As a child, my great love was National Geographic. On long car trips I’d sit, crammed amid the luggage, but really exploring the Amazon rainforests or the steppes of Asia through the remarkable photography.

Today, Melanie Stetson Freeman takes us to the streets of Old Dhaka. It’s a place I didn’t visit even during my three years as a reporter in South Asia. (Bangladesh refused my visa request.) But thanks to Mel, we all get to visit, no visa required.