Hey guys, today I'm in Bangladesh, one of the worst countries in the world. Here, 165 million people live in an area of
the same size as the Russian region of Vologda. There are so many people here, so much garbage and noise! This if one of the five most polluted countries in the world. By Human Development Index, it ranks 129th in the world, worse than Tajikistan, Iraq and Venezuela. And GDP per capita in Bangladesh is falling behind
such great economies as Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Djibouti. So, today, guys, we are going on an amazing trip through Bangladesh! You may have noticed a bunch of double-decker buses behind me, that is the heritage of the United Kingdom. So make yourselves comfortable, and I hope you'll enjoy this video! The water here is unlivable for fish, and the streets are full of garbage. Garbage everywhere! People must be throwing it straight from their windows. There are entire towns of p********s. "I fell in love with a guy, he brought me here and sold me." - So you started working at the age of 13?
-Yes, exactly. -How old are you?
- I don't know the exact number. A ship graveyard. If the workers see us, they'll start throwing stones here. This place is poor, dirty and overcrowded. You can film rubbish all you want, but you can't film the beautiful sights,
some weirdo will come out and stop you. - I think you've filmed enough. Welcome to Bangladesh! The biggest mystery of Bangladesh for me is
how they manage not to die here. A truck trying to crash into you, on one hand, and a barge chasing your boat, on the other. Ah, my back... Bangladesh is a relatively new country on the world map. It appeared only in 1971, while this civilization is one of the oldest in the world. Formerly the land of Bangladesh was called Bengal. It was the eastern corner of Indian civilization. Bengal was part of different Indian states. In the 18th century the country became independent for a short period, but was later integrated into British India. Following the departure of the British and the division
of India, Bangladesh became part of Pakistan and remained so for a quarter of a century. In 1970, the Awami League party won the elections in East Pakistan, as Bangladesh was known back then. It did not demand independence,
but wanted autonomy for their region. The Pakistani authorities refused to form
the government according to the results of the elections, that caused mass protests in Bangladesh, as people had already been asking for independence before. On March 26, 1971, the authorities launched Operation Searchlight. The following day Bangladesh declared its independence. Pakistani authorities started massive crackdowns, millions of refugees left for neighboring India. India itself first supported the guerrillas in Bangladesh, and then went to war. The joint operation of the Indians and the guerrillas resulted in the defeat of the Pakistani troops. On December 16, 1971, Pakistani troops surrendered. Bangladesh became an independent country. And Dhaka became its capital. That's exactly where we will begin our tour of the country. One of the main problems in Bangladesh is terrible overpopulation. Just think about it: by population, it ranks 8th in the world. by territory - 92nd. In terms of road length, the country ranks 20th in the world, but their roads are pretty bad. Traffic jams are crazy. Railway is an alternative. There are 2,500
kilometers of railroads, which is not a lot for 165 million people. As a result, the trains are always full. People get inside from everywhere, as if they were flies. Rajshahi Express is particularly famous for this. It's a train from Dhaka to Chapainowabgonj During the festival of Eid al-Fitr up to eight million people are leaving Dhaka to go to their villages in the northeast. In this period it is impossible even to get on top of the train. You have probably seen these pictures. It only happens on holidays, but even aside from this, trains are not exactly great here... They are old and very slow. So mainly people get around the city
and between the cities by bus or in a car. There is a lot of chaos on the roads, for several reasons First, it's a complete disregard of the traffic rules. People here don't care: they drive into oncoming traffic, park wherever they want, turn wherever they want. Another problem is that there are a lot of bicirickshaws here, many of which move with pedestrians' speed or even slower. The road itself is a big issue. There are no traffic lights or signs. People have to manage on their own, and it often happens that they follow the principle: "he who is stronger shall pass first". Here we are, another traffic jam. Everybody is stuck here, everybody is stuck there. No one's going anywhere, because we are in Bangladesh. By the way, look at the condition of the buses. Buses here are made of.. god knows what. But they are painted, some - multiple times. They are covered in all this s**t. They are rusty. you can really see that. Some of them are freshly painted, but others... not really. People get on the bus, and get out without the vehicle stopping. The most surprising thing in this whole mess is that they honk their horns all the time. What for? I don't know. I mean, no one is moving anywhere anyway. Why honk? Can you hear this endless noise? Everyone is honking their horns. From my point of view, it doesn't make any sense, but apparently people like it. Maybe honking makes them feel better mentally Maybe it gives them a feeling that something will change. Of course, nothing will change. This guy over here stopped for a cigarette. This, by the way, is very common in Dhaka. Don't be tricked into thinking this is an extraordinary situation here. It happens all the time. This bus is fed up with this traffic, so it let people go out right in the middle of the road. And this is a railway. There's this overground metro in the city,
for people to get around somehow. They are trying to solve the traffic problem like this. So, it's like a light rail line here. It was opened recently. Now let's see how light rail works in Dhaka. There is a large station above the road. You can see people rushing here. The escalator doesn't work, of course. The metro is fairly new for the Bangladeshis. There has never been anything like that here, so people are taking pictures on the platforms, taking selfies with the train, to show others what it looks like. In addition, there are a lot of guards, policemen and metro workers here. They literally accompany passengers by the hand,
and explain how to use the turnstiles, where to go, how to buy tickets. Everyone is taking pictures, and here is a guard, he has an important job:
to keep people away from this yellow line. He's like: do not go there!
There must be order. By the way, look at the fence that they have at the station. I've never seen anything like that before. Because usually you can just change sides
and take the other train, like, if you took the wrong direction first. But here,since the subway is the new transport, a new entertainment for the Bangladeshis, people may just want to travel back and forwards for fun. That's why they divide streams of people
according to the direction. So, if you came from one side and want to go to another, you must leave the metro and buy a new ticket
to go to the other side. Amazing, isn't it? The train is coming! Look, look! Everybody's filming it. Even me. Our friend Foisal is also filming. There has never been anything like that in Dhaka. What a miracle! Everybody's taking pictures, because when else will you get on the subway? Amazing. A robot voice has just announced that the train won't stop at the next station. The station is still under construction, so the train doesn't stop here. Even the guard is taking a picture. How nice. As you can see, my friends, there is
a huge problem with traffic in Dhaka, and they know about it. That's why 20 years ago
a research on this topic was started hoping to find solution. The Americans and the World Bank were in charge of that. and back then, in the late 2000s,
it was advised that they build a metro. But you need money to build it,
so they had been searching for funds for a long time. They finally started designing it in the early 2010s, and the Japanese took over the project. In the end, the miracle of modern technologies, the light rail was opened on December 28, 2022. In other words, it's super new. There's only one line for now,
and only a few stations are operating. The subway is used more for fun at the moment. Here is a map of the first line. And information of the tariffs. It is not very clear, but the trip costs on average, 40, 50, 60 cents. So, less than a dollar. And this is what a metro pass looks like. You can see the main attractions here. By the way, here is a cute detail that caught my attention: the flag of Japan and the flag of Bangladesh look alike. The only difference is that the Japanese have a red circle on a white background, and Bangladeshis: on a green background. They say that the color green symbolizes Islam, and the red circle is a rising sun for both the Japanese and Bangladeshis. In the case of Bangladesh, it is also the symbol of independence. But if we take a closer look at the flag of Bangladesh, perfectionists are not going to like it. Because the circle, the red circle symbolizing the sun, is a bit off. It is not in the middle of the flag, but a little more towards the flagpole. Metro is new to Dhaka, but water transport has been around for quite a while. A lot of cables, people, garbage... There must be a river somewhere here, according to the map. Garbage is everywhere! People must be throwing garbage right from their windows. And here we are, at a beautiful waterfront, To enjoy... you're excused... to enjoy this stunning view. What a beautiful river. It's as if we were in Venice: they also have gondolas here, which you can use to go somewhere. Now let's put them to the test. This is what the shore looks like. What can I say? It's as if we were in Paris. There is a public restroom here. People are s*****g there. Here is a landfill, a lot of garbage. The water in this river is black, and in general, Dhaka is really polluted. A total of 350 tons of waste are estimated
to be dumped into the river daily. I don't know if you can see it, but the water is black. From the smell I can tell, the sewage is definitely dumped there, along with the garbage and other s***t. The river is dead, there's no fish, nothing. Because, according to scientists, there's no more oxygen in the water. All living things died, except for microorganisms that don't need oxygen, they still manage to survive there. There are strange boats all along the shore, a lot of small vessels or something. And people get from one bank to the other aboard these little boats. Here you can see the banks full of garbage, all this stuff is garbage, and it gets into the river, so the water turns black. Although the river is dead: the water stinks, there's no fish, no plants - people still use this water! They wash the dishes in it, they swim, they bathe here. It is unbelievable. Look at all this action along the bank. There are boats and various ships here. In addition, there is this kind of a barge here, that is so heavily loaded that
it is almost completely immersed in water. And these guys in this boat are diving to the bottom looking for some metal parts or something that they can sell later. They've dropped anchor and now theta are going
to dive, to get something off the bottom. He's going to change now. And this is his mask. What can you see with this mask? The water is literally black. They've got a mask and an oxygen hose. This dude keeps diving, but he hasn't
found anything yet. So we'll go on with our trip now. What's interesting is that the traffic on the water here
is almost the same as on the roads. Nobody gives a damn about what's going on. We are going to bump into them.. All good. They've brought some grass to the market. This is how they get things to the market, and all the excess is dumped into the river later. This is the vegetable market, the boats with vegetables arrive here, then they are unloaded by hand, here you can see that all the trash goes into the river. Directly to the river. No one cares about it. The important thing is to sell the salad that they've brought here, To sell all these baskets. The greens that they've unloaded from the boat. There are contrasts everywhere in Bangladesh. On one bank they sell stuff right on the ground, on the other one - there is a whole district of public institutions. This is the building of the National Assembly of Bangladesh. Its construction began in 1961, when Bangladesh was still part of Pakistan. It was finished only in 1983, when the country became independent. The building's architect, Louis Kahn, died nine years before its completion. In fact, after the partition of India in 1947, the Bengal region was divided in half according to religion. The western part was left with India, and the Muslim part, the eastern one, with Pakistan. Pakistan and the current territory of Bangladesh were more than 1,000 kilometers apart, and they became one country. Immediately after, in East Pakistan, as Bangladesh was called then, there emerged independence movements. So, the building os the national assembly was started back when the country was ruled by Pakistan. But in 1971, Bangladesh started a war for independence
and won it with the help of India. And Louis Kahn changed the building project
focusing more on democracy. A concrete octagon was placed in the center of the building, where the parliament is located. Eight other blocks were built around it, all connected with the central part. Kahn was a master of brutalism and modernism, so the building came out stern-looking, and extraordinary at the same time. The main building in Bangladesh was dedicated to democracy, but the democracy itself is not doing very well in this country. According to the Democracy Index Bangladesh ranks 75th in the world, 30 points lower than neighboring India. It is still above Russia or Belarus, though. In December last year, large-scale demonstrations broke out in the country. The opposition nationalist party demanded the resignation of the government. The protesters themselves stated that
around 200,000 people gathered there. But according to the authorities,
they did not exceed 30,000. So, in terms of architecture, this building is one of the main attractions here,
at least for architecture enthusiasts. I mean, the famous Louis Kahn built such a great parliament for Bangladesh. And I wanted to come closer.... and study it better. But no, they put a fence here. Specifically for the protesters. People say that in the past you could come closer, but now there's this fence and it is no longer possible. They are walled off from ordinary people, so we can't get any closer than that. You can only look at this spectacular building in the images on the Internet,
or through the fence. It is forbidden to film not only the National Assembly itself,
but also the houses of there officials nearby. These buildings the houses of the parliament members. Their little houses. Amazing. And here is a pond and a fence. By the way, it turns out you can't film from behind the fence either. Because now when I tried to record again, the guards came out, started whistling at me, like:
"how dare you filming something here?" Even behind the fence. Again some bull s*** on the road...
Fence, cops, all this mess. No, I can't feel the democracy here. Louis Kahn must have imagined something else
when designing the building. And now his building is behind two fences. Try to enjoy it, can you? Every 50 meters of the road, there's a cop who stops you from recording. Now, after seeing the houses of the civil servants
let's look at another bureaucracy entity! I'm talking about the post office. The post office in Dhaka really surprised me. Guys, I've arrived at the post office. What's interesting about it? The main department of the post office offers a wide variety of benches! Urban planning solutions found me in a place
where I least expected them! Look, first there are plated benches like this. as if we were in a park, there's even
someone working on their laptop here. They must have been stolen from a park. There are smaller benches. There are standard ones, made of metal, as if they were from the airport or train station. There are high and uncomfortable ones. Also, they have different kinds of chairs there. What a variety of seats. This is what the post office looks like. In Bangladesh, there's a huge number
of people living in a very small area. It is one of the ten most overpopulated countries in the world. At the same time it yields only to countries
like Monaco, Singapore and Bahrain. The population density here is 1,300 people per square kilometer. For comparison, in Japan a total of 330 people live in 1 square kilometer, and in Russia, a total of 8.5 people.
Yeah, we're enjoying the space in Russia. So it's not surprising that in Bangladesh, people are
also forced to live on the rails. When I was here first time,10 years ago, I captured the amazing shacks
that were located right on the rails. I suggest that we go and see if they still exist now. On the way, we'll pass by the fish market.
Yes, another market! This is the fish market, and here they break the ice. This is how they clean fish. This fish market - it may seem like a regular market, but it is very authentic, Bangladeshi style. A lot of people, a lot of different kinds of fish... So, what's so special about it? At the end of the market, near the railroad tracks, there is a whole department where they clean the fish. There are people sitting here and cleaning the fish, then the fins are removed
with a fixed knife, like this one. So, there are dozens of people working here. The people behind me are in charge of cleaning the fish. You can buy something, bring it here and they'll clean it for you. So it is ready to be cooked. Very convenient. Look at this service! There are dozens, dozens of people. Fish cleaning is truly mass here! One cuts the fins the other guts it, The third one cuts it into pieces
and puts them in baskets. Everything is done very fast. Men, women and children work together. This man, for example, has brought a bag
of fish and is waiting to have it cleaned. Great service! And here you can see some goats... Here they are sawing something. Life goes on not only in the marketplace, but also on the railway, leading to the market. And the train traffic is not even stopped! Sometimes an occasional train passes. People get from the market directly to the tracks, people are drying the fish scale here, someone is selling plates... You'll see it now. So, Bangladeshis learned to survive on these roads. When the train is coming, they can feel it. And just a moment before the train comes, they remove their stuff. They get off the tracks and the train can pass. Then they occupy the tracks again. People sell stuff right on the railway. You see, they came out here. Those who didn't find space in the market, took over the tracks. And they are selling things right here! There was a signal, that means a train is coming.
Let's see how fast people will leave the tracks. For now, no one is in a hurry. Everyone is still trading without any changes. Just look at how many people are walking along the tracks. Basically, the railroad tracks are used as a walking area. People don't care much. The passage barrier is already lowering, but people don't look sideways. They don't seem to worry. They'll probably move at the last moment. The guy has no arm. I don't know if it has anything to do with him walking on the tracks. Here you can see how many people are on the tracks, although the barriers have already been lowered. Basically, they are going to get away at the last moment. The train is coming. The train has passed and life and commerce go on. Unfortunately, I do not have the statistics on those who died like this, not leaving the rails in time, but I believe that those that were slow were subjected to natural selection. Only the strongest and most skilled ones remained. I'm a bit worried cause I am not that experienced. Lately there have been no accidents that have left fatalities. But a few years ago the train went on the wrong track. As a result, 26 people died immediately. - That was two years ago? - Four.
- Four years ago and 26 people died? Yes, that's right. This is what the traffic looks like at the intersection. These bicirickshaws, cars, everyone's running. As you can see, they are also moving in the oncoming lane. Note that the passage barriers are on both sides, although here the traffic is heading that way, you may ask why do they need a barrier after the railway? Excactly because people are moving both ways. To block the oncoming traffic. The barrier has been lifted, now everyone is trying to move forward. But the bicirickshaws are quite slow. The horrible shacks from the past were demolished, but people still live in terrible conditions. For example, they collect metal to survive. What about these guys? What do they do? They are looking for plastic and metal. They collect it and sell by weight. Per kilogram. May I see? How much plastic do you collect in a day? It depends, today we were lucky, a truck came and dumped the garbage, so today we did find it. - Okay, I see. - It is not a regular thing. - Yes I understand, but is it $100 or, like, $200 a month? - How much do you earn a month? - Every month about 20,000 takas. -20?
-Yes. -Equivalent to $200. How many people are in your family? - Three. - Three people, is she your wife? - No, she is the wife of the man in the shirt. -IHis wife?
-Yes, she is his wife. -And how many people are in his family?
-Four. Two children, husband and wife. - And who are you? - I am the buyer. - Ah, you buy from them? You are a buyer, and they are sellers. After buying the waste, how much do you sell it for? - When I am in the market, there's a fixed price there. Iron is 53 takas per kilo. Plastic: 45 per kilo. - How much do you earn per month from the sale? - 25,000-30,000 takas. - So, take it from them, and to whom do you sell it? - I sell it to resellers. - And what do they do with that? - They melt the plastic, make tubes and other things. - How old are you? How old is she? - Seven. - And you? - 13. - He is 13. - But today is Monday, why aren't they at school? - They lack money, they cannot pay for their studies, buy books and so on. That's why they skip school. - Are they only skipping today or... - No, they don't go to school at all. This is the end of an era, my friends, because there used to be amazing slums next to these tracks here. I was walking here! With my own legs! I remember every corner of these slums. And now they demolished everything. No more authentic Bangladeshi shanties. In Russia, the inhabitants of districts like this would be very fond of alcohol. But in Bangladesh everything is different. If you want to stop drinking, guys, come to Bangladesh. According to 2018 statistics, people in Bangladesh hardly drink any alcohol. It is not surprising, as the national religion is Islam. And until 2022 one could go to jail for drinking alcohol. The ban was only for Muslims, and the others needed special permission. But every time the authorities forbid something, a black market comes into play. Bangladeshis often got sick or even died from the adulterated liquor. The Bangladeshi government recognized the problem
and decided to legalize alcohol little by little. An official permit is still required to purchase alcohol, but now it's easier to get it. However, Muslims also need to provide a doctor's prescription, and the doctor has to have at least a PhD! Yes, you need a doctor's prescription to drink alcohol here. Like marijuana in some countries. By the way, the recipe must include the disease, for which one needs a drink. and the reason for resorting to such medication. I think a valid reason would be that you are fed up with this constant noise and dust, and if you don't drink, you might not survive. The interesting thing is that foreigners do not need any permission. They can drink alcohol in bars and restaurants. But there are very few places like this. Alcohol is not sold in ordinary stores, and prices are 10 times higher than in Russia or Europe. For example, a can of beer at the hotel costs $15. A cheap Australian wine, Jacob's Creek, which is sold in any supermarket, and costs less than 10 dollars. Here the bottle costs 200-250 dollars. A common South African wine: here it also costs 250-300 dollars per bottle, while in Europe it costs 5-7 euros, and in Russia, maybe 10-12. If you go to Bangladesh, keep in mind that you won't be able to have a drink here.
Or only a very expensive one. So quit it! Quit drinking now! And learn to enjoy the views of Bangladesh without it. Everything is weird with alcohol in Bangladesh, even at the airport. There is a very limited choice of alcohol and other items. Someone brought several boxes of whiskey and they are here, looking very sad. Also, I have a feeling that it might be fake. It actually looks like grandpa's collection. There are some bottles without labels. I don't even understand what it is... it costs 9 dollars. Oh, it's whiskey. Harbin beer. Some unknown wine. Made in England. Borisov. Premium class vodka. What year is it from? These revenue stamps look strange. It says it contains 37.5% alcohol. Premium Vodka. This is the first time I see something like this in Duty Free. This is fun, because it's a room for internal flights, and all the surfaces that could be filled
with ads are filled with ads. There are screens everywhere. You get washing machines, cars and jewelry ads from all sides. Yeah, very pretty. The only thing they didn't think through
is that it's an airport after all. and people need to know the information on their flights. Here there is practically no information on the screens, so airport employees have to call
passengers with a tiny speaker. The little screens for flights info do not work. No information here. It honestly surprises me sometimes how far people can go to post their advertisements. Like, you know, sometimes a mayor hangs
ad banners all over the town, And here the head of the airport decided to do the same. "You have to use every opportunity to earn money" However, I am not sure that this amount of advertising is efficient in any way, but what's done is done. I am heading to Chittagong, the second largest city and the most important port of Bangladesh. I went there with only one goal, to see the local ship graveyard. Bangladesh is a very poor country. According to different estimates, the average salary of
a Bangladeshi does not exceed $250 a month. By GDP, Bangladesh barely surpasses Denmark, while Bangladesh is 27 times bigger than Danmark. Thanks to that, Bangladesh has very cheap labor. So you can do labour-intensive businesses here! For example, breaking ships into pieces. Huge cargo ships are brought to Chittagong, the ones that can no longer be used at sea. There are more than 20 piers nearby, where they dismantle ships to get the iron from them. Thousands of people work in these marine graveyards. They often work by hand without proper equipment. And they suffer from injuries and poisoning with toxic materials. But, as I've already said, Bangladeshis don't have much choice. They are willing to do any job. Here on the coast there are a lot of workshops where ships are sawn. According to publications on the matter, half of the ships that fell into disuse end up here, on the coastline in Bangladesh, where they break them into iron. All of that looks incredibly epic. Imagine a huge ship thrown to the shore as if it was a whale. And these people, with their primitive instruments, break this old iron parts. They cut pieces of it little by little. This looks incredible. There are videos and some images of that on the internet, but lately they have tightened the rules of access to this site. They fear that if it becomes public, if foreigners film it, this local business will be closed. They care about their money, because this thing brings them profit. The fact is that a couple of months ago a report was published about these workshops where they dismantle ships. It was published in a foreign magazine. That affected the business itself. That is why all foreigners are prohibited from visiting the shipyards. I don't know what magazine it was, but... Trust me, I did all I could to convince them to let us in. I even told them that you were two foreign professors who study ships dismantling, and you needed to collect data for your studies. But they still rejected us. Despite the ban, we wanted to see it. At least from a distance. Now I'm going to take a boat and we are going to see everything right from the sea. This is what it looks like from the water, you can't get very close. First, there are some sticks and nets there, I guess, the workers built some kind of water fence, so that no one gets closer. Second, the boys from our boat are afraid to go there. They say, If the workers see us they will start throwing stones at us. Also, there are guards here, in speedboats. And if they see someone filming, they can stop us, and who knows what they will do... They just really don't like it when people film them. Because the working conditions are... particular here, The safety rules are obviously not followed, I saw how a considerable part of the ship simply collapsed into the sea. They break it from the inside and the giant pieces fall into the sea, and then they take them to the shore with wire cables and break them into smaller parts. Obviously sooner or later someone will get injured here, with these sawns. It has become possible thanks to very cheap labor. People earn 5-7 dollars a day doing this job. Meaning that, per month, if they work every day, they earn 150-200 dollars. But it costs nothing to do it, so dozens of people choose this dangerous work. Nothing is automated, the tools are primitive, because normal equipment costs more than a worker with a stick. That's how they bring tools and fuel to the boat. What is this spectacular city famous for? It is the second largest city in Bangladesh with a population of around 10 million people. Also, here they honour the memory of Soviet sailors. How did they even get here? In 1972, more than 50 years ago, Soviet sailors came here to provide assistance to the young country of Bangladesh,
which had just declared its independence, and there was a problem, cause after the war the only port here was mined, and furthermore, it was blocked by sunken boats. During the war boats were blocking it on purpose, they were sank ,so that you could not approach the shore, the docks were destroyed. This could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe, because even the boats with humanitarian aid
on board couldn't get to the shore. So the young and independent country of Bangladesh turned to others for help. The sunken ships had to be removed,
the port had to be demined. And, as they say, I can't know for sure, all countries asked for a fairly high price for their service. And only the Soviet Union was ready to do it for humanitarian reasons. As a gesture of goodwill. A gesture of Soviet-Bangladesi friendship. Soviet sailors came here, they brought modern equipment and for two years they were removing the sunken ships, demining the port and, well, helping the Bangladeshis in other ways. They say that the local population was worried, because they thought the only free cheese is in the mousetrap, especially if it's from the USSR. They thought the Soviet sailors and military
were going to impose their order here, that they would build a military base or something "What do they do it for?" There was no need to worry. The Soviet Union cleaned the bay and left these lands in peace. By the way, I was reading some memories of one of the participants of this special operation and he commented on the difficulties faced by Soviet sailors. First, there was a very strong current. You could only work a few hours a day, between high tide and low tide. Second, there was zero visibility. Because underwater, even in January - when they say
the water is clean - you still can't see anything I mean, nothing at all. The sea is super dirty, that's why raising the sunken boats to the surface was a huge problem. Also, there was a lot of mud, and some ships were sunk 5-10 meters in it, so it they had to remove this mud first and then to lift it somehow. Also, the weather. The temperature was like 40 degrees above zero, a lot of insects, they had to work in these terrible conditions. But these Soviet sailors and engineers were heroes: they cleaned the bay and now in Bangladesh... I wanted to say that everything is fine, but no. It's still very bad, but at least back then they helped them. You can no longer find Soviet sailors in Bangladesh, but let's look for fishermen, who now can navigate the cleared bay. There is low tide now, and all the fishermen's boats basically ended up in the field. After lunch the water will rise and they'll be in the sea again. All that will be filled with water. And now these boats seem so sad, they are stuck in the field for now. And we are around a kilometer away from the sea. The sea is far away! It would be good to launch a drone here, but drones are strictly prohibited in Bangladesh. That's why I decided not to risk it I will have to enjoy these little boats lying in the fields near the coast from the ground. Which is not so impressive. By the way, here is an interesting fact. They make these lakes in a way that the fish stays here after low tide. And then they capture them with a net. The boy caught a crab. He caught a crab! Let me see, show me the crab. Show me. It's a big crab! They sell fried crabs right here. You can buy one and eat right here. And this must be the sales woman. There are shrimps and something else, some unknown fish. It should be noted that it is very quiet here and it's safe to film here. Maybe it will be different in other places, but for now no one has been outraged that I am recording, nor did they try to hide from camera or ask for money, everyone seem pretty chill. They are just minding their own business. and no one pays attention to a curly traveler from the far, cold Russia. And that is the right thing to do. The afternoon arrives, the high tide, and the port gains a second life, because if you wanted to take a boat to go to the island during the day, here within a few kilometers there is an island, very populated, and the boats to go to this island are overcrowded. During low tide to get to the boat you have to go along a long pier, one kilometer long, you can walk or take this bike cart. The boats are already starting up, there are some fast boats too, each has two 75 horsepower Yamaha engines, They go to this island, full of people. Soon the boarding will be done here, because the water rises rapidly. They write that the water level changes by 5 meters. I don;t know if it's true. But apparently the sea really goes away a lot and comes back. We couldn't buy any fish, but let's see the city at least. It's interesting: they work with these cables, and the ladder is supported by the same cables. And the cables here, as it is usually the case in Asia, are infinite. I think no one knows which ones are actually in use. The buses, the rickshaws, just like in India. Yes, the traffic looks amazing here. Especially if you need to cross the street. Now I'm going to try to do it very carefully. Oh, I made it. Now I can enjoy local transportation. Bicycle rickshaws, motor rickshaws, buses. And, as you can see, people don't care about which lane to take. Of course, it causes a lot of tension when everyone is honking their horns. I don't understand this logic. They just go and honk their horns. Just like that, you go and honk. After half an hour, I have a terrible headache. maybe it's just me, but this noise... It's a lot. Traffic jams appear out of nowhere. Because, as you can see, the speed can't be high, as there are bike rickshaws in every lane. People are crossing the street, and everything can stop literally out of nowhere, and nobody can go anywhere. But people don't care. And this is a person sleeping in a tied bag. In the middle of the road, I don't understand how he got there nor how is he going to get out of there. But that also happens. This is what the train station looks like. Looks a lot like India. There aren't so many people, though.
Nobody's sleeping on the floor. People line up for tickets, pressing one against the other. Well, even though it is the second largest city, It takes seven hours by train to reach Dhaka, the capital. There is no good rail connection, and the trains are very slow, everything is messed up, so it's better to go by car. And by car it takes 4 hours to get there. No trains! They've built the station, but I only see one train, It's still under construction, I think. They've already planted some flowers here. Soon everything will look great. It seems strange to me, cause with so much population they could have developed an efficient railway system. And this one... it can be used, but only because there's no alternative. I don't think you can go far with this. The trains generally look like those in India. The interesting thing is that they don't wash the cars, the cars are very dirty. There is an option for the richer ones, with some armchairs. In addition to dead ships and fish, the sea supplies
Chittagong with salt. This is what the salt boats look like. Everything is filled with salt. They bring it to salt warehouses by hand, there it is packaged in bags, and from there, it goes to the stores or wholesale buyers. There are also those big ships, from where the salt is unloaded with a crane. There are some trucks, so it is like an industrial process, the transportation of the salt. And there are also these small boats, from where they carry the salt to the warehouse. Now the tide is low, so these boats, they are on the shore now. And they're carrying the salt in these baskets, then they weigh the baskets. These guys are weighing them. 52 kilos. So, people are carrying 50-kilo bags all day long. On their heads. And they look happy and cheerful. It will take forever to unload this boat. It seems that it would be easy to automate everything here, but labor costs less than any machine. That's why there is no automation. Everything is the same as it was 1,000 years ago. And they wash it here, right? There are people standing in this salt mixture
doing everything by hand. They wash the salt in the water, and then the process continues here. The skin becomes hard from the salt. That hurts a lot. Look! They all suffer from it. This is refined salt. A salt market! Here is a salt storage, they pack it in sacks right here. And then it goes further. Each bag weighs 50 kilos. In general, carrying 50-kilo bags on your head is not very good for your health. But the people here have no choice. I decided to try their lifestyle myself. My back I don't understand how these guys can
carry those bags of salt so calmly. For me it is a mystery, because the bag is super heavy! - It's not the bag that's heavy, it's that someone is weak here. The bags of salt delivered here on heads
then get sorted. In some parts they are hand-selected, in others there are conveyor like this. Hello -Where are you from?
-From Russia. I'm a tourist This is how packaging is done. Look at this speed! One after another, one after another! How much do they earn? Those who transport salt ger
less than those who process it later. But on average they earn 5-7 dollars a day. The workers eat in the same market where they work. By the way, food prices are not very low for their salaries. How much does it cost to get some bread and a banana? I see that they normally buy bread and bananas. And tea. - Bread costs 10 takas, It's 1 cent. Bananas - also 10 takas. And tea, 5 takas. That is, 0.5 cent. In total, 25-30 cents for a meal. It's more like a snack for them. Not a proper meal. Taking into account that they earn less than a dollar per hour, they need to work one hour to have a banana and a slice of bread here. One of those bags is mine. One of the bags in this car is mine! I sacrificed my back for it. There are fancier stores here, you can buy mineral water, for example. From this market the cars go to send the salt somewhere else. Some cars here... are not doing great! I don't even know what it is. He looks sad. But it is full of salt. Bangladeshi men find themselves forced
to engage in hard physical labour. However, women's lives are not easy either. Thousands of women are forced to provide sex services and in popular places entire brothel cities arise. We will now visit one of those. It's not so easy, buying cheap love You have to cross the ferry crossing. Bridges are not available everywhere in Bangladesh, so we will now get on a ferry. Let's see how the ferry crossing works. Until now we have been on several ferries. Special ferries for cars are needed. There are several ferries here. But for some reason our driver doesn't like them. I've noticed that there are Argentine flags everywhere. You can also see Argentine soccer players Well, the people here like soccer, they like Argentina. And they like Brazil. But they prefer Argentina. There are giant Argentine flags on houses, gas stations, in the streets, there are Argentine flags everywhere. On each pole there is a small flag of Bangladesh and beneath it, there are flags of Brazil or Argentina. This is interesting: even though this is a very busy passage, there is no road, there are no signs Here they have a very strange way of mooring the ferries. They get closer and then they approach sideways, A ticket for this technical marvel costs 1,300 in the national currency. There are some merchants here, beggars. While people are embarking, let's have a, if you want, room tour of the Bangladeshi ferry. What’s in here? There is a bathroom. There is a spectacular bar where can you buy water, and potatoes. The presentation of the items is awesome. They don't put them in boxes, instead they just hang them. And it comes out so beautiful. What do we have here? Here are the rooms of the crew. There are some wood platforms to sleep on, some questionable food. Everything here is really fascinating. What is up there? Here is an open deck, and from here you can enjoy the spectacular local landscapes. And if something bad happens, you better stay near here. It needs to be fixed or nothing can be taken out from there. - So nobody steals it! What did you think? Otherwise they’ll steal them! The life rings... ...you have to pull this wire. If you want to survive, you will find a way, okay? Or you will tear the wire. - No, you can't do that. - It seems that you can. - Now it's good. They let us into a holy place, this is where the captain sits, on this luxurious throne. The ferry is departing! Of course, it's the only clean place here. Because everyone must take off their shoes. And here is a bell. By the way, guys, notice the hospitality, kindness and cordiality of the Bangladeshis, because I asked the captain if it’s possible to see how it works, and he said "sure". Just don't sink our ferry. Also, he brought me free tea, and he said "I'll treat you". Sit here in the captain's cabin if you want. You can check everything ut, turn the rudder wheel. They are incredibly kind and friendly people. It is impossible to imagine something like this in Norway, the US or Russia. There are no hearts like that: kind and open. Nor the careless attitude towards safety rules and the laws, like they have here. As for the safety rules, I don't understand how they survive. Because if you think that the roads here are scary, just look at what happens in the river! Ferries, barges, one against another. There are boats going different directions, as if they were cockroaches in the kitchen at night. It is not clear how they avoid daily tragedies here... People sell stuff on the rail tracks,
the train comes and they move away, then they come back. And it's like this in all aspects of their life. As for the safety rules, I'm not sure, but I think, it is forbidden that bus passengers
stay inside the bus while on a ferry. Because if something happens, they won't be able to save themselves. Passengers must leave the cars and
stay in the ferry room where there is rescue equipment. But here people are sitting in the bus. If the ferry tilts a bit, they won't survive. They have no chance to be rescued, because they are locked in buses. And there are children inside! This is a complete mess. You can see that there are people inside the buses. So when you hear that somewhere in Bangladesh, Africa or Asia, a ferry sank leaving a huge number of dead, the high number of victims was probably caused
by a careless attitude towards safety rules. Here we are at the ferry exit. Look how it works, it's a mess. You see, the ferry opens while everything is blocked by moto-rickshaws. They pick up the passengers and they don't let the cars go out, until people get in them. Everything is a mess. This is how it works here. Exactly what I was saying: a bus full of people, in case something goes wrong, here come the victims. Which is not really right... But people here don't care. The shore was strengthened with sacks, many of which are torn. They also throw garbage right here. and then there is the dirt highway. And now I'm going to get hit by a bus. I am in Daulatdia, my friends! It is a small city, practically a village, but it is remarkable for being one of the largest brothels in the world. At some point, there were up to 1,500
sex workers here. This place appeared here because
there are many truck drivers crossing the river right nearby. They stop by in search of "love" for money. During the pandemic this village had serious problems, because there were restrictions on passage, meaning there were no customers. At some point the girls who work here
were almost starving. They had to send humanitarian aid. The situation was very bad. People had to be rescued, because
the village relies solely on transit traffic. The people who work here now - they don't really leave this place that often. Many girls providing services here, were also born here. So, it's one generation after another, and it's not that easy to get out of here. The local railway station. I'm not sure trains still operate here. The road is paved with bricks, just like in Amsterdam. It is the only thing that this wonderful place
has in common with Amsterdam. Wait, actually, love for money is
another thing they have in common. Red bricks below, and red lights above. This is what this wonderful (quotation marks)
place looks like, a place that is considered one of
the largest brothels in the world. The problem is that as soon as we entered there, I mean, me, the driver and the translator, the local policemen immediately grabbed us and they told us: "no, guys, you can't film here", "and you can't even be here,
since you are a foreigner" Foreigners must obtain a special permit,
but of course they'll never give it to you, because honestly they are not happy to see foreigners here. And we can't just blend in with the crowd, you know. Okay, we are going to ask for the permit, but I have a feeling they won't give it to us. Plus, the local girls, when they see that we are filming, they don't seem very happy about it. They hide their faces, they run away. I have seen several YouTube videos about this place, so, some journalists got to film here. And maybe, as it often happens, after the video was released, a local scandal broke out, people were like "why did you say that? why did you say this?" So, they decided: from now on, no cameras! No interviews, no videos. "Nobody can come here to film us!" Here are the railways, some goats, eating grass or what's left of it. Now I'm going to show you what the bathroom
looks like in a modern police office here. It looks like this. Obviously the chief of police does not come in here. The car of the chief of police. I shouldn't be recording here,
but I thing you got the idea: A nice car parked outside, a modern office building, but once you enter the bathroom, the common bathroom, not the one for the boss, it gets really ugly. Why did I have to meet this kind gentleman? This gentleman had to issue a permit
allowing us to film in the district of sex workers. That's it. Because... You can't film without permission, even if you are a foreigner. He turned out to be a really nice guy. Here's a picture of us. He agreed to take a photo with me, It was funny that he didn't wear a belt,
but for the picture he asked his workers to bring him a belt. Now let's get back to the girls,
this time with the permit in hand. That's how we got to the brothel town
with the help of the police. So, these are the houses and these are sellers of the "live goods". Now they are happy to greet me. Of course they are: the police chief gave me the permit This is the local police, monitoring the situation. The place is pretty huge, by the way. All these narrow streets, and people actually live here, look, they are sitting there, chatting. It's like regular slums, the only difference is that there are
lots of dressed up girls in the streets here. These are houses where the paid love happens, It was not easy to talk to the local workers, but for you, my dear viewers, I managed to do so! The girls shared terrible things with me. For example, that it is men who sell them to the brothel. - So, she's 45. - How long has she been working here? - Here... Must be around 20 years. - And why is she here? - It's a long story, it will take some time for me to tell it. - That's exactly what they came here for. - I lived in Dhaka, worked as a housekeeper for a family. Then I fell in love with a boy,
he brought me here and sold me. - How can that happen? There is a police office right here. I can't imagine someone bringing a woman here, I mean, there's police nearby. - There's corruption. A lot of corruption. It's like a whole syndicate. Somebody from this syndicate brings somebody else, and sell them to someone else. And these people have to survive and
continue working due to lack of alternatives. - Well, from what I understand, she was 22
when they sold her here. But why didn't she leave? She couldn't escape or what? When this guy brought her here. When he brought you here, why didn't you run away? - No, it wasn't like that. He SOLD me to another man.
That other man bought me, so I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. - Okay, but what about now?
You are 45, can you leave now? Can you get out of here? Now you can escape, right? - Yes, she can get out, but where would she go? Everybody knows her as a sex worker People know she's a pr********. Her family knows it. That's why she
will spend the rest of her life here. Do you know how many sex workers are here now? - 1,400. This is how these infinite corridors look like
and it is not just this street, there are dozens of them like this here. It's evening, so the women are waiting for their customers outside. No customers so far. Media says that the main problem is covid, due to a lockdown people stopped coming here, but actually the main issue is different. It's about a new bridge that was opened recently, a bridge across this river. Before, there was only a ferry crossing, and the village is right next to it. So, the traffic was huge, and a lot of truck drivers stopped here. they were the main customers of these ladies. But now everyone is using the bridge, only few people keep using the ferry. So, the number of customers decreased. I've been here all afternoon, and haven't seen any customers at all. Girls here complain about not having customers for days, although in the past they could get 10 people a day, which was enough to make a living. Here are the policemen who look after this 'enterprise'. - How old are you? - 35. - Really? -Yeah. - She has three kids. -Three children?
-Yeah. - How old are they?
-My children? One is 18, another is 11, and the other one is 9. - Do they go to school?
-Yes, they are in college. - In a college?
- Yes, he studies there, my oldest son. - And your daughter?
- My daughter has recently passed the exam, the exam to obtain a high school diploma. - Why do you work here? - What I can do? I have no choice. I am a victim of the circumstances. - How long have you been working here? - Two years. - What did you do before? - I worked in a sewing factory. - Why did you quit? - The salary was low and the bosses were bad.
If I have to do bad things, I better do it here. And then I was sold. - How much did they pay you there?
-3,000. 3,000 takas. That wasn't enough for rent, nor for food, nor for clothes. - And how much do you earn here? - 20,000-30,000 takas a month. Sometimes 100,000 a month, after paying rent, food, clothing... I calculated it. - How much did you earn last month? - I didn't earn anything, it was winter, the winter season. - Where is the father of your children? - He died. - Do your children know what you are doing?
- Mhmm? - Do your children know about your work?
-No. - How many customers do you have a day? - Two, three, four, sometimes seven, as many as Allah gives me. - How much does each customer pay you? - 500 takas. - 500 taka? - Do you work every day until 10 pm? - No, we work one day and then we rest two. We are sitting here all day, waiting.
One or two people may come, and then there's no one. We work as Allah allows us. Before we worked a lot, there was a system when we waited at the door and received many customers. Now we don't have that. We have no money for food or clothing. - So, if she has one or two customers, she makes $10? - Yes, 10. - Can you work, for example, three weeks a month? That'll be 20 days, 10 dollars, 20 days, That's 200 dollars. It turns out being sold to a brothel
isn't the worst thing that can happen, Some girls were born here and started working when they were very little. - We were born here. - Did your mother work here too? - Yeah. - Yes, her mother too. - I was in my mother's womb when she died. - Who took care of you? A woman from here, my mother's friend, She took care of me. - Do you have children, how many? - A daughter. - I'll show you her photo, wait a second. - Is it a son or a daughter? - It's her daughter. She is seven here. She is seven. - Where does she live? - In Faridpur there is a non-governmental home for orphans called Shapla. They take care of our children there. They take them to school, find husbands, give them jobs. The Shapla shelter guarantees a future for the children of the pr******s. - At what age did you start having sex? - Since I was 11. - So you had your first sex at 11? - Who is the oldest woman that works here? How old is she? - She's about 80 or 90. - It can't be, who will work here at this age? - I'm going to show you a woman who works here, when you see her, you won't believe your eyes. - Oh really? - Yes, if you see an older woman here, it means she works here. Not all men have the same tastes. Sometimes even young men are looking for older women. - How much is your monthly salary? - Now I spend more than I earn. My expenses are 6,000 a month, no, 7,000. No, 10,000 takas. Every day I pay the rent for the room, 200 takas,
I pay for electricity, for cable TV. It all adds up to 10,000 takas in total. - Food and everything else included?
- Yes, 10,000 takas. - And how much do you earn? - If I try hard I can earn 20,000-22,000 takas in a month. - Where is the bathroom? Where do you dispose of the dirty water? Oh, it's a shower. The bathroom and the shower. - And this?
- Here we drain the dirty water, after men. - What do you mean? - When I do dirty things with someone, I bring my dirty water here. - You mean when you take a shower after work? This is where you wash yourself after sex. Being a sex worker from an early age
seems like a norm in Daulatdia. - How old are you? - 33. - How long have you been working here? - I think around... 20 years. - That means she started at 13. - Did you start working at 13?
-Yes. - How did you start working here? - I used to works as a babysitter in different houses. I had no one, so I came here because of the pain in my soul. - How did you hear about this place? - From a man. - The one who brought you here? Who sold you here? - No, another person got me into this. But it was not in this district, it was in Faridpur. - Did you work there as a pr*******? - Yes. It hurt, it hurt a lot, but I had to take care of my children. Most of the girls rent places in Daulatdia. But some build their own houses. And they do it on land rented from officials. - Can you leave if you want? - Yes, I can sell this house and leave. - Can't you sell the land, just the house? - No no, the land belongs to the officials. - How old are you? - I must be about 40. - No, you don't look your age. - I said roughly, I don't know how old I really am. - At what age did you start working? - At 12. - You started working at 12, why at this age? What happened? Where were your parents? How did you start doing it? - A man brought me here. - Did he sell you? - Yes, he sold me here. - And where does your family live now? - My family lives in the village. - Do you talk to them sometimes? - Now we are in contact, we have no problem. - Have you been married?
-No - Who sold you here? Who was this man? - It was a boy, our neighbor. Back then I didn't understand what
the p********** district was, I was little. And then he brought me here and turned me into one. - What exactly did he say? - He said, let's go for a walk, and he brought me here. The girls' stories... each one worse than the last. - How many children do you have? - I have four children. - One goes to the sixth grade, another to the seventh,
and the third is an engineer. He passed the exam at Dhaka Polytechnic College. My daughter graduated with a bachelor's degree, she is getting married. - How many years have you been living here? - I grew up here. - Oh, so you were born here? - No, I was not born here, my mother
brought me here when I was a baby. - She had memory problems, she was actually my stepmother,
someone put the evil eye on her. She lost her house and all her belongings. She used to live in Rajuk. Then she was at a station where pr******** usually hang out. And then they sold her here. - How old were you then? - I was six or seven months old. - And you grew up here? - Yes, I grew up here. - How old were you when you started working?
-They forced me to work when I was 10 years old. I couldn't have sex, because I had been hit with sticks and other things. And I started menstruating at a very young age. The sex workers of Daulatdia fear that
their children will follow the same path. That's why they try to leave them
with their grandmothers and aunts. - I won't let my daughters ruin their lives like this. - Did your children live here? - No, I didn't raise my children in this place. May Allah forgive me. - So where did they live? - They lived in the other place, not here, in Dhaka. - So after giving birth you came back here every time? - After giving birth and making sure
my kids were fine, I would come back. - And who took care of your children? - My mother.
- They stayed with your mother, I see. - And at school. Now they are in school. - Did they hit you here? - Yes, of course they hit me. - If you buy me, for example, and want to use me
but I won't let you do it, you're going to hit me. Or complain to whoever rented me to you. Back then our boss was even stricter. The living conditions here are terrifying. - There is no electricity, water, there is not even a tap here. There is nothing. Come in, come in, look at it. I wanted to build a room here, but I don't have money. I live here in this state. Everything is broken. The city of pr******* almost died during covid but it managed to survive. While Panam Nagar became the ghost town of Bangladesh. That is where we are going now. This is something incredible, guys, because it is a highway We are going on a highway. But right on the highway, where the circulation must be really fast, buses stop to let people get off. It is something unbelievable. Look, the bus is stoping, occupying a lane of this fast highway, and people are getting off right on the highway. What these *** holes did to the city... all these traffic jams out of nothing. The highway example is just one of a thousand. The circulation is organized so bad here. Your traffic lights don't work, nobody follows the rules, people walk in the wrong lane. It's a mess, it's a freaking mess! To make this traffic a bit more manageable, a normal mayor would invite foreign experts to deal with it. And just in a couple of months the situation would drastically improve. Now it's a chaos, a total chaos, anarchy. I may understand why it happens down there,
but on the highway... how did they come up with this? I don't understand. Are they crazy? Everybody's honking. Look, there are children climbing the highway fence. There is a pay highway, but these damn tuc-tucs get here too, these rikshas too. They shouldn't be anywhere near here. The ticket costs 85 in national currency. About 80 US cents. I'll keep complaining. We're going on a toll road. There is a crowd getting off the bus. This old tire bus.... The buses stop wherever they want to unload passengers. And when they stop, everybody stops too. How can they be so careless? It is something unthinkable, it should not be like this. There are people with firewood in their carts, There are infinite rickshaws, people driving in the wrong lane... Someone built a decent highway here. It could've been great, they even made it paid. And then what? People cross it wherever they want. There's a policeman with a laser pointer in his hand which he flashes at people. There are traffic jams in Dhaka day and night. Evening traffic. It's hard to understand how many lanes are here because people drive in the sidewalk, pass by the sidewalk. They take up all the space there is. Everybody's honking. Who goes where? Why nobody's moving? There are around 20 lanes here. It is a mess. Something's moving there. No, guys, no, it's a mess. And this one... it will not go up, right? There is a traffic jam, because a lot of
*** holes went in the sidewalk. And my driver is an *** hole too,
I said "Why are you going there?" Now everyone is trying to get back on the road. This is madness. They do it in the middle of nowhere. As you've already noticed, Bangladesh
is not a place for relaxed walks, when you enjoy the architecture, because in the cities there is noise, dirt, dust, endless horns, but there are several places where
you actually can enjoy the beauty. Now I am in Panam Nagar. It's practically a ghost town. Or you can say it's a museum of the old and abandoned city. They've preserved all these ruins, and now people come here to walk in peace and take pictures. Basically, everything that you would usually do in a city centre, but since Bangladeshi cities are not made for this,
people have to come to the ghost town. Bangladesh has its own ghost town: Panam Nagar. In the 16th century it was the capital of the Bengal ruler Isa Khan and in the 19th century it became a merchant city, where they sold fabrics. This is what killed the city. A big fire broke out, warehouses with fabrics went on fire, and most of the city was destroyed. People abandoned the city completely in the middle of the last century when Bangladesh was first separated from India, and some racial issues started. In the 1960s, when there was the Indo-Pakistani war, the Hindus left the city abandoned. It was in ruins with burned and destroyed houses, but the local guys did not demolish them, they preserved all the ruins, there was practically one street with old houses, and now people come here to see how nice the city could be, if it weren't for the infinite traffic, cars and horns. You can walk here, sit on the grass, take photos. Do what people in Europe do in the centers of their cities. Here you need to reach an ancient city, 50 kilometers from Dhaka, to do that. Since the separation of the British Empire, its former parts have been in conflict. India and Pakistan have been at war three times. The first war occurred in 1947 just after the division of the country. They were fighting for the territory of Jammu and Kashmir. To not choose between two countries the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir declared independence. In response, the Pakistanis intervened the area and took over the capital. India promised to help if the territory
would become part of the country. The Kashmiri people agreed, and a war began. The battles continued for more than a year As a result, 60 percent of Jammu and Kashmir was left to India. In 1965 the second war for Kashmir occurred. It didn't last long and didn't result in anything. But it was precisely then that the Indians decided to flee Panama Nagar, which was part of Pakistan. The third war happened because of Bangladesh. As a result of this war the country gained independence. It was built in the 13th century. It was built by a Hindu family who had business here. They produced muslin, it's a type of fabric. It is so fine that a scarf seven inches long and two inches wide, easily pass through a ring. I mean the one on your finger. Or for example it can fit in a matchbox. It's this fine. They would sell it to the Muslims. Then the Mughal empire came here and conquered the city. They settled in this building and had their affairs here. And later the Bengalese founded a city here. Usually, we have three types of cities. Panam Nagar is the most famous among tourists due to its style of architecture. And, of course, thanks to its historical significance. In 2016, it was recognized as one of the 100 most famous ancient cities. Here there are 52 buildings and
about 500 meters away, there's another old part. It is a place where all the locals take photos. Here there are ruins, beauty and cleanliness. And here it's the real life. Behind the fence there is a dirty pond where they throw garbage. This is where the real Bangladesh begins. Everyone is taking photos. All the local photographers come here to take pictures. And here the historical part ends
and the life of Bangladesh begins. So, here there is some kind of a pond, the water is stagnant, so it is quite dirty. But that doesn't stop people from bathing here. People used to bathe here too, when there was water. Now they keep using, but for a different purpose: to dump waste. Here we can see a whole street of buildings that are basically ruins, that were preserved. There are gated entrances, some have roofs. Of course, it seems that the preservation works
were not done very well and the destruction continues, but in some parts they even painted it a bit. You see, they cleaned it, they did some procedures. Now you can enjoy this architecture. It's much better than if they tried to restore it, and they would have shops and different stalls instead of this. At least there is something real that one can enjoy. But our pleasure was suddenly interrupted. I think you have filmed enough. Or do you want to film more? - No, why? What's wrong? We can't film here? - Keep what you've filmed so far, but don't film any more. Guys, officially. I was expelled with shame from Panama Nagar. Because the boss came out and said: "you're filming too much". Although everyone comes here to take pictures and selfies for Instagram with these ruins in the background, he prohibited me from filming for some reason. He wanted me to pay him $300 for an hour of shooting. He said this whole filming situation looked suspicious. In the end I said I wouldn't pay him anything. And I had to leave. So I couldn't film more, guys. The boss of the only decent place in Bangladesh decided that no one else should see this site. And, as it usually happens, I can film all I want this crazy traffic, the dirt, the landfills right nearby. I am allowed to film the dumps, but I can't film beauty, because some madman. won't let me do it. Well, I hope what I recorded was enough for you. And we can continue. Old beauty cannot be shot, but modern poverty can. This is what the city looks like
outside the tourist zone. Pretty standard. Thebest part: you can film here as much as you want. No one is coming for you. No one will shout at you for filming here. Here, besides the road, there are some tents made of bamboo sticks. Very simple. And there are children here... My driver explained that these are some local nomads. They never stop in one place. They move from one place to another all the time
and now they stopped here on the sidewalk. Something similar to the gypsies. Now let's see. They sell different remedies from diseases, from headache, from muscle pain. Basically, any disease. Here they sell different natural remedies.. They don't want to be recorded. Alright? If we film you and take a couple of shots, and we pay ... - Yes, you have to pay. - That's OK. They ask you to pay them. Then you can film them. - How much do you want? - I don't understand, what does he want? - He's asking how much you want. - Give us 5,000 and you can film. You can talk to them, I'll help you communicate. Then I will show the gold and silver. We will play a game. All of that can be recorded on video. For 5,000 takas. One person already gave us 10,000 like that. - Let's bargain, 5,000 is a lot. - You don't believe me? Here, look. 5,000 takas. 5,000 5,000 taka. - So he's the boss? - Yes, he is. - Well, can I ask you to tell me a bit about these people? Why are they here? How many are there? - Why do you live here? They are temporary homes... - Why? Because we don't have a home. That's why we live here. Allah gave me a house,
but they don't have one. That's why I'm their boss. They are called BD. - What do they do? - We do "shinga", we remove the worms
rom the teeth, we collect gold... - What is shinga? - Explain it to him. - You have ligaments here, sometimes you feel tension there. To remove this tension you need 500 takas. - Most women go around with these bags. They have so many things there. They call this process shinga, They are like сups. Do you know cupping therapy? They use it to relieve tension. - Here, give me a hand. Keep your arm straight. Film it, film it! Something like this. We use this one to hit you on the head. Like this. - What is it made of? - It is a special wood. - We check the whole body with it, we remove the poison,
and then you are healthy. This tree is called chaku. - They are a kind of nomadic doctors. - Ok, how many families live here, in this camp? - How many families live here? - Here, about 20. - How many people are there in each family? - In some, 5, in others, 7, sometimes only 2. - Do their children go to school? - No, they don't go to school,
but it would be nice if we had a school here. Our children could get education. - How much do they earn from shinga and everything else? - We do it every day, we have income.
Sometimes it's 200, 300, 400, 500. - Is it the income of one family? - No, not a family, it is for a small BD group. This is what the house looks like. There are wooden boards here, some kind of beds, dirty pillows. I wonder if the speaker works,
cause I saw a couple of solar panels there. This is the coolest tent. They have a closed kitchen, a gas stove, and two rooms. Everything full of rags. - How many people sleep here? - How many people live here? - Two: her and her husband. - How old are you?
-16. 16. Her husband is 17 years old. She told us that she sleeps there with her husband. She is supposedly 16 and her husband is 17. But something tells me she's 14, not older. - There are seven people living here. - Seven people. - Yes, in this tent. Seven people live in this tent? Five girls and two boys, overall, seven children. Yes, they are seven. And where is his wife? - Is this your wife? - Yes, she is my wife. How old is she? - How old is she? - 30. And you?
- 45. - Liar! He is 35. 35. These are solar panels, they are charging batteries here. She skins the chickens, then she sells them in the market, then they collect the skin and cook the food. India was once made up of several different counties. Then it was united by the British Empire. And later, it was cut into pieces like those
ships in Chittagong. During the 20th century, Bangladesh was under different rules. But it seems that none of them have been able
to build a normal country for people. Bangladeshis breathe dirty air, they bathe in rivers of waste, they get stuck in huge traffic jams, they cut up old ships, and they work in a brother the size of a city. The country's national motto is "Victory to the Bengalis". At some point they did win the war for independence. But they have not yet been able to win the war for a normal life. If you liked this video, don't forget to post about it on Reddit
and share it with your friends on WhatsApp!
