by Pamela
Even with a chain-link fence around the place, the gauntlet of people you have to pass through to even get inside is near life threatening.
“I couldn’t decide if the scene at the Dhaka Airport reminded me of the Fall of Saigon or one of those 1980s movies set in southeast Asia where half the population is trying to flee the country during a coup. Of course, what can you say about one of the most densely populated places on earth that was mostly underwater when I was there (August 1998). Even with a chain-link fence around the place, the gauntlet of people you have to pass through to even get inside is near life threatening. And once you’re inside, the combined bedlam of bodies and trolleys is amazing. Sleeping there? Ha! Ha! Ha! There is a great way around this however. If you fly on Biman Airways, for example from Kathmandu to Bangkok, Biman will put you in a hotel for the night in Dhaka (albeit a very dingy 3-star one) with meals included. The airline takes away your passport however, so you don’t get much of a chance for extended sightseeing. In my case it worked out well; a small plane had crashed on the runway–delaying flights for hours–so I had a full day to “discover” Dhaka. “