First Impressions of DHAKA, Bangladesh (Busiest City on Earth) 🇧🇩

Harry’s first proper day in Dhaka — he has been to Bangladesh before but never into the city — spent in the old town, the main market and New Market. He calls it the best first impression he has had of any city and spends most of the video explaining why: not the sights, of which there are none here, but that in a full day of a crowded market he doesn’t meet a single person in a bad mood.

The practical spine is a chicken biryani he has to ask his way to, a cycle rickshaw with no motor of any kind that beats the cars through traffic, and a market where the fish stalls, the carpenters, the steel workers and a live railway line all share the same ground.

Key moments

• [00:00] The numbers: the most densely populated city in the world, 22 million in the city and 160 million in the country.
• [01:38] He keeps greeting people in Hindi or Urdu by reflex, apologises for it on camera, and pre-empts the comments.
• [02:48] A sugarcane press run off a cog contraption with steam coming out of it, and wasps all over the crushed cane.
• [04:27] The juice is about 20 US cents. He pays a dollar.
• [05:33] Into the biggest market in Dhaka, quiet by local standards because it’s the weekend.
• [06:06] His verdict, delivered early: the best first impression of any city he’s had, because everyone has been cheerful and nobody has been moody.
• [07:44] Chicken biryani, found by asking strangers rather than by looking it up.
• [08:59] There is no fork. He eats it by hand, badly, with a boiled egg buried in the rice.
• [10:07] A crowd of five or six has formed to watch him eat.
• [10:42] 150 taka, about $1.50.
• [11:18] The fish market, which he identifies by smell before sight.
• [12:27] A live railway line running straight through the middle of the market, which anyone can and does walk on.
• [14:05] A cycle rickshaw with no motor at all — pure leg power, all day.
• [15:25] He asks to pedal it, is refused, and is eventually allowed. He finds it extremely hard.
• [16:01] The economic fact he flags for viewers: Bangladesh makes the clothes. Nike, Adidas, Zara and H&M all manufacture here, and something you’re wearing probably came from this country.
• [17:07] The rickshaw outruns the cars through the traffic.
• [18:26] New Market, and a sea of copies.
• [19:40] He asks why the fakes aren’t made locally when the real ones are, and is told they come from China.
• [20:30] Football allegiance here is Argentina and Brazil, and everyone tells him so.
• [22:24] A shirt opened at 400 and settled at 300.
• [24:03] Genuine Zara, made in Bangladesh, sold openly as “first copy” — 800 taka, about eight dollars, fixed price.
• [25:42] The cricket jersey wall, with every international and club shirt he can think of.
• [26:55] A haggle he cheerfully loses, and a conversation about Bangladesh beating India in a recent series.
• [27:59] His summary of the people: they’re giving Pakistan a run for their money.

Extracted pages

• Place: Dhaka
• Country: Bangladesh
• Tips: Reward honesty and hard work, Walk into the fish market