Bangladesh receives fewer than half a million international tourists per year. For context: Bali alone receives over five million. Bangladesh is not on most radar screens, and it's worth asking why?
The Sundarbans: The World's Largest Mangrove Forest
This forest is shared between Bangladesh and India, and the Sundarbans is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of tidal mangrove forest. The rivers running through the forest change course seasonally. There are islands that appear and disappear. And, the most concentrated population of Bengal tigers on earth lives here (though you're more likely to hear them than see them).
There are boat tours through the Sundarbans that depart from Khulna in southwestern Bangladesh. While navigating through the channels you can expect spotted deer on mudbanks, estuarine crocodiles on sandbars, and dolphins surfacing in river bends. The guides are knowledgeable, the boats are simple, and the crowds are nonexistent in ways that would be impossible in India's portion of the same ecosystem.
Cox's Bazar: 75 miles or 120 Kilometers of Beach
Cox's Bazar has the longest natural sea beach in the world with 75 miles or 120 kilometers of unbroken sand along the Bay of Bengal. This is not a resort beach, however, it's a working beach where fishing boats launch at dawn, families picnic, and vendors sell dried fish and fresh coconuts.
The tourism infrastructure in Cox's Bazar ranges from very basic to reasonably comfortable. It's a beach that hasn't been turned into a product, and where life happens alongside leisure.
Dhaka: Organized Chaos
The capital, Dhaka, is the 9th most populated city in the world with over 21 million people. The traffic has been ranked among the world's most congested. The Old Dhaka neighborhood around Sadarghat has river ferries constantly arriving and departing, brass-workers in tiny workshops, the Lalbagh Fort (a 17th-century Mughal citadel), and the chaos of the Shankhari Bazaar (a narrow lane of Hindu artisans that has been making shell bangles for hundreds of years).
Dhaka is not a city for relaxation. It's a city to move through with curiosity, using a local rickshaw driver who knows his way, and eating in local restaurants (the biryani, the hilsa fish curry, and the mishti doi, or sweet yogurt, are terrific).
Paharpur: The Forgotten Monastery
Deep in the northwest, Paharpur is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that almost nobody visits and hosts the ruins of the Somapura Mahavihara, an 8th-century Buddhist monastery that was one of the greatest centers of learning in Asia. It is larger than any contemporary monastery in the Buddhist world and housed over a thousand monks. The archaeological site is immense, and on most days there are more archaeologists than tourists.
Practical Notes
- You can obtain a visa on arrival which is available for some nationalities; but for most Western passportholders you can apply in advance for an e-visa
- Health: vaccinations for typhoid, hepatitis A, and cholera are recommended, and you should take malaria precautions if visiting the Sundarbans or Chittagong Hill Tracts
- Safety: Dhaka can be frenetic but is generally safe for tourists; there can be political demonstrations and strikes (hartals) that will disrupt transport, just check the local news
- Best time: November to February when it is cooler, drier, and the delta landscape at its best