Bangladesh - thoughts and advice from my recent trip

muntasir.ahmed

Well, i dont have much time to write now but surely will come back later to give more fillings.
The hill districts of Chittagong are some of the most beautiful places on earth to visit. The best part that these places have not become flooded with tourists due to lack of knowledge. Even most Bangladeshis don't know about these places.

Any one who has visited New Zealand....trust me you will get a flavor in these hilly districts. More or less uninhabited, places such as Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachori are pieces of heaven on Earth...specially during the rainy season when every thing is GREEN.

It will take me an hour to describe only these places let alone the Sylhets (tea gardens), sundarbans (largest mangrove forest with the largest population of tigers in the world)......Coxs Bazar (the longest beach in the world...truly)....

Will come back soon to write more.
Mail me if any one is interested to come to Bangladesh. I will maill some pointers.

CHIAO

Nick-H

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cafek

I want to visit Dhaka by bike from kolkata. Can some one help me in this regards??? I mean is any permit required for our bikes. If yes then how must is it costs? What is the best route we can take.etc, etc...

saiful

Yes this is possible to visit Bangladesh by bike.

The best route regarding this Benapole-Jessore-Magura-Faridpur-Goalonda(Ganga river ghat)-Dhaka

Thanks,

Saiful

manbil777

Going to Bangladesh in the summer may not be the best time for Westerners not used to hot weather as temperatures hover around 30 degrees celsius (about 100 deg. F) and because of the monsoon and occasional rain it may seem quite muggy.

If you have no problems with humidity (Bangkok has the same weather) then by all means do visit -- the Monsoon season is richly represented in Bengali culture (the consecutive months of Ashar/Srabon) by all sorts of public dance/music/culinary festivals and get togethers to celebrate the onset of the monsoons.

Going in late August or September is a little more bearable as temperatures drop to 20 deg. C or even as low as 10 deg. C in mid-January.

Note For US/Canada travellers : you can take a couple of bottles of 'OFF' type sprays (containing DEET anti-mosquito repellent) just in case. DEET is more-or-less a safe chemical AFAIK.

TimMakins

My diaries for the trip to Bangadesh are locked away in a barn in Ireland, so am having to rely on memory right now. The rail system in Bangladesh isn't so extensive as in India, mainly due to the many rivers, and the lack of bridges, so you will find yourself taking more buses than trains. When you get to Dhaka, get a room in the Hotel Alfaruque, near to the main Kamalapur railway station - its a great hotel, cheap, friendly and clean - you definitely won't regret it. The station opposite will get you the train times - there is a timetable available, but it is small, complicated, and not in English! I was able to decipher some of it, but ended up asking a lot of questions from the helpful staff too. The fares are cheap, as you might expect, and even the highest class is good value and worth taking. I only made one overnight journey, on a sleeper, but it was similar to the old Indian First Class (non A/C).

Buses are very good, frequent, and take you everywhere you need to go. From time to time the bus has to cross a river by ferry, though I understand that more bridges are being built now.

Whilst on the subject of transport in Bamgladesh, DO DO DO DO DO DO take the Rocket Steamer, even if you don't want to go to Khulna - its absolutely brilliant, great fun, and fantastic value. See my Blog page: http://www.mapability.com/blogs/trav...ver-spent.html

All the above comes from memory of my wonderful trip in 2005, so PLEASE can anyone else add newer details of Bangladesh transport when you have them.

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Travelling Tim - http://www.mapability.com/blogs/ My images at Lonely Planet - http://tinyurl.com/yk43ams

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

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steven_ber

Thanks for the info Tim, very interesting indeed.

BTW. there's now a Kolkata-Dhaka direct train service, it runs Saturdays and Sundays in both directions, it's a daytime train with CC and 2S (I think) and the journey time is somewhere between 10 and 12 hours (I can't remember), though a lot of that time is spent at the border.

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How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions.


Train information.


RAC & Waitlists explained.

Andrew Promchan

Hi Tim.
BRILL!!!!!Thank you so much,that was so helpful towards planning our trip to Bangladesh.
Also same question as Mahmud here,is it possible that i could post your message to an other site.I will of course mention the source and name.Would just like permission before hand.
Thank you again,Andrew Promchan.

Madhu10

Some pics from my recent trip to Bangladesh. It took me a while to settle down traveling here as its kinda tough for a solo Indian women. But overall managed very well and got to see the hospitality of this lovely country.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mreddy/...7609775526993/

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Flickring away....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/80145936@N00/

lyndy

I want to visit Bangladesh but I aint paying that kinda money for a 30 day visa when I get a 6 month Indian visa for around the same cost. Is the price quoted here correct?