, that was at a sprawling city of shack brothels at a truck stop/boarder for locals, I'm sure round eyes will be ask a lot more.
There did seem to be a hell of a lot of child prostitution so a set up would be a real concern, HIV and STD's are rampant out of controll coz the locals won't use condoms and hardly anyone speaks English.   
Sound good  :Wink:

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## Cujo

The people are generally very friendly. I have no idea about the sex industry. In such a poor country there's bound to be one but it's not on display. 
There are no bars or clubs, lots of criminal gangs (kidnappings and so on). There is definitely some nasty Shit goes on there. I saw lots of guns being carried openly by people in uniform.

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## Davis Knowlton

^The folks are generally friendly, but few speak English. It is the poorest country in which I have ever lived. There is a thriving sex industry, which caters almost exclusively to locals. There are few foreigners living/working there. In the upscale housing neighborhoods (and there were only one or two when I lived there), you could see pimps delivering young girls to houses, often on the weekends. There was a house up the street from mine inhabited by Libyan "students" and they had young girls going in and out all the time, always accompanied by their pimps. The HIV rate rivals that of India. It's a pretty poor choice for sex tourists.

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## Udonite

I love the picture of the motorcycle on the pedel samlor.

A classic. :smiley laughing:

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## Cujo

^ A cheap way to run a motorcycle I suppose.
And it's called a rickshaw
Whoever heard of a 'pedal samior?

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## Udonite

OK Nit picker

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## Cujo

> There did seem to be a hell of a lot of child prostitution so a set up would be a real concern,


How could there being lots of child prostitution be a cause for concern over a setup??
Unless one was going to be in a position with children that could lead to a setup I can't see it being a concern.
As it was I saw no signs of any kind of sex scene at all.

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## Chronicle Man

Thank You for the pictures and the thoughts on the place. It's make me really appreciate not living there. I have heard many horror stories. Some have been rather hard to believe but the people telling me the tales have sworn they tell the horrible truth. Again, Thanks!

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## Stinky

> Originally Posted by Sdigit
> 
> 
> There did seem to be a hell of a lot of child prostitution so a set up would be a real concern,
> 
> 
> How could there being lots of child prostitution be a cause for concern over a setup??
> Unless one was going to be in a position with children that could lead to a setup I can't see it being a concern.


Third world country, girl looks over age but isn't, bent copper farms her out to an unsuspecting foreinger, sound familiar?

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## Bobcock

Dug

Would you describe it as safe to walk around with an obviously expensive camera.

I've never felt threatened anywhere, certainly not in India, I'd imagine it to be the same?

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## ShilohJim

Udonite said;
"I love the picture of the motorcycle on the pedal samlor."
Dug, disagreed but I'm with you on samlors. That is what they were called by Thais in the 60's.
Rickshaws are pulled by hand, Samlors are exactly what you saw. We used to get drunk and race other Americans in samlors from bar to bar in Udorn Thani.

Dug, most any country with a majority Muslim population looks an awful lot like what you witnessed. The ruling/power class will keep the general population in poverty to control them. Seventh century thinking and the citizens are too ignorant to understand.

Good thread anyway,

Shiloh Jim

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## rick75

Dug, seems like an interesting place, about how many times have you been?
How did you feel personal safety wise?

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## PattyFlipper

> Udonite said;
> 
> Dug, most any country with a majority Muslim population looks an awful lot like what you witnessed.


Er .... excuse me?   Ever been to Bahrain, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia?




> The ruling/power class will keep the general population in poverty to control them.


Not so very dissimilar to Thailand, then.

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## Mr Brown

Is it me or do some of the faces in those photos do not look happy.

I was going to go there last year but things changed; thanks for sharing the photos - hope you've got some more to share

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## DJ Pat

Jonah! said he worked in Bangladesh recently and went twice. Can't imagine any TEFL industry there.

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## Cujo

In reply to a few of the questions and comments,
I say rickshaw because thats what THEY call it and I never heard of a pedal samlor.
Yes, i felt safe but then the only time I went for a walkabout was in the district where my hotel was in the embassy district. Right next to the American club and around the corner from the saudi embassy.
There were heavily armed people everywhere.
Having said that I did travel around the city a lot to offices and a couple of times to shopping centres (such as they are) and I never felt threatened or there was any danger whatsoever.
The people really are very nice considering their lives are quite a struggle.
Take my associates their for example. Trying to to better for themselves, provide for their families and employ people (and by proxy provide for their employees families) and yet to get gas for the car, the government has decided for no good reason that anyone can determine, that gas staions will be open from 9am to 3 pm only. There are many cars and not so many gas stations. so generally speaking one has to allow 2 hours to get gas for the car (assuming their are no power cuts in the meantime). You can imagine how productive that is, not to mention the effect it has on the moral of the people in general.
On the bright side I did manage to find weetbix, (2 boxes of which I lugged back to China via singapore)
As for someone asking for more pics, there are some in this thread from my first trip.
https://teakdoor.com/vietnam-nepal-an...angladesh.html (Trip Report Bangladesh.)
Thanks for the interest in the thread and the comments.

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## wefearourdespot

> Is it me or do some of the faces in those photos do not look happy.


would you be happy to be both dirty poor and oppressed by a barbaric religion ?

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## DJ Pat

> I was going to go there last year


Why? They opening a British pub there?

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## porno frank

Enjoyed the read on your travel report to Bangladesh.

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## sues2

Worked on fertilizer project there in the 90's and found if you were loking for female company then making contact with Dhaka University social scene was sure bet.

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## FarangRed

Better you stay at the Sheraton Dahka get anything you want

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## Rogatm

> Originally Posted by ShilohJim
> 
> 
> Udonite said;
> 
> Dug, most any country with a majority Muslim population looks an awful lot like what you witnessed.
> 
> 
> Er .... excuse me? Ever been to Bahrain, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia?
> ...


Absolute Shithole unfortunitly worked there for 9mths, will not be on my wish list of favorite destinations :kma:

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## Pol the Pot

> Originally Posted by ShilohJim
> 
> 
> Udonite said;
> 
> Dug, most any country with a majority Muslim population looks an awful lot like what you witnessed.
> 
> 
> Er .... excuse me?   Ever been to Bahrain, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia?
> ...


LOL!

Or Lebanon, Algeria, Marocco.

Well done Dug! I enjoyed the pics.

The English term for a bicycle pulling or pushing a sitting space is rikshaw or trishaw.

As the thread is in English this is what those contraptions should be called.

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## The Ghost Of The Moog

I once met cricketer Gordon Greenidge in a Bingo club in Dhaka.

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## Cujo

Here's a few from last week.
















What do you know.
There IS a decent pastry shop in dhaka.


Funnily enough they do good pastry goods, sausage rolls and like and a GREAT cup of tea.
I'm hooked on masala tea.

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## terry57

> does this really need to be turned into a sex tourist thread?



Unfortunately this would of been good for DD's news letter but its well foked now innit.

Good stuff by the way Duggie.

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## Bettyboo

Good pics, Dug.

I now have zero wish to go there.




> Is it me or do some of the faces in those photos do not look happy.


It's not just you. They look scary.

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