Jams- Traffic is intense in Dhaka from about 8a.m.-9p.m.  It is immediately noticeable that there is less hooting of horns in Dhaka than in Delhi, but it is also immediately noticeable that vehicles in Dhaka are significantly more dented than in Delhi.

Pedalled rickshaws are lined up along the streets.  The rickshaws are surprisingly brightly ornamented which belies the rather grim existence they afford the drivers.  Most rickshaws belong to business men with several, if not tens or hundreds of rickshaws, and they are rented out to drivers for 8 hour sessions. Virtually all bike rickshaws are off the streets at midnight. It was frightening to think of rickshaws out at night without any lights.

There were two kinds of motorized rickshaw: one imported from India with smaller motorbike wheels and a slightly bigger body, or the Bangla made one with larger bike wheels and slightly smaller body. Most of these motorized rickshaws were caged (both driver and passenger) against theft from passersby.

There were a lot of buses and they are used hard: dents and scrapes all round, but even the very top seats (I wonder if they are much cheaper) are padded!

At 10:30 at night we saw trucks unloading on the main road into the city and workers with large baskets  (3-4ft across) carrying goods off.  Some of the workers had finished for the day, or perhaps they were just taking a nap before the next delivery, as they were now using the basket as a bed on the pavement.  At 8 in the morning we saw the basket topped men transporting more goods and the men dragging carts piled high with another man on top to anchor the load got through the traffic often more quickly than anything with four wheels.  In one spot there were six man staggering under a huge bale on their heads and each held a sickle poked into the bale to maintain balance as they weaved their way through the standing traffic.

We spent about an hour driving a mile along the riverfront road and I was reminded of Colonial America when it was faster and simpler to transport by river than across country.  Dhaka seemed like a distribution disaster.