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DHAKA, Bangladesh (Contributed by Pamela Barrus)
"I couldn't decide if the scene at the Dhaka Airport reminded me of the Fall  of Saigon or one of those 1980s movies set in southeast Asia where half the  population is trying to flee the country during a coup. Of course, what can  you say about one of the most densely populated places on earth that was  mostly underwater when I was there (August 1998). Even with a chain-link  fence around the place, the gauntlet of people you have to pass through to  even get inside is near life threatening. And once you're inside, the   combined bedlam of bodies and trolleys is amazing. Sleeping there? Ha! Ha! Ha! There is a great way around this however. If you fly on Biman Airways, for  example from Kathmandu to Bangkok, Biman will put you in a hotel for the  night in Dhaka (albeit a very dingy 3-star one) with meals included. The  airline takes away your passport however, so you don't get much of a chance  for extended sightseeing. In my case it worked out well; a small plane had  crashed on the runway--delaying flights for hours--so I had a full day to  "discover" Dhaka.  "