So I am seeing another side to Dhaka, one for the fairly affluent I guess, no street traders here, no hawkers. Another soulless shopping mall, they are the same the whole world over. just dressed in a different shroud.
Anyways that has taken me just under 2 hours to get here, and I am parched. Normally on my little wanders I stumble across a bar where refreshment comes cold in a glass. If one thing is wrong about Bangladesh it is the forbidding of alcohol; do you want to live in a muslim world? No me neither. Fortunately duty free, a bottle of JD and a hip flask had kept me company throughout my trip. Alas not today.
I settled for second best. Needs must
Construction of the mall started in 1998, at a cost of $100 million, finally opening to the public in 2004, and is one of the most visited malls in SE Asia, it houses over 2,300 retail stores as well as food courts and entertainment complexes, it is though only ranking as the 3rd biggest in Bangladesh.
In 2009, there was a catastrophic fire on the top floors of the complex which claimed four lives an and estimated cost of $29 million.
The floor
The ceiling
Sub-continent clothing on western looking mannequins just doesn't seem right to me
In a cricket crazy nation didn't expect see Lionel's Argentina shirt on sale either
Nor a UK based cheap rubbish sports shop, let me tell you sports direct sells crap brands, out of season left overs and stuff the chavs like to wear.
Looked at some of the garment labels, All marked "Made in Bangladesh", I told you it was like any mall in any city in any country of the world, except here you are buying local well made garments at a cheap price, as opposed to in a western mall, inflated price, just because there is a nike or a napapajirri or a northface logo stuck on.
I never trust a food outlet, that can't decide what cuisine it is offering, one size does not fit all. A bit like going to the local chippy and asking for a fillet mignon, medium rare, or going to a BBQ shack and asking for a fucking salad.
That'll do
A pizza from a pizza shop, my good god almighty it was good.
Well I have got as high as I can go, time to leave, time for another two hour walk, but hey there is always time for another ice cream
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