Category: Offbeat

Chittagong hill tracts

Culture and Hill District Attractions

You step off the bus in Rangamati and the air changes. It gets thinner, cooler, and smells of lake water and wood smoke. The hills rise up around the town, green and layered like folded cloth. This is the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a part of Bangladesh that feels like a different country. The people are […]
Destinations

Jadukata River and the Border Hills of Sunamganj

The Jadukata River doesn’t announce itself. It flows quietly through the haor basin of Sunamganj, near the Indian border. You might miss it if you blink. But the locals know it well. They cross it on wooden boats, fish in its currents, and watch the hills of Meghalaya rise behind it. The river is not […]
Destinations

Niladri Lake and the Old Quarry Near Tahirpur

The road from Tahirpur bends through low hills, past paddy fields and scattered betel nut groves. The air smells of wet earth and limestone dust. After about twenty minutes, the landscape opens into something unexpected. A vast, turquoise lake sits in the middle of a valley, surrounded by steep white cliffs. This is Niladri Lake. […]
Offbeat

Hamham Waterfall and the Forest Trek in Moulvibazar

You park the car at a small clearing where the road ends. The air smells different here. Wet earth. Decaying leaves. Something floral you cannot name. A narrow trail leads into the shade of the Lawachara forest. You hear the water before you see it. A low rumble that grows louder with each step. Key […]
Offbeat

Barisal and the Backwater Canals of the South

The ferry from Dhaka docks at Barisal around dawn. Passengers stretch on the concrete jetty, rubbing sleep from their eyes. The air smells different here. Not of city exhaust, but of wet earth and river silt. Rickshaws wait in a neat line, their bells silent at this hour. Key Takeaways Barisal’s backwater canals offer a […]
Offbeat

Garo Hills Border Country in Netrokona

The road to the Garo Hills border country in Netrokona is not a straight line. It winds through flat paddy fields, past villages with tin roofs glinting in the afternoon sun, and along narrow embankments that separate one haor from the next. You feel the air change as you get closer to the hills. It […]
Adventure

Susang Durgapur and the Someshwari River

The road from Dhaka to Susang Durgapur is long but worth every mile. You drive north through the plains of Netrokona, past green fields and small markets. Then the landscape changes. Hills appear on the horizon. The air cools. You are entering the Garo Hills, a region that feels far from the rest of Bangladesh. […]