4/24/2013
Do you think the words 'adventure' and 'danger' are interconnected? They definitely happened to be when I arrived in Dhaka, Bangladesh. All seemed to be in disarray as I continued to remember things that I had forgotten to pack on the multiple flights to Dhaka. Perhaps this already signified a poor start. Having been delayed in Jeddah and Dammam where the plane had to return for one passenger's passport and carry-on (didn't even know you could do that), I was anxious to find a rickshaw after waiting over an hour at the
world's slowest baggage claim. In Asia, I knew I would be bombarded by people requesting you to take their taxi. Dhaka was no different. This particular driver convinced me to take a cab with him rather than the rickshaw for the same price. He seemed to know the location I requested better than the rickshaw driver so I went with him. I didn't know how long the ride should have taken but sensed it was taking far too long after two hours. The guy appeared lost and stopped the car to speak on the phone for what appeared to be directions. This was another hint that something was wrong. I repeated the address several times while showing it to him on my iPhone to hear him repeat it to the phone incorrectly all times but the last. He got back in drove around, stopped again, called again, and came too close for comfort to my door where he was yelling in Bangladesh and I back in English. Then he apparently wanted his money though I was nowhere near my location. I got out with my stuff to try and ask another driver (didn't trust leaving it in the car). This time he shoved me back into the car with my large backpack on. I landed non-gracefully back in the seat reeled. I struggled back out with my stuff and start yelling vehemently. Some people driving by stopped to see the spectacle, including a van full of cops or military personnel. They convinced me that it was only a misunderstanding because the driver couldn't speak any English. They reassured me that he would now drive to my location with the translated directions they gave him and noted his licence plate. I still didn't trust the driver especially since I found the red wine that I had bought for my host was somehow under his seat. Since I didn't have much say in this, I got back into the cab hoping perhaps the bottle had rolled out driving along the uneven roads. After getting to my CS host's place, he began to complain to the security outside about everywhere he had to drive me and wanted 2000 tak versus the 200 agreed upon amount at the airport. To add more insult to injury, he tried to steal these two large chocolate bars I had brought as another gift to my host, thinking I wouldn't see as he blatantly pulled then out of my duty free bag when he helped unload my stuff from the backseat. It only confirms my previous suspicions. The guards ended up calling my host down. I explained what happened and he talked to the guy and said we would give him 400 since it was his own fault for taking the incorrect route and call it a night. I didn't have much change so ended up giving him 500 instead, which of course he wasn't satisfied with. We turned our back on him but heard a knock on the door several minutes later. Chris, my host, went to check and came back saying that was the guards, who were even appalled at what happened. This isn't a normal occurrence, so just my luck. The security guys had even punched the guy for speaking in the attitude he did. It may even be that he gets more where that came from after my host told them about the wine part of the story. So Bangladesh? Good or bad choice. At the moment, it seems like the worst choice of them all because there's a lot of political unrest at the moment and its surrounded by India. Which means my plan of taking a bus to Nepal from here needs to have an additional visa to India or another flight. Sigh! It can only get better now, right?
Do you think the words 'adventure' and 'danger' are interconnected? They definitely happened to be when I arrived in Dhaka, Bangladesh. All seemed to be in disarray as I continued to remember things that I had forgotten to pack on the multiple flights to Dhaka. Perhaps this already signified a poor start. Having been delayed in Jeddah and Dammam where the plane had to return for one passenger's passport and carry-on (didn't even know you could do that), I was anxious to find a rickshaw after waiting over an hour at the
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| View from Jeddah Airport. |
world's slowest baggage claim. In Asia, I knew I would be bombarded by people requesting you to take their taxi. Dhaka was no different. This particular driver convinced me to take a cab with him rather than the rickshaw for the same price. He seemed to know the location I requested better than the rickshaw driver so I went with him. I didn't know how long the ride should have taken but sensed it was taking far too long after two hours. The guy appeared lost and stopped the car to speak on the phone for what appeared to be directions. This was another hint that something was wrong. I repeated the address several times while showing it to him on my iPhone to hear him repeat it to the phone incorrectly all times but the last. He got back in drove around, stopped again, called again, and came too close for comfort to my door where he was yelling in Bangladesh and I back in English. Then he apparently wanted his money though I was nowhere near my location. I got out with my stuff to try and ask another driver (didn't trust leaving it in the car). This time he shoved me back into the car with my large backpack on. I landed non-gracefully back in the seat reeled. I struggled back out with my stuff and start yelling vehemently. Some people driving by stopped to see the spectacle, including a van full of cops or military personnel. They convinced me that it was only a misunderstanding because the driver couldn't speak any English. They reassured me that he would now drive to my location with the translated directions they gave him and noted his licence plate. I still didn't trust the driver especially since I found the red wine that I had bought for my host was somehow under his seat. Since I didn't have much say in this, I got back into the cab hoping perhaps the bottle had rolled out driving along the uneven roads. After getting to my CS host's place, he began to complain to the security outside about everywhere he had to drive me and wanted 2000 tak versus the 200 agreed upon amount at the airport. To add more insult to injury, he tried to steal these two large chocolate bars I had brought as another gift to my host, thinking I wouldn't see as he blatantly pulled then out of my duty free bag when he helped unload my stuff from the backseat. It only confirms my previous suspicions. The guards ended up calling my host down. I explained what happened and he talked to the guy and said we would give him 400 since it was his own fault for taking the incorrect route and call it a night. I didn't have much change so ended up giving him 500 instead, which of course he wasn't satisfied with. We turned our back on him but heard a knock on the door several minutes later. Chris, my host, went to check and came back saying that was the guards, who were even appalled at what happened. This isn't a normal occurrence, so just my luck. The security guys had even punched the guy for speaking in the attitude he did. It may even be that he gets more where that came from after my host told them about the wine part of the story. So Bangladesh? Good or bad choice. At the moment, it seems like the worst choice of them all because there's a lot of political unrest at the moment and its surrounded by India. Which means my plan of taking a bus to Nepal from here needs to have an additional visa to India or another flight. Sigh! It can only get better now, right?
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