Born and raised in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. I can recall how wonderful it was during the 90′s. It was filled with wide open spaces for me to play football, cricket, etc. Now, you literally have to mark the spaces that are empty so you can visit them to spend some quality time.

• Check out the food, we love to eat spicy. And yes, sometimes it’s a bit too spicy.
• Visit Ahsan Manzil, Dhakeswari Temple, Lagbagh Fort, National Parliament (Jatiyo Sangsod Bhaban), National Martyr’s Memorial (Smriti Shoudho)
• Visit the university area, the Doyel Chottor, Shapla Chottor in Motijheel Industrial and Commercial Area. This is the heart of Dhaka City. Go around Curzon Hall, Ramna Park, Teachers-Students Center known as TSC (one of the few places I know has the WiFi service), Shaheed Minar (right in front of Annex Building)
• Be sure to go around Gulistan, visit places in Old Dhaka, and New Dhaka to compare and contrast. As always, you may have already understood that to stay at an apartment in New Dhaka may suck out all the meager salary off of your pocket. If financial difficulties isn’t one of your concerns, you can consider moving to Uttara, Banani, Gulshan, etc. Otherwise, Bakshi Bazaar, Laxmi Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Shathari Bazaar or any other kind of Bazaars maybe your initial residence 🙂
• Carry a mask, to save yourself from the air pollution. This is exactly why I mentioned that sometimes you may want to visit Curzon Hall to have some fresh air. Try to avoid going near Buri Ganga, a couple of masks coupled with a few air freshener cylinders won’t still be enough to keep the “good smell” burning away the hair inside your nose 🙂
• If you are a university student and are planning to move to a dorm, make sure you don’t leave your lungi out of your room, in order to dry it 🙂
• Whoever you are, if you are living in certain places of Old Town, consider not coming out of the house after 8–9 pm. Its not safe. Same goes for New Town.
• Wherever you go, careful about your pockets. Watch out for pickpocketers. Gulistan, Motijheel, and numerous other places. Careful if you are carrying digital gadgets on the streets. Laptops, cellphones, iPads or whatever it is.
• Be sure you understand the difference between contaminated food and fresh food. Numerous groceries, fish and meat are contaminated with Formaldehyde. Careful what you buy when you shop.
• Dhaka is a very accident prone city, you may experience bumps here and there, even if you have a car. We don’t maintain the 3 second rule here. I’ve seen numerous accidents and death (sometimes) everyday. Avoid the public bus completely if possible.
• If you want to reach somewhere in time, plan ahead. The traffic in Dhaka City is unbearable even after all these years of plannings, and the construction of flyover exits, and other street infrastructure.
• Don’t get near political rallies, or any rallies if at all possible. I’ve seen a few fireworks go off in front of my very eyes. You should know what I mean (Ka-Boom!). Watch your step, fights can break out anywhere. Just stay out of radius and you should be fine. Yes, it takes a bit of luck though. You may get caught up inside the radius.
• We usually have political strikes (no vehicles on streets) a few times a month. Try not to go out of home in those days if possible. Don’t know the current situation though.
• Its not a country where we practice freedom of speech, so don’t become a soothsayer or a sage and start shouting in God’s name or whatever the hell it is that you want to get off your chest. We’ll put you in your place 🙂
• If you are a lady, dress appropriately, unless you want to get in trouble from bad guys. Actually it may come from any guy since the culture is a bit too restricted and conservative in there, to say the least.
• You may end up learning Bang-lish (instead of the official Bengali) and/or pick up some other very strange dialects, depending on where you end up staying in Dhaka. Every part of Dhaka has a different style. We just don’t see it, if we don’t live in all of them for a part of our lives.
• Being among the top ranks in some the most densest cities in the world, and with numerous problems that are usually associated with a developing nation, try and embrace the city as your own in the best way possible. Because the people will soon make you as one of their own. Such is our hospitable nature.

So, welcome to Dhaka, the capital of “Beautiful Bangladesh”