Sightseeing

Yesterday we had a fun day full of sightseeing.

We woke up early to leave with the family we are staying with to meet up with another of Maia’s aunt and uncles and cousins. Both families rented a big van that we were all able to fit in as with all of her cousins, there were quite a few of us. The first place we went to was the Martyr’s Memorial. It was a large concrete structure that was built to commemorate the lives of the people who died in the Bangladeshi Liberation War. For those of you who have not touched up on your Bangladesh history recently, when the British pulled out of the subcontinent, their territory was divided into the predominantly Hindu India, and the predominantly Muslim Pakistan on either side of India. Tensions between East Pakistan which is still Pakistan today, and West Pakistan which is now Bangladesh eventually grew to a point where war was declared. West Pakistan was able to win it’s independence becoming the new nation of Bangladesh in 1971. The monument we went to was to commemorate the lives of people who were lost in the war. It actually reminded me much of the Washington Monument. While it had a very different shape, it had the same color, and overlooked a reflecting pool like the mall. There were also a number of graves for unknown soldiers who died during the war.

After the monument we went to the Lalbach fort. The fort which is now a museum was constructed in 1678. It was never finished however and was not able to get to full use. Within the fort there was a palace, a mosque, and the tomb of Bibi Pari which was the most well preserved structure. It was pretty neat and not too crowded. The palace building had a small museum inside with a number of displays ranging from knives and pistols used by the Mughals to sets of Mughal armor. I had never been to any Mughal structure before the fort, so it was totally new for me. After the foot we went out and took a quick Rickshaw ride through the nearby streets. I took the ride with one of Maia’s uncles who pointed out the various things that were going on in the street around where we drove.

After the fort we returned to the apartment to relax for a couple hours before setting out again. Our next stop was at a restaurant called Boomer’s Café where we went for lunch. Boomers was a Chinese Indian fusion restaurant with a western music theme. It was on the upper floor of a nearby mall and looked like it could have fit in any American mall. There were posters of U2, the Beatles, Pearl Jam, and a number of other artists all over the walls. There was also a life sized Mick Jagger painted onto one wall. It was an interesting place and the food was pretty good.

After lunch we went to a palace called the Ahsan Manzil built in the 1860s. It is now the Bangladesh national museum. It actually might have been one of the more uncomfortable parts of the trip. It was extremely crowded and a number of children kept begging for donations from our group. We tried waving them off which always feels horrible in settings like this. While we might have some money to give, there are so many people who need the aid, and you just can’t give to everyone who walks up to you.  One of the guards at the museum saw the children and yelled in order to shoo them away as they were not supposed to be inside without having bought a ticket. It created a bit of a ruckus, and a lot of people pulled out their mobile phones and started filming us. There really was not a whole lot to see, but we stood out quite a bit, so we had everyone’s attention. People eventually moved on, but we left before too long just because it was so crowded, and we were afraid we might lose a couple of the young children that were in our party.

After the Ahsan Manzil we took a scenic tour around the city. We passed the parliament building and the president’s house. We also drove past this sculpture garden that was in the middle of the road. There were sculptures of famous Bangladeshi’s as well as just famous politicians and thinkers in general. It was pretty easy to spot the Ghaddafi, and the Stalin. Seemingly out of place, there was even a sculpture of Isaac Newton. After driving around for a bit, we headed back to the apartment for the evening.

Overall, it was a fun day, and definitely better than sitting around the house.