A little bit of history - Day trip to Sonargaon

Tuesday the 7th was a national holiday in Bangladesh - everyone celebrated the day for different reasons as the political tensions continue and no party wants to accept the other's holidays. Anyway, it did not much matter to us as we had a day off and a chance to do something 'cultural'. We set off from Dhaka at 9am to navigate the roads of the city and try and find our way out of the maze. Surprisingly enough it was relatively painless and we made it to the ancient site at 10.30.
Sonargaon was Bangladesh's first capital and lies about 23km southeast of the modern capital Dhaka. In the 13th century it was the Hindu site of power in Bangladesh and it continud as the capital following the Muslim invasion of the country. It used to be an important centre for the manufacture of kantha (dyed muslin) used to wrap Egyptian mummies in. It was the Mughals in 1608 who moved the capital to its present location as they felt that Sonargaon was too exposed to pirates, and so the city declined.
Today, nothing remains except a few tombs, some mosques and a bridge. There is however, a street of old Hindu houses. The whole area is so green, quiet and the people eager to help. After allowing us to use the tourist guest house facilities, we wandered down the old street and admired the contrast of the new housing itself within the buildings of the past. Past the old buildings and we were out amongst green paddys and banana trees - the real beauty of Bangladesh. With our own entourage of children we walked through the area taking in the calm. On our way back we stopped for tea at a little stall run by two brothers - the younger one, who couldn't have been more than 12, had the most serious disposition and took his role in the whole tea process very serious.
All to soon we had to leave this wonderfully simple green world and make our way back to the bustling streets of the modern capital.