Westin Hotel, Dhaka - now and present

I just arrived at Westin Hotel , Dhaka via MAS flight from Penang-KL -Dhaka.  The flight froerm KL to Dhaka was almost full and 90 pct of the passenger were Bangladeshis going back to their home. Out of the 90 pct, I think there owas only a handful of ladies. Bangladesh is a muslim country and the ladies are not so easy seen walking about on the roads except when working only in the factories.

I have been using TG ( Thai airline) or SG ( singaporean airline) for my trip to Bangladesh and I was told that the month of November and Decemeber are holidays and travelling and the flights are quite full. I leave at 3.30 pm and I arrived at the hotel at 11.30 pm which an eight hours of travelling time. The transit time in KL was hardly 45 minutes.

The flight was quite smooth except the landing was abit rough but it landed safely. For dinner, the airline served chicken or fish with rice and with some vegetables.  The taste was quite okay and sufficient to keep us well during our trip.

On arriving in Dhaka, the traffic was still active as Dhaka is 2 hours behind us and it  was ony 9.30pm local time.  This is the time when the Bangladeshi took their dinner. This habit of eating late is not good for their health and most locals have big and fat bellies except those workers who do manual jobs.

In Dhaka, there are a few stretch of new fly overs to ease the bad traffic jams  and upon completion, the traffic condition could be greatly improved and make traffic more pleasant.  However, the air is still dirty and the surrounding is full of rubbish and the buildings are often covered with dust.  It was a travel back in time for us when we come to this place which is about 30 years behind Malaysia.

As I told my colleagues, Bangladesh is an eye opener for many of us to see the poverty . Frankly speaking, the country have improved very much over the years and if compared to 25 years ago when I first set foot in the country.  The growth of educated population and middle class will propel the country to great heights in the coming years.

Yes, this is a poor country but the country is improving at a fast pace and their garment business have topped US$16 billion per year and it has become the most important place for garment and textile.

Syabas to Bangladesh. I wish you well.
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Namaste.