People in Bangladesh

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People in Bangladesh were extremely friendly, full of questions, always posing for pictures, asking to have their picture taken. I have never been in a country where people were so friendly.

Traffic in Bangladesh however was pretty bad. In Dhaka it was a free-for-all, no apparent rules.

Agriculture is very important in Bangladesh. Most of the land is cultivated, rice being a major crop.

With its location around the Ganges Delta, shipping is an important activity. A lot of transportation is by boat and ship.

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.

People in Bangladesh

Village life. (1075k)

Local people watching the tourists. (1041k)

The woman with the red hat is one of our group. We drew crowds and were mobbed like that almost everywhere we went. People wanted to take selfies with us all the time. (815k)

Taking my picture. (874k)

Big smiles, as always happy to have their picture taken. (671k)

People on a small house boat, as always smiling. (726k)

Women. (746k)

Women. (813k)

Woman in sari. (871k)

Kids. (989k)

Kids. (1010k)

Boys. (924k)

Kids. (936k)

Village people. (762k)

Girls. (1016k)

Girls. (860k)

Girl. (851k)

Girl. (672k)

Girl. (722k)

Girl. (732k)

Girl. (622k)

Those eyes! (723k)

Young women. (788k)

Women and baby. (927k)

Women and baby. (599k)

Women and baby. (756k)

School children posing. (940k)

Man and children posing. (1353k)

Family. (763k)

Family. (870k)

Children. (721k)

Young child. (932k)

Young child. (683k)

Happy kids. (835k)

Mother and child. (734k)

Women. (906k)

Women. (714k)

Bathing men. (636k)

Boy. (877k)

Young women. (692k)

Young woman. (645k)

Young woman. (651k)

Young woman. (576k)

Young woman. (548k)

Young woman. (598k)

Young woman. (656k)

Young woman. (706k)

Young woman. (632k)

Young woman. (628k)

Smiling woman. (780k)

Woman. (1180k)

Old woman. (1049k)

Old woman. (633k)

Young man. (751k)

Man. (615k)

Bicycle rickshaw driver. (841k)

Old man. (787k)

Old man. (732k)

Deciding what to do. (781k)

Old man. (752k)

Old man. (694k)

Old man. (636k)

Old man. (687k)

Old man with beard dyed orange with henna. (742k)

Old man with hair dyed orange with henna. (624k)

Pensive. (767k)

Kids going through the trash along the Buriganga River. (1425k)

Playing badminton. (868k)

Washing in the river. (1056k)

Washing in the river. (1145k)

Washing up and collecting water. (1070k)

Washing in the river. (1142k)

Collecting water. (697k)

Preparing a meal. (889k)

Relaxing with a card game. (830k)

Playing a local instrument. (1021k)

Time off at the river. (1195k)

Time off at the river. (919k)

Drinking coconut juice. (781k)

Woman in the market. (853k)

Selfie. (711k)

Worshipers in a mosque. (1102k)

Children in school. (739k)

School children. (825k)

School is out. (858k)

This woman organizes and runs a school for poor children in a slum area in Dhaka, entirely from donations. (666k)

Children in the privately organized school. (750k)

Children in the privately organized school. (753k)

Children from the privately organized school, showing their drawings. (840k)

Our police escort on excursions from Rajshahi. (740k)

A high official was visiting in Rangamati, this was his honorguard. (740k)

Veiled women were rare, I saw that only in Sylhet. (818k)

Transportation

A lot of transportation is done on foot. (897k)

Train tracks are used by foot traffic. (952k)

A train is approaching. (663k)

Carrying a load on the head. (975k)

Carrying a large load in a basket. (1028k)

Colorfully decorated bicycle rickshaw. There were lots of them in Bangladesh. (957k)

Bicycle rickshaws. (1014k)

Bicycle rickshaw. (886k)

Bicycle rickshaw at night. (663k)

Elaborately painted bicycle rickshaw. (1041k)

In Sylhet there is a bridge over the river with a steep incline. The bicycle rickshaws were helped over the bridge by a second man pushing the rickshaw. (1014k)

View from a bicycle rickshaw in traffic in Old Dhaka. (1067k)

View from a bicycle rickshaw in traffic in Old Dhaka. (1098k)

Traffic in Old Dhaka. (1058k)

Horse-drawn cart. (1087k)

Cart drawn by water buffaloes. (900k)

Auto rickshaw. They are called CNGs in Dhaka, since they all run on Compressed Natural Gas. (819k)

Small auto rickshaw. (767k)

Another version of the auto rickshaw. (767k)

Another version of the auto rickshaw. (868k)

Horse-drawn transportation in Dhaka. (1133k)

Full open minibus. (771k)

One of the local buses. Most of the local buses looked like they were playing bumper cars. (813k)

Big double-decker bus in Dhaka. (865k)

That is some First Class. (706k)

Colorful truck. (1022k)

Washing his truck. (853k)

Traffic in Dhaka was atrocious. (568k)

Red traffic lights were completely ignored in Dhaka, people drove right through. The policeman had to direct traffic, because the traffic light was ignored. (879k)

Train in Dhaka, with passengers on the roof. (682k)

Train in Dhaka. (815k)

Train in Dhaka. (958k)

Train in Dhaka, passenger hanging on everywhere. (704k)

Busy railroad crossing. (894k)

Burning an old basket on the train tracks. (944k)

Small canoe. They were everywhere there was water. (1192k)

Small boat. (518k)

Rowed ferry boat. (991k)

The kid was about 10-12 years old, driving the boat. (723k)

Small ferry boat on Kaptai Lake. (762k)

Ferry boat. (1023k)

Ferry boat on the Sangu River. (962k)

There are bridges across the Buriganga River, but a lot of traffic across uses the small rowed ferry boats. (1143k)

Ferry boats on the Buriganga River. (756k)

Rowing one of the small ferry boats on the Buriganga River. (532k)

Small house boats on the Buriganga River. (545k)

Small house boat on the Buriganga River. (585k)

Boat and ship traffic on the Buriganga River in Dhaka. (1055k)

Passenger ships on the Buriganga River. (768k)

Barge on the Katcha River, part of the Ganges Delta. (533k)

Barges on the Pashur River, part of the Ganges Delta. (465k)

Ships on the Pashur River, part of the Ganges Delta. (636k)

Car ferry across the Pashur River. (559k)

Loading the car ferry on Kaptai Lake. (995k)

Unloading the car ferry on Kaptai Lake. (834k)

Rocket Paddle Steamer. (553k)

Rocket Paddle Steamer at the jetty. (753k)

Boarding the Rocket Paddle Steamer. (765k)

Boarding the Rocket Paddle Steamer. (782k)

Engine of the Rocket Paddle Steamer. (877k)

Paddle wheel of the Rocket Paddle Steamer. (717k)

Paddle wheel of the Rocket Paddle Steamer. (420k)

On board of the Rocket Paddle Steamer. (880k)

Top of the Rocket Paddle Steamer. (675k)

Bridge of the Rocket Paddle Steamer. (822k)

Ferries across the Pashur River. There was a long line of people waiting for their turn on the ferry. (607k)

Ferry across the Pashur River. (569k)

Our ship in the Sundarbans. (654k)

Our ship's crew. (834k)

We needed permission to go to the Rangamati area, and had to sign in and sign out. Apparently there is some unrest in that area because of the dam and the reservoir that flooded local villages. (874k)

Sign-in post for the Rangamati district. (981k)

Agriculture and Livestock

Growing gourds. (978k)

Drying chili peppers. (1408k)

Banana plants. (1057k)

Banana plantation. (1246k)

Bananas. (948k)

Sugarcane fields. (821k)

Planting rice. (1179k)

Freshly planted rice paddy. (1.6M)

Rice harvest by hand. (1184k)

Rice harvest by hand. (1117k)

Rice spread out for drying. (1135k)

Pile of rice ready for winnowing. (1062k)

Winnowing rice. (670k)

Winnowing rice. (1007k)

Winnowing rice. (673k)

Tea plantation. (1296k)

Pineapple plantation. (1367k)

Lemon tree. (1298k)

Date palm. The steps are attached so people can climb up and collect date palm juice at the top. (1433k)

Cutting a groove in the date palm tree makes the sap run. (1170k)

Date palm with a pot collecting the date palm juice. (1116k)

Date palms with collecting pots. (1248k)

Jackfruit and pineapple. (1040k)

Farm work. (895k)

Coconut palms. (934k)

Empty coconut shells are collected and processed for the fiber. (1396k)

Coconut fiber processing. (961k)

Coconut fiber processing. (1051k)

Machine that tumbles the coconut shells to free the fibers. (1101k)

Processed coconut fiber. (1332k)

Bundling jute fibers. (922k)

Chicken pecking rice. (1241k)

Chicken with baby chicks. (792k)

Rooster. (732k)

Taking chicken to the market. (836k)

Goats. (1010k)

Goat resting in the shade. (778k)

This goat was dressed. (612k)

Baby goat. (1107k)

Pig and piglet. (1016k)

Herding cows across the river. (864k)

Cow market. (1051k)

Calf. (987k)

Apparently the calf needs help finding milk. (1019k)

Cow dung wrapped around the stick serves as fire fuel for cooking, etc. (1.6M)

Cows are going through carbage to find food. (966k)

Domesticated Asian elephant. (652k)

Markets

Market in Old Dhaka. (1041k)

I have no idea what this was, but it was very colorful. (940k)

Bringing flowers to the local market. (1031k)

Flower vendor. (1221k)

Flower vendor. (994k)

Flower vendor. (1054k)

Fruit market. (1026k)

Fruits and vegetables. (918k)

Local produce. (903k)

Local produce. (1001k)

Local produce. (874k)

Local produce. (955k)

Local produce. (963k)

Beans. (1164k)

Peppers for sale. (857k)

Preparing a coconut. (1274k)

Pottery. (986k)

Sickles. (858k)

Colorful hand-woven rugs. (1018k)

Markets in Dhaka

It looked pretty chaotic. (850k)

Wholesale vegetable market. (1049k)

Wholesale vegetable market. (1048k)

Tomatoes. (1092k)

Kohlrabi (German Turnips). (1150k)

Pumpkins. (1041k)

Large pumpkins. (1125k)

Bananas. (954k)

Pineapples. (1018k)

Beans. (1133k)

Cucumbers. (1055k)

Cauliflower. (888k)

Cabbages. (1076k)

Lots of onions. (1046k)

Eggs. (1056k)

Meat. (851k)

Don't know what these are. (816k)

Are these eggplants? They are much longer than usual, but look like eggplants. (992k)

Chili peppers. (1090k)

Weighing produce. (969k)

Cutting stalks off radishes. (1050k)

Bagging purchased produce. (1134k)

Carrying produce on the head. (677k)

Squeezing sugarcane juice. (1060k)

Poultry market. (1062k)

Chickens for sale. (1250k)

Chickens for sale. (1131k)

Loading chickens in the display cage. (945k)

Ducks for sale. (1005k)

Geese for sale. (1087k)

Turkeys for sale. (971k)

Carrying off purchased chickens. (993k)

Bringing home the chickens. (980k)

Retail vegetable market. (1124k)

Retail vegetable market. (954k)

Retail vegetable market. (1030k)

Retail vegetable market. (1064k)

Retail vegetable market. (1094k)

Retail vegetable market. (1083k)

Retail vegetable market. (1074k)

Retail vegetable market. (1128k)

Retail vegetable market. (926k)

Retail vegetable market. (1183k)

Colorful market scene. (1072k)

Colorful market scene. (1161k)

Chili peppers and other spices. (1022k)

Various spices. (1060k)

Curries. (740k)

Spicy stuff. (994k)

Chili peppers. (1227k)

Grains, beans, etc. (967k)

Seafood market. (710k)

Seafood market. (871k)

Seafood market. (911k)

That is a big fish. (763k)

Meat market. (923k)

Hardware market. (928k)

Hardware market. (929k)

Auto spare parts. (1054k)

Auto spare parts. (998k)

Betel Nuts

From the Paan entry in Wikipedia:

Paan is a preparation combining betel leaf with areca nut widely consumed throughout Southeast Asia, East Asia (mainly Taiwan), and the Indian subcontinent. It is chewed for its stimulant and psychoactive effects. After chewing it is either spat out or swallowed. Paan has many variations. Slaked lime (chunnam) paste is commonly added to bind the leaves. Some preparations in the Indian subcontinent include katha paste or mukhwas to freshen the breath.

The origin and diffusion of betel chewing originates from and is closely tied to the Neolithic expansion of the Austronesian peoples. It was spread to the Indo-Pacific during prehistoric times, reaching Near Oceania at 1,500 to 1,000 BCE; South India and Sri Lanka by 1,500 BCE; Mainland Southeast Asia by 1,000 to 500 BCE; Northern India by 1500 CE; and Madagascar by 1400 CE. From India, it was also spread westwards to Persia and the Mediterranean.

Paan (under a variety of names) is also consumed in many other Asian countries and elsewhere in the world by some Asian emigrants, with or without tobacco. It is an addictive and euphoria-inducing formulation with adverse health effects. The spit from chewing betel nuts, known as "buai pekpek" in Papua New Guinea, is often considered an eyesore. Because of this, many places have banned selling and chewing "buai".