SYLHET

 

Sylhet is a strange kind of place. The majority of British Bangladeshis are from the city or its environs and are likely to wax lyrical over the place. Those with stronger ties to the homeland continues to pour money back into the local economy and this has helped to create one of the most surreal city centers in Bangladesh. A string of apparently flashy Western-style shopping malls built on their money have taken over the center, but on entering one you discover that they’re nothing but a facade of half-empty sari shops. It doesn’t take long to realize that this facade extends to the city as a while and that sylhet is actually little more than a village with shoes too big for it. Despite this , it remains one of the most cosmopolitan towns in Bangladesh and you’re almost certainly going to meet more or East London accent (some more genuine than others) than anywhere else in the country. More depressingly for Bangladesh, you also won’t fail to notice the dozens of adverts and billboards promising easy visas to a better life in the US, UK and other European countries. These startling contrasts help to make Sylhet an almost essential stop for anyone who wants to understand something of this country.

Orientation & Information

On the south side of Surma River you’ll find the train and bus stations, but not much more. The river is traversed by two bridges. Kean Bridge, the more central one, was repaired after being damaged by Pakistani bombers during the Liberation War. In making the crossing, rickshaw-pullers are aided by rickshaw-pushers; these ‘assistants’ are almost a sight in its own right – only a subcontinental bridge could contain so much seething humanity.

 

Zinda Bazar Rd is littered with restaurants and shopping centers, as is the intersection of Telihaor and Taltala Rds.

There are only a couple of internet cafes in town and none offer fast connections. The most centers one is Ahana Net & Cyber Cafe.

There is Standard Chartered Bank (Airport Rd) with an ATM opposite Darga Gate, and others below both the Hotel Asia and the Surma Valley Rest House.

Sights

Shrine Of Hazrat Shan Jalal

Shrine Of Hazrat Shan Jalal: In the north of city, off Airport Rd, is the Shrine of Hazrat Shah Jalal a 14^th – century Sufiasint. The Shrine is one of the biggest pilgrimage sites in the country and a fascinating place to visit. Being buried near the saint is considered a great honour. Shah Jalal’s sword and robes are preserved within the large new mosque, but aren’t on display. The tomb is covered with rich brocade, and at night the space around it is illuminated with candles. The atmosphere is quite magical. It’s never entirely clear whether non-Muslims can visit the shrine, though it seems to be OK if you are suitable solemn and well dressed. Women, however, are definitely not allowed up to the tomb.

The pond in front of shrine complex is filled with sacred catfish that are fed by pilgrims and are, according to legend, metamorphosed black magicians of the Hindu raja Gour Govinda, who was defeated by Shah Jalal in 1303. Nearby is a deep, dark well containing something mysterious. What exactly that is remains a little uncertain – if our translation was correct, it’s a giant goldfish with ‘Allah’ written on its forehead, but then again it might just as likely be the Loch Ness monster!

The complex is thronging with people day and night, including many beggars and disabled people asking for alms, so if you wish to donate plenty of small change with you.

Nearby, on a hillock named Rama Raja’s Tilla. You can get some partially blocked views of the city. Legend has it a Hindu temple that once stood here was destroyed by an earthquake, instigated by Shah Jalal. 

Osmani Museum

In Nur Manzil, near the center of town and east of Noya Sarok Rd, is the Osmani Museum (admission free; 10.30pm sat-Wed, 3-8pm Fri Oct-Mar). This small, colonial-era house is dedicated to General Osmani, a key figure in the Liberation War. As it’s one of the few tourist sights in town, you should visit, but be warned – it’s slightly less interesting than an algebra lesson. It contains such thrilling articles as a ‘chair’ (and that is exactly what it is). Electricity is a hit-and-miss affair and if you’re lucky you’ll get a man following you around with an oil lamp to illuminate the displays for you.

Sleeping

 

Budget: A number of dudget hotels are in the center of town, in Taltala, along Taltala Rd. and in the adjoining Telihaor area.

Hotel Asia: Do yourself a favor and grab a bargain at this hotel in the heart of a colorful neighborhood. The rooms are plain and honest budget treats that come without stains and mess. Go for one without air-con as they are better value.(Tel-711 278; Bandar Bazaar; s/d Tk 1000/300, d with air-com Tk-800)

Hotel East End: This is friendly hotel with easy English-speaking staff represents good bang for your buck. The rooms are immaculately clean, though strangely the non-air-com rooms are the better deal, thanks to tiled floors which just make everything much more hygienic. (Tel-719 210; Telihaor Rd; s/d Tk- 150/300, d with air-con Tk-1000;)

Hotel Hill town: The range of rooms on offer at this old stand-by fills an entire A4 sheet, which means almost everyone can find something suitable. Rooms are tiled and clean but lack character, and corridors can be a bit long and lonely. The standard air-con doubles are better than most. You can arrange car hire from the handful of travel agencies situated just outside and there’s a good restaurant on site too. (Tel-716 077; Tellihaor Rd; s with/with-out air-com Tk 255/850, d with/without air-con Tk-350/1000.)

Hotel Gulshan: A long-time favorite with visitors to sylhet and easily the best in its class, this enormous hotel is almost as big as Bangladesh and much better managed. All rooms are clean and some have sit-down toilets and TV, but only the restaurant doesn’t have an atmosphere worth partaking in.

Midrange & Top End

Hotel Holy Side: A very good value mid range/top-end establishment. This welcoming place had the bonus of proximity to the shrine of Hazart Shah Jalal (Though its not so close that your eardrums take a battering), invitingly soft beds and clean bathtubs  to get sloshy in. It’s opposite the maiden, which ensures something interesting is always taking place right outside the door. Add an extra 15% tax to room rates. (Tel-722 278; Borga Rd; s/d from Tk 650/950)

Hotel Fortune Garden: Sylhet’s top-dog hotel is sterile to the core and offers no hint of being in Bangladesh, but it does offer exceptional value for take and you know a decent night’s kip is guaranteed. The staff are entertainingly disorganized. (Tel-715 590; www.hotel fortunegarden.com; 29A Bongobir Rd; s/d Tk-700/1000, d with air-con from Tk-1400;)

Surma Valley Rest House: This sparkling and central hotel is one to write home about and certainly one of the better-value hotels in Bangladesh. Rooms are comfortable enough to mean that leaving will be an effort, and though not huge, the touches. In fact only minus point we could come up with is its proximity to a noisy mosque, but surely that 5am prayer call will grow on you!

Eating

If you’re staying in the Telihaor area, you’ll have lots of choices, including the friendly New Green Restaurant(Meals Tk-40-50), Shagorika Restaurant(meals Tk-40/50) and the unmistakably turquoise Jamania Restaurant (Meals Tk-50), Which receives rave reviews from travelers. For something marginally posher, and we mean marginally, try the Famous Restaurant (meals Tk-60),which is on the same road.

Mia Fazil Restaurant: (Zinda Bazar Rd; meals Tk-60) One of tones of identical Bengli restaurants. This one reserves a varm welcome for you, no matter how busy (and it normally is). Look for the yellow Bengali Sign.

Agra Hotel & Restaurant: (Zinda Bazar Rd; meals around Tk 60) As full of character as it is full of characters, this popular restaurant, tucked away in a corner, won’t give you much privacy with its cramped quarters, but will give you great food.

Burger King: (Zinda Bazar Rd; meals Tk 50-100) The name might ring a bell but nothing else about this 2^nd – floor restaurant will. Its greasy burgers and kebabs will provide a welcome break from all that healthy rice (don’t worry, its good for the heart).

Hamadan Restaurant: (821 872; 4^th fl. Al-Hamra Shopping Center, Zinda Bazar Rd; dishs from Tk 150-200) This is sylhets special-occasion restaurant and its certainly a nice break from the heat and crush outside. Unfortunately the food, which is mainly Chinese and Thai, is hardly worthy of the fuss – we’ve had tomato salads that contained more meat than our chicken dish! To find it, take the escalators to the third floor and climb the stairwell at the back left-hand corner of the building. 

Getting There & Away

AIR: Both United Airways (Which also has an office at the airport) and G MG Airlines. (Tel-721225; Feroz Center, Manikpur Rd) have frequent daily flights to Dhaka(TK-3720).

 

Bus : A day time bus trip between Dhaka and sylhet is an interesting journey through varied countryside. All the luxury bus companies have offices on the road leading to the shrine of Hazrat Shah Jalal.

         Green line have a luxury bus for Dhaka (TK-500, five hours) at 12:30am, but other companies offer more sensible departure times.

      

          Buses to Chittagong (TK- 700, 10 Houers) generally set sail in the evening only.

          Buses to Sunamganj (TK- 60, to Tk- 85, 2 hours every 20 minutes between 6am and 8.30pm) leave from the Sunamganj bus station a few kilometers northwest of town, along Amberkhana Rd.

          Buses northeast to Jintiapur (Tk 50, three hours, between 6.45am and 5.35pm) and Tamabil (Tk 85 2 hours) leave from the small Jaintiapur bus station (Jaintiapur Rd), Several kilometers east of the town center.

Train: The train station (83968) is on the south side of town. There are three daily express trains for Dhaka (1^st /sulob class Tk- 350/200, between 8 and nine hours, depart at 7.30am 2.24pm and 10.15 pm). The night train also has a sleeping car (air-con/fan TK- 700/500).

   Trains to Chittagong (1^st/sulob class Tk 380/ 280, 10 hours, depart 10am 10.40pm) also stop at Comilla (1^st/slob class Tk 250/180, 7 hours).

                Most of these trains also stop at Srimarigal (1^st/ sulob class Tk 150/ 100, two hours).

Getting Around: To/From The Airport

The airport 7km north of town, has numerous taxis and baby taxis(mini rickshaws) waiting. For a ride into town, expect to pay about TK – 300 for a taxi, Tk 100 for a body taxi.

Around Sylhet

Tea Estates: Tea-estate managers haven’t cottoned on to their tourist potential, so don’t expect a tour on a dune buggy followed by a complimentary cuppa. At best, you’ll get permission to be there, and maybe a quick tour with a staff member.

There are a couple of tea estates just beyond the city’s northern outskirts on Airport Rd and these are probably the easiest to visit. It’s not normally a problem just to stroll straight in – someone is certain a adopt you and show might be lucky enough to get and interesting tea production.

The largest number of tea estates in the northern half of sylhet division are further on, around jaflang, near the Indian border. This is one of the most scenic pars of sylhet Khasi are found. The bus form sylhet takes 2 hours to Tamabil and another 30 minutes want to get off at jaflang – it’s easy to miss.

 

                                                            Shrine of Shah Paran 

 

 

Shrine of Shah Paran : Around 8km east of Sylhet, just off the highway to Jaintiapur, is the Shrine of Shah Paran in the tiny village of Shah paran. It’s a single-domed mosque that attracts about 2000 pilgrims a day; you’ll see charter buses from Dhaka all around the place. 

 

Madhabkunda Waterfall  

 A three hour drive southeast of Sylhet (and equally accessible from Srimangal by road and rail) and a 3km rickshaw ride from Dakshinbagh train station, is the famous waterfall of Madhabkunda. It is popular with busloads of Bangladesh tourists. You may also be able to find some elephants, you may also be able to find some lelphants, which are still being used to haul huge logs, in this general area. There’s a Parjatan tourist spot nearby, with a restaurant, picnic area and toilet facilities.

 Tamabil

 

Tamabil: The Tamabil border crossing (open between 6am and 5pm), 55km north from sylhet, is primarily used to import coal from India, though foreigners occasionally cross here. Getting to the border can be messy – some travelers have reported being confused as to where the official crossing actually is, but all declare the hassle well worth the scenery between Dawki and Shillong in India; it’s spectacular. Coming from India, Sylhet division is a nice way to ease yourself into Bangladesh.

To cross form Tamabil to Dawki, you must deposit Tk 300 departure tax into any Sonli Bank branch. Once you have done this, you are required to show your deposit receipt to border officials. The closest Sonali Bank branch is in Jaintiapur, 13km from Tamabil.

Plan in advance to have some rupee/take on you – there is nowhere to change money in Tamabil, and the bank at Dawki is none too cooperative. 

Getting There & Away

From Bangladesh: Buses run from Sylhet to Tamabil(Tk- 85, 2 hours). From here it’s a 15 minute hike to the border.

      Once in India, it’s a 1.5km walk (or Rs 30 taxi ride) TO the town of Dawki, from where cusses run to shillong (Rs  70, 2 hours). If you are streamed in Dawki, there I s small hotel on the hill, above the Sikh temple, though it’s super basic and often loath to take foreigners start your journey early in order to avoid getting caught out.

      The last bus leaves Dawki for Shillong around 11am. If you miss it, there are a number of Tex is eager to take you the two hours to shillong, but you’ll pay dearly for the honour!

From India: The border post is at Dawki in Meghalaya

Accessible by bus from Shillong, 70km away. From Dawki, it is a 1.5km walk to Tamabil, where formal but shouldn’t cost more than about TK- 700

          There is nowhere to stay the night in Tamabil, but nearby jaflang has a couple of budget hotels and restaurants, it is also easier to organize onward transport from here. 

Sunamganj (Tel- o871)

 

Approximately 70km west of Sylhet, this small town offers little for tourists. However, the local haors(wetlands)are rife with bird life. From midwinter through to the end of March and sometimes April, migrants, winter birds and residents all get together for a big bird party. Varieties of rails, raptors, ducks, sandpipers and others congregate.

        The three heirs that seem to be the best for bird-watching are several hours upstream from the Surma River. Visiting all of them is a four-day affair, which, except for true bird enthusiasts, is probably more than most travelers want. An overnight trip would get you into some of the most fascinating rural areas in Bangladesh. See boxed text, p151 for a fascinating account of a birder’s trip up here.

 

Getting There & Away

   

From sylhet, there are regular buses to Sunamganj(TK- 60 to TK- 85, 3 hours). Leaving from Sunamganj bus station(Amberkhana Rd). Buses from Sunamganj to Sylhet depart approximately every 20 minutes from the bus station. 

Srimangal-(08626)

Put the kettle on and let’s have a nice cup of tea. But have you ever wondered what goes into producing that little beg? Well, in Srimangal(or Srremongal), the tea capital of Bangladesh, you can find out all about it. This hilly area, with tea estates, lemon orchards and pineapple plantations, in one of the most picturesque and enjoyable parts of the country. For miles around, tea estates form a perennially green carpet on the sloping hills, and it’s the one area(besides the Sundarbans) where it is possible to look around and not see another human being. In addition to learning all there is to know about tea, you can also go primate the low-down on tribal life and discover that pineapples don’t actually grow on trees.

Information

 

 

 Within a stone’s throw of each other on the main drag, College Rd, is a Rupali Bank, Sonali Bank and IFIC Bank, but they’ll probably think you crazy if you ask about changing money with them.

Cyber Corner:(per hr Tk-25)At the end of the long corridor under the Hotel Mukta.

E-Zone Cyber Cafe:(per hr Tk-30) Excellent connections on the outskirts of town.

Lowacherra National Park:

 

Around 8km east of Srimangla, on the road to Kamalganj, Lowacherra National Park (Known to locals as Shymoli) is a wild and mysterious patch of tropical semi-evergreen forest absolutely crawling with life. Not only is this 1250-hectare park (which forms part of a 2740-hectare protected zone known as the West Bhanugach Reserve) one of the finest wildlife venues in the country, but it’s also one of the easiest to visit. Though the forest may look like a primeval jungle, it has been greatly influenced by the activates of humans and as recently as 1920 it was managed as a timber production plantation. Since then the forest has been largely allowed to revert to a natural state, and after years of mismanagement the government has finally got its act together and given the park firm protection, established a number of visitor walking trails and is in the process  of training up ‘eco-guides’.

  The undisputed highlight of the park is the critically endangered hoolock gibbon the subcontinent’s only ape species and one that you have a pretty good chance of seeing crashing through the trees. A further 19 mammal species have been identified including capped langur, the delightful slow Loris, orange-bellied Himalayan squirrel and barking deer. The bird-watching here is equally superb and so far some 246 species have been recorded, with the blue-bearded bee-eater and the red-breasted trogon being big stars. Another highlight is the orchids, of which there are more than 20 varieties (The wet season is the best time to see them).

     Remember though that this isn’t the open African savanna but a dense forest, and despite the impressive number of animals you would have to put in a good deal of effort to get anything other than a fleeting glimpse. One thing you wont miss though are the insects, and rather than concentrating on the bigger mammals you will find your visit more rewarding if you focus instead on the bugs and bird. Of these bugs, the most visible are the rope like columns of aggressive ants, the flamboyant butterflies and, maybe less welcome, the enormous orb spiders (also called banana spiders). You won’t be able to miss these black, red and yellow monsters hanging from Spiderman-sized webs between trees, but don’t worry, they might look like the devil incarnate but they are in fact harmless – or so we’re told!

There are three marked walking trails taking anything from half an hour to three hours, and the visitors center has printed booklets with waking maps and some pointers on thing to look out for. You can also hire ‘eco-guides’ from here, but try and chat to them first as may don’t speak much English and have very little real knowledge of the plants and animals contained within the forest.

      To access the reserve from Srimangla, take the paved road east towards Kamalganj. The poorly marked turn-off to your left (north), which is easy to miss, is about 4.75km past the Tea Resort compound and another 2.75km beyond the well-marked turn-off for the  Nurjahan and Madabpore tea estates. The dirt road into the forests, which crosses the roll-road tracks, is less than 1km long and an easy walk. A bus from Srimangal costs Tk.20.

 Tribal Villages:

There are 11 Khashia villages (called punji) and several Monipuri villages (called para) scattered among the tea plantations in the Srimangla area. Khashia villages are usually on hilltops surrounded by betel nut trees, which is their cash crop. When visiting a Khashia village you should first call in on the local chief, as the community will not extend full hospitality without his permission. The easiest way of visiting one of the Khashia communities is to ask one of guides at Lowacherrra National Park to lead you to one of the villages situated on the nearby park fringes.

            One of the easiest Manipuri villages to visit is called Ramnager, close to the Bangladesh Tea Research Institute; if you call in on the institute you will be able to get directions. 

Satchari National park:

About 60km southwest of srimangal on the Dhaka-Sylhet Hwy is the small Satchari National park(formerly known as the Telepara Forest Reserve). This 243-hectare park is part of a much larger protected region. Although less popular then lowacherra, it is a superb slab of tropical forest with a higher diversity of plants and animals than lowacherra, and with far less human disturbance.

There are a number of marked walking trails of between 30 population of holock gibbons, fishing cats payer’s langur, jungle fowl, pygmy woodpeckers and oriental pied hounbills. The Satchari National park is on the south side of the main road, about 1km east of satchari bus stop and Telepara Tea Estate, where the highway takes a sharp left bend. You could get the driver of Dhaka-sylhet missing the early hours when bird-watching is best. Alternatively, get a bus from Srimangal and walk to the trail head 1km away, To return to Srimangal, flag down one of the Dhaka sylhet buses or walk back to Telepara Tea Estate and catch one there. 

Rema Kalenga wildlife Sanctuary: 

The Rema Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, near Satchari National Park, is very rarely visited region of upland forest that provides a home to numerous bird species, capped langur, slow Loris and fishing cats. It has a similar system of walking trails to Satchari.