We Travelled to BANGLADESH for THIS 🇧🇩 First Time in Old DHAKA Surprised us

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Welcome back to Dhaka, Bangladesh.
We're literally walking along a Dhaka highway.
There's no need to touch.
This guy's been walking for like five minutes.
Hello.
As-salamu alaykum.
There we go.
And then you get smiles again.
As-salamu alaykum.
Your favourite colour.
It's beautiful.
It will not snap.
If I fall in, oh my gosh.
Oh my gosh, we're moving.
Oh my God.
How about myself?
I'm now talking Hindi.
Good afternoon and welcome back to Dhaka, Bangladesh.
For around the last 24 hours, the rain has been relentless.
It hasn't stopped, but it's starting to slow down.
So we thought we would head out, head back to old Dhaka
because there is just so much to see in this area.
And we were just crossing the road right now
and we found the coolest vantage point to give you some sort of idea
just how bad the traffic is in this city.
The world's worst traffic.
Welcome back to Bangladesh.
Honestly, it's so much better to walk here in Dhaka.
There's no point in sitting in the traffic.
You won't get anywhere.
Oops, sorry.
And yeah, easier to walk.
We're basically walking kilometres to get to our destination.
As-salamu alaykum.
Hello.
It is honestly so beautiful.
Hi, how are you?
As-salamu alaykum.
How are you?
Alhamdulillah.
Nice to meet you.
It's okay.
I need to learn more Bengali.
Whenever I have a conversation, I say, hello, how are you?
I say, I'm good.
Alhamdulillah.
And then after that, I have absolutely...
Whoa.
Okay, careful.
This way?
No, no, no.
This way is very wet.
I go this way.
This way.
I go this way.
I'm stuck.
We go back this way.
We're stuck.
The road is flooded.
I told you there's been a lot of rain over the last couple of days.
Fantastic.
We are literally walking along a Dhaka highway.
It's not the safest, but it's going to save us from getting absolutely drenched in whatever that water is.
They say crossing a road in Dhaka...
Oh my gosh.
Go, go, go, go, go.
They say crossing a road in Dhaka is dangerous.
How about walking with the traffic?
As-salamu alaykum.
How are you?
Good, good, good.
I'm stuck.
Thank you.
Oh my gosh.
We're out.
We're away.
We're around.
Nowhere.
Walking straight through the mud.
I mean, I don't know if it was the best idea to come out after it's been raining.
Oh, sorry.
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And let's get back to the video.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
No.
It's okay. No touch.
No.
It's okay. It's okay. No, no, no. It's okay. No touch.
Whoa. There's no need to touch.
Yeah, well, he keeps touching me.
He won't stop.
This guy's been walking for like five minutes.
Hello. There we go.
And then you get smiles again.
That's the first guy.
He was walking for about five minutes.
Just keeps touching my back, pulling my shirt.
He wasn't even asking for money.
I don't know what he was saying.
I don't think he was best pleased with me walking, walking around his neighborhood.
We are in the proper back streets of Dhaka right now.
We are on the hunt for Asan Manzil.
Assalamu alaikum.
Which way to Asan Manzil?
You go to here.
Straight this way?
Straight and turn.
Thank you.
Welcome.
Thank you.
Five minutes this way.
See everyone, everyone we have met has been incredibly friendly apart from that guy.
I wish I had the camera on before.
Keep pulling my shirt.
It's crazy.
Even busier than yesterday.
I thought it would be a lot calmer because it had been raining.
But no.
Everyone's still out.
I definitely should have had black trainers because my white trainers are no more.
Assalamu alaikum.
Wa alaikum salam.
Asan Manzil.
Thank you.
Oh my god.
He was the cutest guy ever, wasn't he?
I still haven't figured out why they have the ginger hair and beards.
It's so unique.
This is not the best.
You can see where it's been raining and it's flooded.
And I can't lie, it's blooming.
It stinks.
All of the sewage and the drains have just...
Look, people are walking through it.
How are they...
Oh my god.
Hello.
How are you?
You're good?
Nice to meet you, my friend.
I'm walking.
How do I get inside?
I go around?
This way, this way.
Thank you.
As I was saying, yeah, you can see this is just all flooding.
But it's sewage.
Like, the smell.
I'm good, how are you?
Oh my god.
Yeah.
It stinks.
Donabat, thank you.
And we made it.
This way we walk?
Thank you very much, my friend.
Donabat, they're actually very helpful here.
The ATM nearby wasn't working and we literally have no cash left.
So they let us buy one ticket for 500 and let us both in.
There you go, there is Bangladeshi hospitality.
Your favorite color?
It's beautiful.
This was actually the residence of the most influential family in Dhaka.
And actually at the end, I think of the British rule,
the palace then belonged to nobody.
So it became in decline.
The government took it over and created it as a museum
so that you can actually come and have a look at it.
But yeah, my favorite color.
This is really cool.
They say residence.
It feels more like a palace.
Look at some of these artifacts.
They've got the skull.
Is it an actual elephant skull?
They have the old skull of an elephant.
Some sort of old knight.
It's cool.
It's a nice place to come to walk around the grounds.
Again, get out of the chaos of old Dhaka.
The only problem is the pricing point again.
I don't like it when a country charges you 15 times the local price for being a tourist.
I just don't think it's the way you treat foreigners.
That's your game.
This is cool.
A whole billiard room.
Actually, everything here is really well preserved
and still literally as it was all them years ago.
And we have made it to the other side of the palace.
It deserves the title palace.
Look how impressive this building is.
And it's strategically located right on the river in Bangladesh
that I forget the name of, which is home to the largest port in the whole country.
This is a very touristy place with locals, which is actually really nice to see.
But yeah, the pink, the shades of pink are different the whole way around.
It's beautiful, right?
It's very beautiful.
The shades of pink are different the whole way around
because the sun clearly faces this part the most.
So it's slightly lighter.
And then around the sides, it's extra pink.
Dhundabad, thank you very much.
Back into the chaos.
And just next to us is Bangladesh's biggest river port
where we think, we're not sure,
we think we might be able to get a local boat ride across the river
that I still have forgotten the name of.
Luckily, I actually know some information.
So the name of the river is Baraganga.
Hello, assalamu alaikum.
And this is the Shadabat port area.
Now, unfortunately, because it's been raining,
it is absolutely horrific to walk in.
Yeah, we are literally covered in mud.
If you walk around here at the moment,
there is just mud absolutely everywhere.
But we're coming here for a reason.
Assalamu alaikum.
Can we walk this way?
It's okay to look.
Bangladesh, Bangladesh is good.
Assalamu alaikum.
Are we allowed to have a look?
Okay, just to walk around.
We don't want to get boat, we want to walk.
We don't want to get on the boat, we just want to walk.
Is that okay?
Okay.
How much?
10 Taka.
Can we get a little ticket?
Thank you, Dhundabad.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Dhundabad.
So we just walk?
Walk around?
It's okay?
I like your beard.
Your beard is very nice.
I like it.
Thank you.
Okay, so we have just paid 10 Taka each.
Afterwards, afterwards.
To enter the largest port.
Is this the largest port?
This is, yeah, and it's absolutely hectic.
I don't really understand.
Why have we paid 10 Taka?
I'm not sure.
I only wanted to come and have a look at the ferries.
Shadaghat Port.
You've got all of the launch ferries that can take you around Bangladesh to different cities.
And essentially, like Matt said, it's the biggest port.
There are all the small boats that hopefully we're going to try and jump on.
I don't know what we paid for, to be fair.
I think it's just entrance, isn't it?
Maybe you pay.
Maybe it's just a tourist thing that you pay 10 Taka to come here.
But these are the launch boats.
Assalamualaikum.
Hello.
Wow.
Where does this boat go to?
It's okay to have a look?
We can have a look?
Thank you very much.
It's okay to come on?
Thank you very much.
Wow.
So this is one of the launch boats.
Oh, it's about to go.
Assalamualaikum.
How are you, my friend?
You good?
Yeah, yes.
Yes, wow.
And where are you going to?
Which city?
Can we have a look?
Can we have a look for one minute?
Yes.
Can you show us?
Yes, coming.
Coming, okay.
Wow.
Look at this.
So you have all the sellers that are coming in and selling people
while they are ready to go on their journey.
Basically, this is sleeping or not?
People are sleeping, sleeping.
How long is the journey?
How long?
How many times?
Seven hours.
Hours?
Seven hours, I think.
Seven hours.
Overnight?
Wow.
So yeah, you can get these launches all across Bangladesh.
Assalamualaikum.
And we're going to be doing it hopefully later on during our time across the country.
And it'll be the coolest of experiences.
I think they have all different classes.
So this is like general class and then you can get your own cabins further up the top.
Wow, is this the engine?
Engine.
Wow, can we see?
You can see through there.
This is the engine.
Wow.
It's a very big engine.
Donabad, thank you for showing us.
Assalamualaikum.
Oh, he's taking us.
We go?
We can come?
Oh, amazing.
It's definitely worth the 10 taka now.
We are going into the engine room.
Engine room.
Thank you very much.
Donabad, nice to meet you, my friend.
So friendly.
Wow, so this.
One, two.
Two engines?
These small engines, although they're quite big,
but they're quite small to be powering this massive,
massive boat that's going overnight tonight.
Wow, thank you so much.
Thank you for showing me, my friend.
Really cool.
Thank you, thank you.
Nice to meet you.
Everyone's so friendly, this is what I mean.
No other country could you walk down to a port and get on a ferry that is about to leave.
Hello, oh, I can look out here.
I'm from England.
And you, England?
England.
England, and you, Bangladesh?
Bangladesh.
Number one.
Very good, my friend.
Nice to meet you.
Yes.
I don't understand.
I have no idea.
Nice to meet you, my friend.
Wow, and this is the great river.
It's a pretty spectacular view from the launch ferry.
Like, it's absolutely insane.
Probably a super busy port, kind of chaotic.
Again, I mean, everything in Dhaka is chaotic, but this is insane.
I don't know where he's taking me.
Dinner.
Ah, oh, you have dinner in here.
Dinner in hand, yes.
So this, assalamu alaikum.
This is the restaurant, and this is where everybody comes to eat?
Hey, yes.
Night to dinner.
Tonight's dinner.
So tonight's dinner will be in here.
What do you have for dinner?
Biryani?
Good, thank you, my friend.
That's the restaurant.
Okay, so we're now going up onto, wow, look at these views.
The top deck.
Oh, engine room.
Wow, look at this.
We actually thought we were leaving because we're at a salon.
We're like, what time are you going?
6 p.m.
We've got plenty of time to stand up and enjoy the view from the launch ferries.
I'm actually really excited.
To get one.
Salma, you can see different launch ferries will have different categories.
So this one here has like private rooms with balconies.
So again, it depends on the price that you're going to pay,
whether you want a general experience or like a first class one, which this boat does here.
Okay, on the second floor we have rooms and cabins.
Hello.
Assalamu alaikum.
Hello.
And these are seven, seven sleepers.
I didn't know if he said it was seven or second class.
These are the cabins that you can choose.
They actually look really, really nice.
Actually, I'm really impressed by this launch ferry.
Assalamu alaikum.
Walaikum assalam.
Ah, this one's double.
And how much is this one?
200.
200?
Per person?
5,000, 2 million.
Okay.
How much is that?
I'm not sure.
He said 200, then he said 2 million.
So I'm not sure what the price is.
But we're going higher up.
I didn't expect to be doing this.
I thought I'd be showing you one of these when I was actually setting sail.
We have a few friends joining us.
What is your name?
Your name?
My name is Matt.
What is your name?
He doesn't know his name.
Oh, my gosh.
Only in Bangladesh.
Oh, wow.
Can I drive?
Can we drive?
Look at this.
Would you like to drive?
Yes.
Let's go.
Engine, this turns the engine on.
This is like the key.
Yeah, and stop.
Okay.
Can I have a go with the wheel?
Like this?
Yeah, yes.
Okay.
Oh, it really spins.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Go on, Molly.
Have a go.
It's heavy, right?
In case we end up moving away.
Imagine we do.
And now the speaker.
So next stop.
Next destination.
I understand.
It's very cool.
And this is where the captain sleeps.
Yeah, all the boatmen, they sleep here.
Yes, watching, looking, great.
Very cool.
Thank you so much, my friend.
Thank you.
And this is the front of the boat.
I can stand here.
It's safe?
Yes.
Well, I thought he said no.
I thought I was going to fall through.
And like I said, you can see all of Old Dhaka behind us.
One of these wooden boats down here, we need to get on.
So I go out here.
Oh, it moves.
Very stiff.
No, no.
No?
You're very strong, my friend.
Okay, this is the VIP room.
So you get a little bar from there.
You get your own balcony to look out at the river as it flows along.
In there.
Hello, my friend.
There.
It's a double bed.
Thank you, my friend, for you, for showing me around.
Thank you very much.
Bye-bye.
What a legend.
What a cool guy.
I had to give him something.
He didn't want anything for showing us around the launch.
Possibly the launch that we might get in a few weeks' time.
If you are coming, you need to experience the waters of Bangladesh.
If you don't experience the waters, you might as well not come to this country.
Peace be upon you.
Peace be upon you, too.
How much is it?
How much?
One hundred.
How much?
One hundred?
How much is it?
How much?
We only want to go a little way.
Five minutes around the river.
Two hundred.
I will do two hundred, my friend.
For five minutes, two hundred.
Okay, two hundred.
Okay, we are coming down.
Which way?
This way?
Okay, thank you.
I will see you there.
Okay, so this is what we wanted to do.
We had to get on the river on one of these old traditional boats.
You can take it to the other side.
It is really like a form of local ferry.
You can see all the locals just taking it to go around the different parts of the river.
But there's no point in us going to the other side.
Oh my gosh, look at all the fish.
There are so many big fish jumping up.
Yeah, we don't actually want to go to the other side
because there is somewhere that we want to visit further down the river.
So maybe he can drop us the place we want to go to.
You from Bangladesh?
Bangladesh.
We are going on the boat.
Oh my gosh.
We're hoping to go on the boat.
This is possibly the most polluted river in the world.
The smell, the closer you get.
It's not great, but...
England, England.
You Bangladesh?
We already paid someone.
Money, money.
I have a boat driver.
It's okay.
Thank you.
Thank you, my friend.
He was being cheeky.
Oh, I can't do a balancing act here.
Oh my gosh.
What do we do?
How do I walk?
I do not want to get any of this water on me, boss.
Okay, one second.
We need to be careful.
I do not want to fall in water.
Careful, Molly, careful.
Please do not snap.
What are we doing?
So these are the local boats.
This is the local bridge.
It will not snap.
If I fall in...
Oh my gosh.
Molly, I'm not sure about this.
It's really wobbly.
Oh my gosh.
This is crazy.
How are you?
Peace be upon you.
Wow.
How are you?
I'm good.
Good, good, good.
Which one, Molly?
I can't fit.
I will fall.
Oh my god.
Where do I go?
I cannot fit.
I'm stuck.
You go, my friend.
You go.
My friend, you go.
Oh my gosh.
If I fall in this water...
Oh my gosh, we're moving.
Whoa.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Careful, careful.
Oh.
Oh my gosh.
I was not expecting the commotion.
Whoa, we squat for one minute and then I stand up
because I do not want to get splashed by any of this.
Whoa.
Oh my god.
I'm now talking Hindi.
Oh my god, why are we doing this?
I blame you entirely for this.
This was your idea.
Whoa.
Slowly, slowly, slowly.
I do not want water on me.
Slowly.
Oh my god, I'm sweating.
Welcome to Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Wow.
This is actually really relaxing once you get out of the hecticness.
No splash.
Very slow.
No splash.
Oh, does some have motors?
Some have motors.
Some have...
Oh, this is nice.
Yeah, like I said, it's actually very relaxing.
It's not Venice, but it's nice.
Wow.
This is an experience.
This so far is my highlight of Dhaka,
but I'm concentrating in not falling in the water.
Can we go this way?
Round this way.
Round here.
You can go, like I said, to the other side, but...
Whoa.
There's no point.
There's somewhere that we want to go along the river.
And breathe, and relax, and take in one of the most chaotic waterways,
chaotic ports in the entire world.
Surprisingly, this is actually really nice once you overcome the smell.
I mean, we're quite lucky because I think where it's been raining,
it's actually made it flow.
So it doesn't seem as bad as I was expecting.
But yeah, it's actually really, really nice.
You know, everyone else is out on a little boat ride.
The locals are going from one side to the other,
and we can look at all the launch ferries
and choose which one we want when we go on our journey, hopefully.
Unbelievable.
Whoa.
I'm so scared.
I'm so scared to get splashed by this water,
but we are now going past all of the launch boats.
I'm not actually sure we're going to do a launch boat.
We've heard that you can also do a 100-year-old steam boat
that goes along the same route.
Wow, the sweat is going in my eyes.
So are we going to possibly do that?
But I'm just taking it all in.
Again, what is the name of the river, Molly?
I keep forgetting.
Baranganga.
The Baranganga River.
Just wanted to show you that that is the reality of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Your white trainers turn black.
Hello.
Hi.
As-salamu alaykum.
Alhamdulillah.
Have fun.
Enjoy your journey.
This is what I mean.
Everyone in Bangladesh, and I'm not just saying it because I'm here,
is so friendly, genuinely interested, genuinely friendly.
And I thought we've been told that maybe you might be pestered a bit.
People might not leave you alone.
It actually hasn't been the case at all, apart from that one man,
the man that wanted to pull my shirt for like five minutes.
We made it.
We're back on dry land, back on the wobbliest bridge known to man.
I need to get off this.
Oh my gosh, look at...
Oh my gosh, we're off.
Oh my gosh, everyone's shouting, oh my gosh.
What a cool experience though to get out on the water.
Thank you.
To get out on the water and to see Dhaka from a different perspective.
Those guys, they work hard.
They work really hard.
I don't know what the going rate is.
I think it's around 20 taka a person.
So we paid almost 10 times the price, but it was worth it.
Thank you.
Breathe, I so need this.
This is so funny.
Food vlogging is not allowed.
Oh my gosh, yeah, look, food vlogging is not allowed within management,
without management's permission.
And I wanted to get drunk in it.
We'll get a drink.
We're drinking, we're not eating.
This is very fancy.
So this is the Barayanga Riverview, Barayanga,
I still can't pronounce it, Riverview Restaurant.
Hello, salam alaikum.
We can go outside?
Outside?
Okay, we'll be the only ones crazy enough.
Thank you.
This is stunning.
Look at this.
This is amazing.
But we are the only ones crazy enough to come and sit outside.
If you didn't know, actually, I don't think we mentioned it yesterday.
Bangladesh has a really high concentration of mosquitoes at the minute.
So sitting outside might not be the best idea, but it's beautiful.
See, Bangladesh isn't all chaos.
You can find little gems like this place, look.
It's a really fancy, modern restaurant in the heart, in the heart of Old Dhaka.
Next to the Barayanga River with views, look at the views.
Incredible views.
Incredible spot to have a drink.
Wow.
Thank you very much.
Thank you so much.
Bon Apetit.
Thank you.
No, this is okay.
This is perfect.
This is so, so neat.
And I'll tell you what, I have never, ever sweat this much in my life.
Thank you very much.
It's so hot today.
It's so hot.
I am, my face is sweating so much.
Thank you.
Need some energy to bring me back to life.
This is honestly the most humid place I've ever been.
I thought I was sweating a lot the other day, but today it's taken it to a whole new level.
They've got a really nice menu here.
Obviously not traditional.
They've got burgers and things like that.
I don't think I can eat.
I honestly think I'm going to have to wait till we go back to the hotel tonight to eat any food.
No, it's impossible.
I think I'm going to lose some serious weight in Bangladesh, but it was worth it.
They said, actually, no, we're doing the right thing.
They said, no food vloggers.
We are drinks.
We are drinks vloggers right now, enjoying the view of all the launches,
taking off, going to different destinations around the country.
It's so needed.
I wasn't going to film this as we are now on our way back to the hotel,
but I think we have the world's angriest, craziest auto ritual driver in the world.
Just watch this.
We've crashed once.
I promise you we've crashed once.
This is why I'm filming.
I'm waiting for the next one.
Look, it's shouting at everyone.
Oh my god.
We are going down the tiniest street ever right now.
It's going to shout at someone else.
Oh my god.
Honestly, I'm holding my breath.
Crash number two.
Oh my gosh.
I'm rolling.
I'm rolling just to see what happens.
Oh my god.
The good thing is, it gets you there in half the time.
Good, good.
Uh, what is this?
Every nut?
You eat?
You roast?
Okay, uh...
Kota Taka?
Kota Taka.
15 Taka, 100 Taka.
So 100 grams, for how much?
100 grams.
14 Taka.
Okay, I will have 100 grams.
Do you mix?
You mix the different, the nuts?
Oh my god, this is very interesting.
I've seen this everywhere in Dhaka.
It's just like roasted nuts.
Look, we have a crowd.
Everybody wants to buy nuts.
Yeah, I will have 100 grams of a mix, please.
And you cook them?
Wow.
Are the nuts good?
Good?
Wow, it's just a small little packet of nuts.
England?
And you?
England.
England?
And you, Bangladesh?
Bangladesh is good.
Very good.
So I think, I'm not sure.
How are you?
I'm good, how are you?
Are the nuts good?
They're good?
Does he, does he fry them?
He puts them in here and fries?
I think.
Are you roasting?
You roast?
Already roasted?
Already roasted.
We have like a pot of ash here.
Um, yeah, I really fancy some.
Okay, I will have a mix, please.
Wow.
The nuts are good?
They're good?
Yeah.
Good nuts.
Okay, wow, okay.
Okay, so he's just grabbing them.
Oh, so he isn't roasting at all?
They've already been roasted.
Okay.
So he does it in the morning, I think.
Wow.
They look good.
We've got like a mix of everything.
Yeah, I don't even know how much this will be.
This is a lot of nuts, my friend.
Oh my god, do we need this, Melina?
It's a big mix of nuts.
He even has already packaged.
How much is this one?
Kotutaka?
100 lakha.
100, oh that's okay.
Oh my god, we're going to be feasting on nuts.
We have a lot of nuts.
Everybody wants nuts.
Good morning.
Thank you very much.
Look at this, a nice hot bucket of nuts.
Nice to meet you.
Thanks so much.
Good morning.
There we go.
Good morning and welcome back to Dhaka, Bangladesh.
We thought we'd pop out and get a little snack.
As it is so hot, we're not very hungry.
Like Molly said, we've seen them selling these nuts absolutely everywhere.
It's a shame.
Normally they roast them on the side of the road, but the guy had already roasted them.
We now have a ginormous pack of nuts to get us through for the rest of the day.
That brings our second day really to an end in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
What a city and what an experience getting to see the launch ferries.
Oh my god, my nuts are dropping.
They are, my nuts are falling everywhere.
Seeing the launch ferries and getting to go on a traditional boat on the river,
but we have so many more things to see and do in this crazy, crazy, fascinating city.
I'm going to eat my nuts because I'm dropping them on the floor.
We'll see you in the next one from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
