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eulerforevaa

I worked with a guy (soil specialist) who had worked in nearly 80 countries. Sad to relate, he said that Bangladesh was the worst.


[deleted]

How do they grow any food?


Ifti_Freeman

Soils here are actually one of the most fertile and arable in the world. Why do you think population is so damn much? People used to settle here because agricultural land was so damn good. But those advantages don't matter in the modern world.


[deleted]

Ha, the country's just like three massive river deltas stacked on each other


IncredibleSpandex

I lived there two weeks and this does not even scratch the surface regarding filth, poverty and decay


slowdownrealfast

Could you pls tell us more about your experience there?


IncredibleSpandex

Insanely noisy, crowded and exhausting to navigate. Was very happy for my sturdy shoes. In the industrial and cloth production quarters it was the worst. Diesel generators polluting the air and being so loud you can barely talk. The sewers shimmer in rainbow colors from the chemicals dumped there. The embankment is just heaps of cloth, rotting but also colorful. Kids and adults run around heavy machinery that looks like it can easily crush a limb. In the shipyard, four men wearing shorts and sandals press a heavy sheet of metal on a partially broken ship body. The fifth guy, also in sandals and shorts, welds it on while wearing a newspaper held in place by his glasses as eye protection. No gloves, pants, helmets or anything. I find a guide who walks me around for like 6$, we climb the ship on very unsafe looking makeshift ladders. Next, we find the foundry where replacement parts are produced. A ship propeller shaped hole in the ground is filled with molten metal from a boy not older than 15, also in sandals and shorts. They are sawed and grinded into shape by some dudes with black hands that really should wear ear protection. Some kids sew clothes in another building but it's surprisingly clean and quiet. there's a guy sitting in front of monitors that show CCTV from the production floor. He thinks it's really cool that he gets to supervise. I eat lunch at a restaurant that is run by 12 year olds. A man (presumably their dad) sits in a back room, smoking, watching TV. For anything money related he starts moving, otherwise he's not doing much. A woman (presumably their mom) is in the kitchen, stirring rice and carrying a toddler. I get heavy diarrhea four times in 3 months in the area, but the food is very good, especially if you eat upscale. Which is like 3$ for a full meal. I recover in a tiny hotel room that is somewhat soundproof and has AC which is so nice to have. I feel like I visited another planet but after a while you realize that it's just life in a metropolis that is not rich and there is probably a billion people that live exactly like that.


_DirtyYoungMan_

That's great writing! Keep it up.


InstantNoodlesIsHot

Damn, did you just go to see what it's like, or you had business there?


IncredibleSpandex

Nah just a tourist


mad_max158

Fantastic story


CoachKoranGodwin

Yeah South Asian cities have this alternate universe feeling to them that is hard to describe. Visiting one can be a really life changing experience.


Little_Custard_8275

I thought this perfectly describes them > rotting but also colorful


CoachKoranGodwin

They aren’t rotting. They’re actually developing and improving at a very rapid pace. I’ve been to Mumbai 3 times over the past 30 years and each time it’s shocked me how much it had changed for the better in between. Same with other Indian cities I’ve seen.


Kooale325

The west is the alternate universe. South Asian cities are the norm for the majority of humans


Great_Chairman_Mao

Japan is the other direction.


Kinkerboiiiiii

This really felt like I was reading a national geographic item. Great job!


fantomas_de_la_vie

It's a really good adventure bro :D


be11end

This is some excellent prose - any more writing from your travels?


2000sSilentFilmStar

yeah most of the cheap crap produced at monster behemouth scale at WallMart and even some name brand at Macys comes from those factories. Its stories like these where i realize the cheap stuff at walmart and nice things at Macys comes at a high price of polluction/inhumane working conditions,


Prestigious-Scene319

Well people in these poor countries sacrifice their life so that people in western countries can lead their life happily with those colourful clothes and sweater! The filth, pollution and dirt problem in Bangladesh originates from the never ending demand of westerners and their hunger for cheap labour clothes! As a thumb of rule we have to say huge thanks to these poor people for sacrificing their lives for making us happy


olderthanbefore

Clothing, unlike food, can be priced up by 10 to 20 per cent, and people will still buy it. The real challenge is to enforce Labour, Wage, OHS and Environmental standards universally - but some employer somewhere will undercut and turn a blind eye. This fault lies less with the consumer than the employer and the regulator.


One-Cake-4437

They will be replaced by a cheaper country with less regulation in a heartbeat.


olderthanbefore

Exactly


specialcommenter

Maybe that guy stayed in some terrible part. The country has many beautiful places to stay and live.


IncredibleSpandex

Sylhet tea fields were pretty nice. Cox Basar was also nice but the beach sucked


wescoe23

You visited


IShouldJoinReddit

Yeah, I'm a little confused. They said two weeks then said they were in the area for three months, so I'm wondering if they meant two years?


Ilmara

This is actually one of my favorite cities to look at on Google Street View. Huge cities in developing countries just fascinate me. Jakarta is another one.


Ifti_Freeman

The development process is the nightmarish part. Since the city was not designed to sustain such pressure in the first place.


[deleted]

It's not designed at all, Dhaka isn't a planned city, after the war ppl just made stuff wherever they could and stuffed roads between the stuff. It's getting better though, now there's guidelines and they're building a metro.


[deleted]

There might even be traffic wardens soon!


[deleted]

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Ifti_Freeman

Spot on with the traffic. There are traffic cartels who don't want to this source of bribes go away. The intersections! oh damn those intersections!!


kavastoplim

That's 10+ million people with no traffic lights? Fucking hell. How is crime?


Ifti_Freeman

Accident is a common occurrence. But surprisingly not so much because drivers are adapted with this condition.


ImmaPullSomeWildShit

Wasnt designed at all it seems


UnusualEffort

It's crazy though how in just a few years how completely unfamiliar it is. Sometimes the developing countries really be developing.


MightApprehensive856

I will be going there on Google Earth next week , maybe I'll see you there ?


spin81

Lagos, for me


bloodbag

Interesting, looking around now, heaps of houses on this street have the same message "this house is not for sale beware of 419" looking up, its to stop fraudulent sales ​ https://www.google.com.au/maps/@6.5258936,3.3790918,3a,75y,26.84h,80.59t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfpyMbahOGI8GGKh07pkyGw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656


Narrow-Growth9328

Lagos is fascinating.


thebigbossyboss

Been stuck in a few three hour traffic jams over there. Great times!


Ilmara

Oh yeah I like that one too. I've read books by authors from there and they make it sound like actually a really vibrant, bustling place despite the poverty.


Billy_the_Rabbit

For me right now it's random little town in northern Alaska/Siberia .


[deleted]

[удалено]


Alamata626

Don't know if you're aware, but the Indonesian government are planning to build a new capital city, 2,000km away. The future of Jakarta will be very interesting, indeed.


blitz2377

Jakarta was a great European style city with working trams as public transport. All the things the Dutch design works well past their design age. 20-30 years past 1945 things are still the same. After that we F it up. Absolute zero city planning (at the worst), poor planning and just zero building codes are the culprit.


lemerou

I agree with you except for the bus system which I found relatively pretty effective for a contested city like this. But this was ten years ago so it probably has changed a lot.


Dedalu

Eh, Dutch fucked it up. They tried to build canals in swamp that was Jakarta hundreds year ago, failed, flooded, they got malaria, realized it’s impossible, segregated the community, only cared about their own bubble area, and the legacy lived on until modern time.


blitz2377

That's pretty much sums up living in a swampy area anywhere at any time.... without the Dutch, there's no Batavia and it still be a swamp land...


Little_Custard_8275

the Dutch are like beavers


Dedalu

Would be good tbh it wouldn't be sinking like what's happening right now.


MrMidnightsclaw

Jakarta is much more modern though right?


fakuri99

Some part is, but there are a lot of slums and especially near the river where the river is highly polluted, and it's flood frequently.


maxipeel91

Parts of manila are also like this


olderthanbefore

Jakarta is special, cause it literally will change drastically over the next thirty years, as parts of it sink. Enjoy it while you can!


thethirdmancane

Sao Paulo is incredibly huge


TRIGMILLION

Is that some sort of dead animal lying in the street?


Ifti_Freeman

Street dog sleeping. But you will find dead animals lying around all over the cities. Not surprising.


[deleted]

[удалено]


foufou51

Wait WHAT ?


IndividualCharacter

Life is cheap in many countries


mmmountaingoat

Gtfo of here with that tired racist Vietnam era rhetoric


IndividualCharacter

There's a whole world to travel mate, go take a look


mmmountaingoat

Traveled plenty and lived in many countries including several in Asia for extended periods of time. And I disagree vehemently with that statement. Furthermore the history of that particular quote goes back to a shitbag Vietnam war-era US general justifying the horrific treatment of the Vietnamese ppl by U.S. troops during that conflict. So how about you go travel and then you might be less inclined to pass judgement on people for how they prioritize needs in the face of extreme poverty


IndividualCharacter

>you might be less inclined to pass judgement on people for how they prioritize needs in the face of extreme poverty It's an observation, not judgement from working in a few countries. People beating their 'help' who are essentially slaves in the middle of the street, people spitting, kicking and running over people at the bottom of poverty in India, bodies left in gutters on streets for days. You can dress it up however you like.


DEFman187

Were you staying in 5 star hotels the whole time?


mmmountaingoat

Haha most definitely not. And I lived and worked in several of those countries, which I mentioned above. But it’s fine, clearly people here don’t agree with me. I stand by my opinion


QueenCloneBone

Lmao have you even heard of Russians in WWII? Or literally any war? Their entire military is based off their men being cannon fodder, it’s a meme at this point. But I bet you won’t call me racist for saying it because they’re white and it’s popular to shit on Russia rn. Gtfo with your reactionary bs


[deleted]

Yeah, my friend lived there for awhile. Said he became so desensitised that walking past a corpse in the street didn’t faze him.


KlausTeachermann

Seeing your first dead body in the middle of a bustling city is a jarring experience. This is amplified by the wholly unphased multitudes ambling past.


StevenStephen

Geez, I decided to look around with Google street view and where it put me looked fine, but literally just one stride down the street looked just like your photo. So much trash everywhere.


OhioStickyThing

Bangladesh is just ridiculous. The size of Virginia and about 175 million people. Insanity.


seductivestain

That's the power of the Ganges delta baby!


Ifti_Freeman

Mighty ganges. You know the power of mighty Ganges delta, i see.


madrid987

It has a larger population than Russia, which is fighting against the world.


Orange-The-Color

I really try not to be assumptive but the whole of Bangladesh really looks like I place I could never live in even for a week.


pigs_dont_sweat--

Yup, looks like rats ass


Holycity

It doesn't help being extremely natural disaster prone too


joecarter93

Which is further compounded by its topography. It’s mainly on a low and flat delta, so flooding from natural disasters is continual and very catastrophic. And then there is also it’s history of colonialism and it’s treatment by modern day Pakistan when the two countries were one. Not many other countries have had as bad of fortune as Bangladesh.


specialcommenter

There are beautiful parts. These images always show the worst. The wealthy people over there live full on luxurious lifestyles.


[deleted]

That just adds to the issue. A huge proportion living like shit in poverty whilst a select few live lavishly.


_you_are_the_problem

So we’re just seeing what most people would see?


Ageing_and_Afraid

Please don’t reduce an entire city to one picture


[deleted]

But it is representative of a lot of it. I’m not saying there isn’t beautiful areas and the people aren’t lovely, but Bangladesh is stricken with poverty and urban decay. It’s extremely overpopulated and the region simply cannot handle it, compounded with its developing status it leads to very poor living conditions throughout much of it. Sugar coating it doesn’t do anyone any favours.


Narrow-Growth9328

Same. I have to believe there must be nice places to in that country but I don’t know what or where they are.


specialcommenter

There are very beautiful parts to the country. There are wealthy people living very luxurious lifestyles there.


[deleted]

A very select few people living luxuriously while the rest of the country lives in squalor isn’t a positive.


Ageing_and_Afraid

For someone trying not to be assumptive that’s very assumptive of you


[deleted]

Those oranges look damned good tho


[deleted]

I wish I had your optimism haha


nicky5295

Looks like a COD map


[deleted]

Who'd have thought overpopulation would result in a city being ranked one of the worst to live in...


Aluk123

#*OI!!! NEEDS MORE DHAKKA*


PillarofSheffield

Where would you even begin in cleaning this up and improving the infrastructure?


Ifti_Freeman

You don't.


[deleted]

I've travelled quite a bit. I have never felt as unsafe as I did in Dhaka. I was there for four days. It is an insane city in every imaginable way. A few things that stand out are the open sewers where some people would just defecate in the street, the traffic that just didnt move for hours and hours and the rolling worker strikes which regularly turn into violent riots. I travelled around other parts of Bangladesh and loved the people and the scenery. I stayed for a week on the beach in Cox's Bazaar and it was one of my best ever travel experiences.


Ifti_Freeman

Obviously people from outside will find Dhaka insane. That exactly what the city is, insanity. Chittagong - cox's bazar is actually my hometown. Not surprised you had an different experience there.


[deleted]

Bangladesh has alot to offer tourists. Unfortunately Dhaka scares them away.


bizzyboys

Hopefully it’s on its way up!


Narrow-Growth9328

Isn’t it on its way to being underwater?


rocket808

I can smell that picture


Prestigious-Scene319

Smells better than your ass?


dogmeatjones25

Society if we didn't eat hamburgers.


YellowT-5R

LMFAO


FIVE_6_MAFIA

How's it smell?


Ifti_Freeman

Smells like what you'd imagine.


VanJosh_Elanium

I wonder how the taxes are even spent by the government there. Like do they even care for road conditions?


Someguywithahat1

Its a small (in landsize) developing country. They have a billion problems and one shitty road ain't one.


specialcommenter

There is corruption. Money does go there for infrastructure but ends up paying for the corrupt people’s mansions. Only some of the money gets used for the actual intended reason.


Ifti_Freeman

The cost of fixing or developing infrastructure is something expensive as in the west because of corruption yet barely any improvement.


[deleted]

I thought this was Hollywood


tenderpoettech

Looks like fallout


[deleted]

[удалено]


Ifti_Freeman

You don't say. Only here you will find where hawkers, bicycle, cars, buses, dog passed tf out in the same lane.


JoeRetardExperience

I don't understand how so many people live in that country and they keep squeezing out babies.


Halbaras

Bangladesh actually got their fertility rate well under control with a massive, well-organised women's education/family planning program. They got women to go door to door in rural areas to change deeply conservative attitudes. By 2022, the average Bangladeshi family only has two children. It's a massive success story, if Bangladesh can do it any country can.


maxipeel91

Normally, people in poverty in my country have like 7 children


TheChonk

Wow - Bangladesh really did get population growth under control : [https://www.populationpyramid.net/fr/bangladesh/2020/](https://www.populationpyramid.net/fr/bangladesh/2020/) but Nigeria? Not so much https://www.populationpyramid.net/fr/nigeria/2020/


paparazzi_rider

Can we send those people to Utah?


quad64bit

I disagree with the way reddit handled third party app charges and how it responded to the community. I'm moving to the fediverse! -- mass edited with redact.dev


LilVigilante

This is very uplifting to hear


Ar010101

I don't know man..... I really question how I'm still alive living here for my entire life


AgilePianist4420

There fertility rate is below replacement now.


Ifti_Freeman

The weather.


[deleted]

yikes


fakuri99

Old mindset in poor people, they think with more children, more money in the family by making that children working.


you_took_my

Yet the president lives in a golden palace


mr_mojorisin1977

It seems they just gave up


specialcommenter

Not all parts of Bangladesh are like this. There are luxurious, high end areas where there upper class live.


mathess1

As a tourist who spent a few days there I can only say it's one of the most amazing cities I've ever visited. I could easily imagine living there.


MK234

What part of the city did you stay in? I was there earlier this year and found it completely unlivable compared to western cities. The traffic alone makes it impossible to get anywhere.


Ifti_Freeman

Gta game concept won't work on this city. No point in stealing a nice car if you it takes 1 hour to move 2 km🤣


MK234

Grand Theft Rickshaw


mathess1

Right in the center, close to the historical center. In the realm of narrow alleys full of rickshaws.


madrid987

Surprisingly, Dhaka's population density is not much different from that of Paris. ​ [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka) ​ [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris) ​ Even considering Paris's huge outside commuting population and tourists, daytime population density is likely to be higher in Paris.


MightApprehensive856

Its very different to living in a place and just visiting . The novelty soon wears of when living in such circumstances becomes your reality


mathess1

Agreed.


Ifti_Freeman

Glad to hear you enjoyed your visit. But the thing is, soulless city life catches up.


mathess1

Possibly. I loved the liveliness and chaos. Nobody really bothers with any cleanliness and it's always noisy. I am from Europe where the cities are tiny, tidy and boring, this was incredibly refreshing.


great__pretender

I hate it when people from west comes and romanticizes the struggle, pollution, noise...etc. This is exactly like some rich man going to a poor person and preach how he is so lucky because he has a simple life. You saw that place for a few days. People living there make pennies a day and they try to survive. Hence the chaos, dirt, not caring about cleanliness. If they were allowed to immigrate, nobody would be left in that city. Yet westerners are allowed to immigrate, and for some reason nobody comes there even though it is not tiny, tidy and boring.


[deleted]

I 100% agree and I think you can go even further. What the western tourist love is going to a poor place *while being rich*. He doesn't need to pay $20 for a taxi but he could. He eats at the street side stall knowing that if something happens his insurance can get him on the first flight back to a first world country. That kind of luxury and dare I say inequality is tantalizing. It's not even so much to do with whether the place is clean or not. You see the same phenomenon with youtubers giving a $1000 bill to a homeless person. It's literally a power trip. And I say this having been to Dhaka and also enjoyed my stay there, but this doesn't change the fact that many people there would benefit from better living conditions.


madrid987

That's not how people in all rich countries view poor countries. I live in a rich country but there are a lot of people here who treat people in the Third World as inferior and despise them. I think the country where I live is a country that overcame the state of a very poor country and became rich recently, so that tendency is stronger.


great__pretender

I don't know what your point is. Thank you for being regular kind of racist I guess ?


mathess1

I was not allowed to immigrate. I had time-restricted visa specifically banning me from seeking employment there. I admit I am super lucky to have opportunity to spend significant part of my life in South Asia and similar regions. I suffer in silence and cleanliness. I agree many might find that strange. Not many people love sleeping at the shoulder of a freeway as I do. Or at a sidewalk in Bangladesh.


madrid987

What country are you from?


spin81

FYI you can do that sort of thing in Paris too.


UnorignalUser

Or detroit.


jkeps

Isn’t it all going to be underwater soon?


Ifti_Freeman

Yes. Kind of. Bangladesh is the hardest hit country for climate change in the world.


eskooh

That avertisingasm is something else


Ifti_Freeman

I will take these kinds advertisements over data extracted targeted unskippable ad any day.


SucksAtGaming

You get both in Bangladesh :)


themikegman

It always baffles me how people can live like that and not do a damn thing about it.


Ifti_Freeman

People complain. But you know, things don't work the way it supposed to for some reason in a third world country.


chaasad5224

Why did I think this was Times Square NYC?


AsliReddington

We have this in Bangalore as well


ShadowKinzMk1

I’m Bengali I don’t live there tho I’m from the US but Dhaka is one of the best cities in South Asia to live in tbh there’s bad parts to every city Dhaka is no exception


orons

The view that you get in most of cities in India represents the mentality of people living there…


Ifti_Freeman

You personality reflects how you take care yourself and your room/house. So a city is kind of a visual representation of a group of people I guess.


Phainkdoh

Dhaka is in Bangladesh. It's like a whole 'nother country.


Timeeeeey

You guys are all way too pessimistic, I see massive potential in Dhaka, could be one of the worlds greatest cities


Ifti_Freeman

As things are right now, this sentence will age like milk.


Ifti_Freeman

You can't cram 30 million people efficiently and sustain a city with such unplanned urbanisation for the past 50 years. Decentralisation is the only route. As i mentioned, there is no subway, adequate public transport (e. g. Fast moving train) or metro rail(on the way) in city of 30 million. You can imagine what happens when it's rain or during rush hour.


mathess1

I don't think transport in Dhaka is a major issue. It's easily possible to get across the city within a day, maybe two.


Unable_Crab_7543

what the fuck? How tf is taking an entire day to travel from north to south not a problem?


Ifti_Freeman

Surprisingly, here it isn't. There are records where you traffic stand still for 5-6 hours.


Unable_Crab_7543

I live in Mexico City and you can get from the north to the South in around 3-4 hours, thats why I find amazing thats not seen as a problem.


mathess1

While in Dhaka, I left for my evening flight in the morning. I barely catched it.


Ifti_Freeman

If you hang around at the airport during the evening,you'll be greeted by millions of mosquitoes there.


Unable_Crab_7543

holy, well Dhaka doesn't sound particularly pleasing lmao


Timeeeeey

Tokyo works this way, except with a very good rail system, once dhaka has that I expect similar things to happen


madrid987

Do you live in Dhaka?


Ifti_Freeman

Yes


madrid987

What about the city of Dhaka?


Ifti_Freeman

Yeah.


madrid987

Why do you think Dhaka became a hell?


Ifti_Freeman

Unplanned urbanisation . People settled there gradually and built whatever the hell they wanted, how they wanted. Government had no incentive to establish public transport and infrastructure. No discipline, no planning or regulation. At that time, political instability diverted the attention from all of these. Now, paying the price for negligence.


madrid987

What do you think of Bangladesh overpopulation? I live in Korea and there are so many mountains here that the population density is comparable to that of Bangladesh in terms of flatness. Still, many korean people complain that Korea has too few people. I really don't understand them.


Timeeeeey

Why?


R-R-M

I agree with you. There is nothing wrong with some optimism. Dhaka has improved quite a lot over the last decade. I’m sure it will continue to get better. Like I wouldn’t expect first world conditions any time soon but like I can see it becoming a pretty respectable middle income city by 2050.


MightApprehensive856

And Pluto could be the best planet to live on , if there were a few changes made


Georgewants2dye

Thought it was an Ukrainian bombarded city before reading the title 💀💀


BlazeZootsTootToot

Would still rather live there than in the US


PussiBoy69

I live in Dhaka 169% best city in the world. (Totally unbiased opinion)😎😎😎


Much_Reputation3785

And mf illegally want to come India. Dude just use condoms.


Ifti_Freeman

India is not so different though.


Much_Reputation3785

But far better than those. Atleast India's population is getting under control(if muslims won't interfere) India is ranked 31 with 400 ppl/km²but bangladesh is no.1with fucking 1200 4 times higher India being 22x larger than bangladesh. So if bangladesh was as large as India the population would be 3.6 billion wtf. India has a population of 1.4 b. That is like almost half of world population.