Once you’ve get settled in Bangladesh, there is no shortage of resources to find information on where to go, what to see, and good places to eat. But what about advice for those just thinking about coming here? Or practical advice for the first few hours in this country?
I’ve talked about my friend Alicia before – a friend of mine from Notre Dame who decided to come to Bangladesh as part of a Fulbright scholarship she earned.
Well, what advice did I give her?
- The Shock Factor: If you’ve never come to a place like this before – prepare to be shocked. The sights, the smells, and people – will all seem alien at first. There isn’t really a way to prepare for this. Just don’t get worried if you find yourself in a bit of shock when you first arrive.
- How Safe Do You Want to Be?: If you want to fully immerse yourself in the experience, you will have to take some risks. Riding a rickshaw or CNG is quaint, but there is a chance that something bad can happen. This isn’t just an urban legend. I know friends and family that have been assaulted, robbed, and even kidnapped. The more authentic an experience (live like the locals, etc) you want – the greater the risk.
- You Will Get Sick: Even if you don’t drink the water, avoid suspicious ice cubes, use hand sanitizer every so often – you will get sick sooner or later. Don’t treat it like you’ve somehow failed to take enough precautions. It happens to everyone.
- You Can’t Buy Everything Here – Bring That Stuff With You: Hand Sanitizers, Pepto Bismol, and Spray-On Mosquito Repellent are all things I’ve never been able to buy here. My advice? Bring as much of what you think you will need to use (and a little extra) with you from home before you fly here.
- People will stare. Sorry: The more foreign you look – the more stares you draw. You can sometimes even draw a crowd. No insult is inteded – it’s mostly just curiosity. The exception to this rule are establishments which specifically cater to the rich and foreigners. Those places you’ll probably fit in stare-free.
- Don’t tough it alone at the airport: The cabbies there are highway robbers and will treat you poorly (I’m also looking for a link to a newspaper article that has more info on this). The professional beggars at the airport will harass you for foreign currencies. If you have a friend that is there to meet you and give you a ride – that makes all the difference in the world. Seriously.
So what did we do on the day we met up?
Well, the first important thing was getting her a multi-plug (aka a powerbar) that would fit her US-style three-pronged laptop adapter. I had advised Alicia to NOT bother buying adapters before she left. I had spent a lot of time going to a lot of Radio Shacks to find adapters that work in Bangladesh. Turns out I was wasting my time. In Bangladesh, its very easy to buy powerbars/multi-plugs and adpaters which have a special shape that fits all kinds of plugs. And most modern electronics (like laptop adapters) automatically convert voltage (whether its 110v or 220v). If you have time to spare – spend a day shopping here and buy those adapters here instead of wasting your money in Radio Shack.
The second thing we did was buy her a cellphone. Cellphones are much more common than landlines in Bangladesh. There are a lot of cellphone providers to choose from. I had recommended her GrameenPhone. It’s what I use to connect to the internet – and am using right now to upload this blog post. GrameenPhone has been pretty reliable – it was working despite the nationwide blackout caused by Cyclone Sidr. It also worked in rural villages where there was no power – including the Cyclone Sidr disaster area when power had yet to be restored. As I’ve said in the past – in both reliability and cost of cellphone plans and service – Bangladesh beats Canada.
It’s a bit compliated to sign up for a cellphone here. You need to bring your passport, passport photos, and you also have to give your thumbprint and have a reference contact. I acted as her local contact and had told her ahead of time of what she needed and so she came prepared. We were able to get it all setup in one go.
I tried to take a photo of all the people staring at her – but most people scattered when I tried to take a photo. I guess some don’t mind staring – but don’t like it when you stare back. Ahh well.
Canada maybe a “first world” developed country, but when it comes to cellphone service, it’s got nothing when it comes to Bangladesh. Don’t believe me? Ask Piotr Staniaszek – who recently got a bill for over $85,000 from Bell Mobility. What was his crime? He used his cellphone as a modem so that his computer could get on the internet. He downloaded some high-definition video and transferred a lot of large files which, as the BBC put it resulted in “massive extra charges”.
You know what’s so funny? I do the same thing but it costs me only $20 a month. I seriously give my cellular provider a run for its money. I’ve done over 2 gigabytes of activity in the past few weeks alone. The latest episode of The Uncultured Project on YouTube took me 300 megs alone. But, unlike Canada, the cellphone providers here don’t care how much you use or whether you are using the internet on your phone or connecting your phone to your computer. Plus they have a feature so that prevents you from accidentally incurring excessive charges.
I used to think that Canada, having the status of a “first world” country meant that it did everything better than “the third world”. I guess, when I hear those terms, I imagine it as an analogy of a race. But, whenever I look at my cellphone here – I’m reminded that there are some things Bangladeshis do better than Canucks. I feel sorry for my friends in the Frigid North.
I wrote an article about this on NowPublic.com. It’s after the jump. It’s the same thing that I said here though – just more news-ish sounding.
Continue reading ‘Cellphone Plans and Service: Bangladesh Beats Canada. Period.’
[IMPORTANT UPDATE: Vonage has recently delisted Bangladesh from their Plan Look-up Table. But, Dhaka landline numbers are still shown as being under the "Call Asia" plan if you manually check a phone number. I am getting conflicting reports as to whether or not Vonage has cancelled their unlimited calling to Bangladesh and started charging 19 cents a minute. Customers such as myself whose family heavily relies on this plan have not received any warning or notice of its discontinuation. This is not how Vonage should be treating their loyal customers. I can no longer recommend Vonage in good conscience. More updates as I get more details.]
I wish I found this out before my parents spent hundreds of dollars a month calling me in Bangladesh. Vonage – the internet phone company with the annoyingly catchy song in its ads – now offers free calls to Bangladesh as part of its Call Asia international calling plan. My family already uses Vonage – I gave it as a gift to my mom and dad almost two years ago so they could keep in touch with me while I was studying at Notre Dame.
For ten bucks a month more, I just added the Call Asia plan which gives them unlimited calling anytime to all Dhaka and Chittagong landlines (but not any cellphones). I double checked to make sure it works with landline numbers in regions like Baridhara, Shantinagar, and Gulshan (where my relatives live). After setting it up for my dad online – I had him give me a call. The call was surprisingly clear – better than the phone cards my other relatives use. It was even better than many of my local calls to cellphones.
What’s really neat is that Vonage also offers things like free call conferencing. So, after talking for a bit my dad call-conferenced my aunt into the conversation who lived elsewhere in Canada. All of that at no additional cost or per minute charges. I spent most of the conversation going “wow”. This solution is also ten times better than my use of Skype – whose quality is heavily dependent on the bandwidth I get on my end. With Vonage, my family can take full advantage of the DSL line we have back in Canada and just call me on a Dhaka landline instead.
I know I am coming off sounding like a commercial for Vonage. I am not affiliated with them nor am I getting paid by Vonage for this glowing praise. I’m just completely amazed that something like this exists.
As a Canadian I’m both surprised and sad to report that Bangladesh beats Canada when it comes to cellphone service. I’m writing now from a rural village in Bangladesh (called Madhupur). There is no electricity, no running water, and the diesel generator that was powering a ceiling fan and light bulb died earlier this night. Bangladesh is still a third world country afterall. But, despite all this, I am still able to check my mail, see what’s going on at Digg, and post to this blog.
Bangladesh is one of the few countries in the world that can guarantee each one of its residents can get a cellphone signal – no matter where they are in the country. With a population of over 150 million (over four times Canada’s population) that’s pretty impressive. There are populated parts in the North in Canada that most cellphone service providers don’t bother putting up towers for. Not only can Bangladeshis send and receive calls from anywhere in the country – they can also surf the web on either an EDGE or GPRS network. Part of this has to do with free market competition in Bangladesh and corporate collusion in Canada. Continue reading ‘Bangladesh Cellphone Service Better than Canada’
There is no universal language like the language of a man holding a gun. Even though I don’t speak the local language very well, I knew exactly what the man in military fatigues was telling me as he pointed to my empty camera bag with one hand and holding his AK-47 in the other. My camera promptly returned to its bag and I was allowed to leave….
After riots broke out in the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the military government imposed a curfew: 8 pm. The photo above was taken with less than an hour before curfew. Those that were not home already were walking, taking rickshaws, and driving to get home before the military clamped down. Perhaps to keep people from organizing or maybe to stop them from finding out just how bad things are – cellphone lines have all been shut down. The local media has also been instructed to no longer discuss the current situation. Foreign media is also having a tough time reporting as their welcome here will be no more warm than when I tried to photograph some of this.
The BBC has done a good job of reporting the situation in Dhaka. But after the cars have stopped burning, after the protesters have gone home, and after the reason for the riot has long been forgotten – the real damage will remain. It’s instability like this that makes Bangladesh a hard place to work, live, and invest. As the curfew was announced, store owners were left scrambling to close early. Wage labourers have lost out on full day’s labour. Goods that were to be exported remain in warehouses. The service industry, a growing industry here in Bangladesh, shuts down as waiters, barbers, rickshaw drivers, and cooks all rush home to avoid trouble.
Economic hardship maybe a reason this riot started – but it’s riots that keep the promise of prosperity out of reach.
