Old Dhaka heritage walk

This morning I joined another teacher and a few other people I didn't know on a free heritage walk around Old Dhaka. It focused on Shakhari Bazaar, or Hindu Street, and the surrounds. As you can gather this is a Hindu area of Dhaka with many buildings dating back to the early 1800s. plus it is an area of local craftsmen, including the famous bracelet makers that cut one piece bracelets from conch shells and lots of kite shops. The local kite festival is coming up in August. Here is some of the colour.A shopkeeper blowing the famous conch shell, which are imported from India.
Making the conch shell bracelets

Adding a fine iron powder to the drum skin to improve the sound.

Kite shopping is done!

Fresh meat anyone????
Rosebuds for sale.

What colour would you like?

I will do another post on the buildings.

Back in Bangladesh. Been to Beijing.

Got back last night from Beijing after a 21 hour travel day a 6 hour flight to Singapore, then a 6 hour wait before the 4 hour flight back to Dhaka. It was like going from one world to another, even though both cities are in Asia.
In Beijing, excellent roads, freeways and streets with footpaths, whilst in Dhaka footpaths are rare and many streets are full of potholes and edged in dirt.
In Beijing, new buildings sprout like mushrooms being built fast and efficiently with things such as cranes while here they go slowly, very slowly with all work being done by hand. Bamboo is the scaffolding are ladders are made from scrap wood.
In Beijing are shops, lots of shops where you can get almost anything. There has even been a recent increase in English bookshops. Here limited English books are available. I actually ended up going shopping at Singapore airport for books.
Many people in Beijing also live in apartment blocks. My friend lives on the 12th floor of a 32 floor building. Here they only get to 5. The view from her apartment.
And food, the Chinese food was great be it noodles or Peking duck. I will do later posts on some of the tourist things I got to go.