Our journey on the Brahmaputra, which began in Gaibandha, continues. The next destination is Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh.

Following a night close to the town of Sirai Ganj, we pass many boats that have loaded cattle destined for the slaughterhouses of Dhaka. With a population of twenty five million, the city requires a constant supply of meat, particularly for the Muslim sacrificial festival of Eid al Adha during which, and according to strict religious rules, hundreds of thousands of animals are slaughtered.

Everywhere on our journey are signs of erosion on the riverbanks, fields and banana plantations, which are inundated by the floods of the Brahmaputra.

We spend a night in a busy harbour. Large ferries embark from here and transport buses and trucks to the opposite riverbank and further destinations. The rivers are Bangladesh’s highways. Next morning we visit a market close to the port, and as is common with all of the markets in this country, a large variety of produce and goods is offered.

Next, a visit to the largest brothel area in Bangladesh. The huge brothel consists of around three thousand tin shacks. The ladies shun photos and publicity as they don’t want the people in their villages to know what they do for a living. Outside the gates of the ghetto is Daulatdia Train Station. Of course, not all of the passengers have come to visit the brothel: but at least seventy-five thousand come here each day to do so.

We journey along the Daleshwari, the river that flows through Dhaka and which holds the record of being the dirtiest river in the world! More than two hundred and fifty tanneries expel their wastewater directly into the river both day and night.

Our river journey ends in Dhaka. The exploration of this city is our next goal, but that’s another story!