SLEEPING

Accommodation is more expansive in Dhaka than elsewhere in Bangladesh, but it’s still cheap by international standards. Almost all midrange and top-end hostel offer large, year round discount rates (up to 50% off) and most of the time this will be volunteered before you’ve had a chance to ask. However if you’re booking online or by phone, you’re less likely to be offered a discount. Fortunately, it’s rare that Dhaka hotels are full, so you can safely just turn up and find something to suit. The highest concentration of budget and midrange hotels in the area extending from Inner Circular Rd down to Old Dhaka. There aren’t any top-end hostel in Old Dhaka.

Old Dhaka
BUDGET
There are numerous hotel on Nawabpur Rd costing no more than a handful of Taka, but they almost universally refuse to accept foreign tourists.

Hotel sugandha: (phone-955 6720, 243-4 Nawabpur Rd s/d Tk 250/450) it’s cheap and it’s one of the very few that will let you stay, but hygiene isn’t a strong point, and female guests aren’t welcome. The double rooms are quite large and have balconies overlooking a grey wall.

MIDRANGE
Hotel Ramna: (phone-956 2279, 45 Bangabandhu Ave, s/d from Tk-500-800) don’t get too excited by the glass-fronted recepation area, the rooms are much more down-to-earth. However , they are kept clean and what you get for the price is excellent. It can be a little difficult to find in the maze of tailor shops.

Hotel Grand palace International: (PHONE-956 1623, 11-12 North south Rd, with/without air-con Tk-800/1250) the small and tidy rooms would be a bet for the bedlam of noise echoing up from the road below, which is certain to make sleep an impossible dream.

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TOURS INFORMATION

Guide Tours (TEL,988 6983; www.guidetours.com 1st fl, Darpan Complex, Dit ll circle, Ghulshan), the company with best reputation, offers half-and full-day tours in and around Dhaka. Half-day tours cover sadarghat, Lalbagh Fort, the Liberation War Museum and other sights, and cost Tk 1500 per person. Full-day tours include Savar of Sonargaon and cost Tk 2300 per person (minimum four people). Guide Tours also runs day trips to a pottery village near Savar and overnight stays in a village.

Bengal Tours (Tel-883 4716, www.bengaltours.com, Block A, Banani) offers half and full day city tours. The half-day tours focus on Old Dhaka while the full-day tours spins you around both the commercial city and Old Dhaka. Price are virtually identical to those of Guide Tours.
There are several other companies offering city tours and , at this stage in Bangladesh’s foray into tourism, it’s a good idea to give some of the smaller up and coming operators a go.

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ACTIVITES

Rickshaw Rides
One of the best ways to see the sights of Dhaka is by rickshaw. The going rate is about Tk-100 per hour. Rickshaw-wallahs who speak English can generally be found outside five star hotel,but charge more and expect a tip. You can also approach a tour company to organise a sightseeing on a rickshaw.

River Trips
There are several companies offering trips on the rivers encircling Dhaka.
Contic (881 4851; mail@contic.com; House 183, Rd 69 Gulshan ll), a rive-cruice specialist with an elegant boat, the Fleche D’or, cruises along the Turag river(west of the city) down to the Buriganga River. Contic cruises get excellent reviews

Swimming
Non-guests can use the pool at the Sheraton Hotel for Tk 1200 per day.

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

In 1963 the Pakistanis commissioned Louis Khan, a world-renowned American architect, to design a regional capital for East Pakistan. Due to the liberation movement and ensuing war, the National Assembly building wasn’t completed until 1982. the building often feature in books on modern architecture, and is regarded as among kahn’s finest works.

It’s huge assembly of concrete cylinders and rectangular boxes, sliced open with bold, multi-storey circular and triangular apertures instead of windows, and is probably only considered attractive by fans of grim’70s architecture.

It is not usually possible to approach dome building too closely. On the opposite side of the road is a large and enjoyable park full of loving couples.



BOTANICAL GARDEN
The shady, tranquil Botanical Garden (admission tk-5, 9am-5pm), stretch over 40 hectares and contain over 1000 species of local and foreign plants. It’s a nice respite from the city’s mass of humanity. In the distance you’ll see the Turag River.

These gardens are probably the best place in the city for bird-watching. The quiet early mornings are especially good. Next door to the gardens is a zoo, but it isn’t a pleasant place

The garden are on the northwestern outskirts of Dhaka. To get there take a bus from Gulistan bus station to Mirpur via Begum Rokeya Sarani, then take a rickshaw (Tk-25 to tk-30).

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LIBARATION WAR MUSEUM

This museum (phone: 9559091, 5 segun Bagicha Rd, adnission Tk 3, 10am-5pm, Mon-Sat), chronicling one of the 20th century’s more deadly wars, is spread out over two floors and has been put together with enormous pride and respect. The display on the 1971 war of the Independence is arranged chronologically, with English and Bengali newspaper reports, photographs and various memorabilia. The displays start off time enough but gradually become more graphic before culminating in a room full of personal item, a large pile of human skulls and bones, and some very disturbing photos of rotting corpses with bound hands being eaten by dogs and vultures. Though the displays might not make for happy holidays, this museum should be a compulsory stop for everyone.

From Topkhana Rd head north up Segun Bagicha Rd, it’s on the second street on the right. Contact the museum to find out about its cultural events.

SAT GUMBAD MOSQUE
Dating from 1680, Sat Gumbad Mosque is a white-washed onion dome mosque, and the finest example of the pure Mughal-style mosque in Dhaka.

Unfortunately, few travellers see Sat Gumbad because of its somewhat remote location. Head north from Dhanmondi on Mirpur Rd, turn left though Asad Gate and go to the end of the road (1.5km). Then begin asking, it’s nearby, towards the river. Women are admitted if appropriately dressed.

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