Spotlights of Bangladesh

We need at least 02 people to book this tour. For solo travelers, we have a different option. This tour is available round the year. We prefer you to make this the booking for this tour a minimum of 3 weeks before as there are a lot of things to arrange at the backend.

On the day of your arrival, there is only one gate of the whole airport that is called Green Channel Exit which is just 15 meters after collecting your luggage, there will be one of our representative waiting for you with your name in Placard with our logo Travel and Explore BD. Look for your guide there or you may call him just from your phone.

Upon your arrival, you can buy a SIM card just after landing at the airport and call our guide immediately. In Bangladesh SIM cards are not that expensive. Or else you may use airport Wi-Fi to make a call our guide by WhatsApp. Sometimes the Airport authority restricts

visitors inside the airport temporarily up to the Green Channel. In that case, the guide will be waiting outside on Terminal-2 ( We strongly recommend our guest to use Exit gate number-2). For the domestic flights, our guide/driver will be waiting at the domestic terminal exit point.

Category and their facilities.: Hotels/Resorts/House Boat/Overnight Ferry we use on this tour are mostly 2-star and 3-star standard. Accommodations with standard facilities for foreigners such as cleanroom, air-conditioning, hot water, western-style toilet, and complimentary breakfast. The properties run by the government such as Parjatan Hotels at Rangpur have all the standard facilities, but sometimes they are not as standard as the private properties. These are the best option for accommodation in those areas, subsequently, we are sticking with them until better hotels are developed.

We use this hotel in Uttara, Banani, Gulshan, Baridhara because it is located close to the airport and the railway station than the hotels in downtown. Among all hotels in Uttara are on the enter and exit the city without facing the hectic city traffic. The rooms are in all areas that are soundproofed with double pane windows, but it might still feel noisy if you are very sensitive to the sound and please bring your earplugs.

Being located in the subtropical zone there is a lot of mosquitoes. You may find some in the public area of the hotels, not in the room. In the worst case if you find any mosquito in the room immediately call the hotel reception and they will take instant action on this issue. They will come and spray as many times as you need. You can also bring a mosquito spray or buy one upon arrival on the beginning of your trip, which will cost not more than $5 USD.

You are not bound to stay the hotels we offer in this tour. You may choose the more upscale of the hotel in that case you just let us know before so that we can book it and adjust our tour price. If our price is higher than your price booking through online then we may deduct the hotel cost from this tour. Both the options are open.

 We, Travel and Explore BD reserve the right to change the hotel in the itinerary due to the non-availability of the rooms. In that case, we will reserve a similar standard of the hotel in those areas.

The hotels we will book for you the standard timing of check-in are 2 pm local time but depending on your flight arrival time you might need early check-in. We may book the hotel room for you with a half-day charge for early check-in. For the checkout, this might also happen you may require late checkout. The standard check-out time is 12 noon in all hotels but based on your flight time you may keep the room paying a half-day charge which will be included in the tour cost.

Friday is the weekly holiday for Rocket departing from Dhaka but alternatively, you can get the regular passenger boat and Monday is a holiday for the train from Khulna, as a result, you might choose another option to come to Dhaka either by bus or by air.

If for some unexpected reason Rocket ticket is not available at all, we’ll take you up to Barisal by a traditional ferry/Regular passenger ferry (overnight part) all the way to Hularhat.

1st class tickets for Rocket and train depend on availability. You might have to travel in the 2nd class if the 1st class is not available. There is not any significant difference in the 1st class and 2nd class on the rocket steamer, 2nd class is located on the backside and has no air- conditioning. Other facilities of paddle steamer are the same.

Passengers of the 2nd class can use all the facilities of the 1st class, such as the dining area, sitting area on the front side.

A first-class train ticket depends on availability. We will try 100% to provide you the first-class train tickets. In Bangladesh, we cannot issue the ticket 10 days before of departure date. But if that is not possible to

 provide you the first-class ticket, second class tickets will be provided, which is without air-conditioning and we will deduct the difference from your tour cost. In case of traveling on the 2nd class of train, you’ll have a reserved seat for your comfort and keeping your belongings just beside you.

The schedule of the train in our country often fails and as a result, It is common for the trains to be 01-02 hours late. But no matter when they arrive, our drivers will always be waiting for you at the station to take you to your hotel.

We generally do not suggest our guests travel by bus as Roads in Bangladesh are broken and with heavy traffic. We only use our private car while it is not possible to avoid, such as no train, boat, or flight. We have a very skilled driver in our team who will take you around safely but you need to be a bit patient while traveling on the car due to the bad traffic. Travel time mentioned in the itinerary is our best judgment. It could be delayed or earlier depending on traffic and road conditions.

The houseboat at Sundarbans is a very basic boat without air- conditioning, electricity. Hot water we will supply them on a bucket on request. It has accommodation facilities for 08-25 people and one western-style toilet. But there is also a larger boat available to arrange the tour for bigger groups.

As there are not any electricity cabins in the boat at Sundarbans are little by small lights running on battery. However, we’ll run the generator in the evening for a couple of hours every day to charge your gadgets.

The tour plan for the Sundarbans segment is just a general outline, It could be changed depending on the season, moon phase, tide, daylight hours, and fog. But all the activities mentioned in the itinerary will be done as much as possible.

We strongly suggest not to carry your mobile phone with you while you are at Sundarban to enjoy nature and wildlife. Just an opportunity to escape from the automated life in the city. However, you’ll get a mediocre mobile phone signal at different points of Sundarban of Grameen Phone. A new mobile phone tower of state-owned operators opened recently, so you’ll get full network coverage of the only Teletalk in Kotka with 2G internet facilities which are not so fast. No other SIM card will work inside other parts of the forest.

For trekking in the magical mangrove forest, the land is just flat and we will not pass through a very dense forest, I hope it will be easy for most of the people, as long as you can walk about 10 km. The trail is not marshy and muddy. Bring covered shoes for trekking that can protect your feet from small grass and trees with spikes.

You remain on the boat which will be still enjoyable If you decide not to want to walk, as it will go from Kochikhali to Kotka through small canals, which will be a ride of about 03 hours.

No binocular will be provided at Sundarbans. Bring your own.

We strongly recommend getting your visa beforehand if you have a Bangladesh mission in the country you are from. It is a general practice that citizens of EU, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, Japan, Singapore, and some other Asian developed countries can get Visa on Arrival in Bangladesh, which is a pretty straight-forward process but bear in mind that you might wait in the long queue to obtain the visa on your passport after a long flight and you might have an interview of the visa officer which might be tiring for you after a long journey. To get a visa in your country, once the tour is confirmed, Travel and Explore BD is always ready to send an invitation letter to submit in Bangladesh's mission as a supporting doc or to show at the immigration officer at Dhaka International Airport in the case of VOA.

It normally takes just 10 minutes to get VOA. Unless there is a long Queue for VOA. The cost of a visa on arrival for most of the countries is

$51 USD. You’ll not require any previous application or anything else to get the visa. However, the Immigration officer might ask your hotel booking and a phone no of the hotel. We’ll send you the hotel booking confirmation before your arrival along with a detailed itinerary which we will send you once you confirm your booking. Once VOA issued you can stay in Bangladesh a maximum of 30 days. Check here for more information on the visa on arrival for Bangladesh.

Although Bangladesh has many ATMs, some of these do not accept foreign cards – your guide can give advice on which ATM’s to use but we do not advise relying on ATM’s alone for money. Cards are generally only accepted in the more expensive shops and restaurants. Local currency, Taka, is always welcome at any shop in Bangladesh. There are a number of exchange houses in big towns and cities but Dhaka is the best option to exchange your currency. You can also exchange at Dhaka airport upon arrival, which provides good rates.

All the breakfasts, 03 lunches, and 02 dinners are included on the trip. You need to pay for the rest of the lunches and dinners during your trip. A meal at a decent local restaurant will cost about $5-$10 USD. Options for vegetarian food on the local restaurants are very limited.

You need to go to a more expensive Western restaurant to find good vegetarian food. You need to pre-arrange for the food on the trains. Especially vegetarian foods are non-existent. Bring your own food for the train if you are vegetarian, particularly for the long ride from Khulan to Dhaka. Vegetarian food will not be an issue on our boat at Sundarbans. Tea and soft drinks are very cheap. Mineral water is widely available.

Alcohol is not widely available and very expensive. Few hotels on the trip which have a bar, and even at these establishments you cannot usually drink in the restaurant. Local beer, when available, costs approx. $3 USD for a 300ml can, and a measure of spirits is similarly priced. It may sometimes be possible to purchase alcohol outside the hotels, but it is prohibited to consume in public places. Better to buy it from the duty-free shop on arrival in Dhaka airport (before immigration) and each person is permitted to buy two bottles of spirits only. In Dhaka, there are some wirehouses from where you can buy alcohol showing your foreign passport. But they only sell whole cartons of usually 24 bottles/cans.

For as smooth mobility in different parts of Bangladesh, we suggest you carry a piece of luggage that should not exceed 20kgs and if you do the tour by a sedan car that has limited space at the back of the car due to the having gas cylinder in it. One large suitcase or rucksack and one small hand luggage/rucksack should be ok.

As Bangladesh is a majority Muslim country and has a conservative attitude toward dress. In this regard, a modest dress is always welcomed. In the metropolitan cities western dress will not be any problem but in the rural area better to be a bit modestly dressed to receive respect from the locals.

Mosques, temples, churches, and synagogue are places of worship and in these areas, tourists are requested to put on modest dress. You might not be allowed to enter the prayer places if you wearing shorts, sleeveless t-shirts or blouses. You also need to remove shoes while entering one of these places.

There insufficient public toilet facilities but anywhere at any place you just inform the guide in advance. Our guide will take to any high way restaurant or at any house. Our people will not be bothered to welcome you to use their toilets when required.

Generally electrical supply in Bangladesh is 230V/50 Hz and the plugs have two round or flat prongs. You will find in many places the English 3 pin sockets along with flat 3 pin sockets facilities. We suggest you travel with an adapter and to check the voltage locally.

Wi-Fi internet is widely available in Bangladesh. You’ll find free Wi-Fi on most of the hotels on this tour. Upscale restaurants will also have free Wi-Fi. Mobile phone operators have 4G coverage in most of the places in the country. The speed of the mobile internet is not that bad and it will serve your purpose definitely.

In all our long tours we provide SIM cards and mobile phones for your smooth contact with our local guide at any time. However, if you want to a SIM by yourself the Best place to buy a local SIM card would be at the airport. Upon finishing with your immigration and collecting luggage there are numerous booths of different Mobile Phone Operators.

Grameen Phone has the widest network coverage in the country and at the airport instantly you activate phone calls and mobile data.

In Bangladesh, most workers will expect a small tip especially from foreigners; you may discuss with the guide what should be the amount depending on the service provided in different places. At the end of the tour, if your principle guides, together with the driver and the boat crew have been helpful then you could think about tipping them before saying goodbye.

Bangladesh is a country with insufficient infrastructure and things do not work here as first-world countries. Organizing a long tour in Bangladesh may bring some inconvenience occasionally. Be patient and flexible while traveling in Bangladesh. During traveling on a group, be co-operative and tolerant of the interests and difficulties of your co-travelers.

We always encourage our tourists to come to visit us to see our people and their smiling faces. Certainly, there are very beautiful destinations in Bangladesh in different areas to visit but due to the insufficient fund of the government to maintain them perfectly and build the infrastructures.