Bangsal Road in Old Dhaka is a great place to get an exceptional souvenir, that reflects the hectic, noisy yet colorful and special way of life in Dhaka. Rickshaw Art, painted either on PVC or tin, is fairly cheap and a unique gift, since it is hand-painted.
After checking almost every open store in Bangsal Road, we were somehow forced to move on unsuccessfully and end our hunt. While managing to arrange Rickshaw's for our next stop "Lalbagh Fort", this one shopowner approached one of us and told us that he'd open his store especially for us. Apparently word of mouth let people know that five white and a brown kid were looking for an exceptional souvenir to take home.
After picking the colorful paintings of our choice came the fun part: bargaining. With a very special (tourist)price of 650 Taka only per piece, the salesman wanted to rip us off with a big smile on his face. He had one advantage: he was the only one selling Rickshaw Art that day. Me talking Bangla to him, explained him, that these white people would bring him more customers and that he should lower the price. I promised him I would convince them to accept his offer. However, as sneaky as I am, I told my friends in German, that he was going to give them an offer that they had to reject and told them a lower price they should stick with. At the end of this fun game, we ended up at I think 250 Taka per painting. Yet fewer paintings can now be seen in Dhaka attached to the back of a Rickshaw riding through Dhaka, but hopefully soon as decoration in European appartments.
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| My souvenir |
Nice =) Especially the blue and yellow one !
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