These boots are made for walkin'

Today I did a walking tour in Old Dhaka with the Urban Study Group, which is dedicated to raising awareness of the need for historic preservation in the old part of the city.

I had done one of the walks before and had always remembered it as something I felt I should do, but not a very fun activity. Last time I went during the rainy season, which meant it the entire 3+ hours alternated between being very very hot and raining, meaning we would all trudge on under umbrellas, no longer even trying to listen to the guide as we took great pains to avoid piles of wet Old Dhaka sludge.

But today's walk was actually quite enjoyable! It was the perfect time of year, I guess. We had our first thunderstorm (first rain of any kind in months) this week--accompanied by insane hail, I might add--which cut down on the dustiness that overtakes the old town in the dry season. But it's not too hot yet, so overall the timing was ideal.

Here's a view of our tour guide, Taimur from the Urban Study Group, telling us about the Binat Bini Mosque, seen in the background:


The theme for the day was crumbling beauty, sadly. All the buildings have fabulous architectural details but are falling apart. An example:


Another example, accompanied by monkeys:


You may not be able to tell in this photo, but the monkey on the right doesn't have a nose--just a gaping open nostril-hole where a nose should be. Crazy bad-ass.

A day well spent, all in all--it was good to get out, especially after a mopey sick-feeling day yesterday.