Bangladesh
The information below is provided by Lonely Planet readers and is not verified by Lonely Planet. For the official lowdown, contact your nearest embassy or check out our Travel Links.
Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings
We crossed the border in Benapole on our own. From Kolkata's Seldah station you take a local train (no bookings possible) to Bangaon, that takes about 3 hours and will be packed with people. From Bangaon there are share rickshaws which charged 20 rupees each. (That was what the local family we shared with payed as well.) The border crossing (about noon) took just 20 minutes. Most of the time was spent walking between the different buildings. Everyone was very helpful and nice.
When we got our visa in Kolkata the embassy staff told us that it was not possible the enter/exit the country anywhere else than in Benapole and Dhaka. Since the stamped visa in the passport includes entry/exit information this might be important. They wrote Benapole on entry and then put an arrow from that to the exit info. as well. But we crossed the border back to India in Burimari and thankfully the border staff there didn't make a big thing about it, they just mumbled a bit and we acted like it was not important what the visa said.
The crossing was easy. From Rangpur we got the first bus to Patgram that left at 6.30. We got there at 10 o'clock. We waited for a bus to take us to Burimari (13 km.) but after 1/2 hour we decided to take an rickshaw after all. That cost 50T and took about 40 min. After having our passports stamped at the border the Bangladeshi staff informed us that the exit tax (300T) had to be paid in the bank in Burimari (2 km.) so we had to take a rickshaw back (20T return), after which we presented the bank receipt to the customs staff and then left the country. But that bank is closed Fri/Sat so we don't know how they go about it those days. Altogether the crossing took about 40 minutes once we arrived at the border.
Daniel Lundborg, Sweden (Jan 06)
We heard about the border being closed due to terrorist attacks. Nevertheless, we managed to pass through Burimari, but only by travelling to Lalharmonidad first and taking a bus there to Patgram. In any case: ask as many people as you can whether they know if a specific border is still open, because we heard stories of people ending up at borders in the night, that were suddenly closed, and with no hotel nearby. Also, it is true that the border is open until 6:30 p.m. On the Indian side however it is open only until 6pm. In any case, it took us almost 2 hours to go through all the customs, stamps, stamps, stamps, books, officers and stamps, stamps, stamps, so do assure that you arrive there early. As for the change of route permit: we read about it only when we were already on our way and were quite fearful. We haven't been asked for it though, but we did have to pay 300 taka each. On the other side of the border (Indian side) is a bus to Siliguri (first big city nearby), but the last one leaves at 5pm, and though there is one taxi it costs about 600-800 rupees. We came back to Bangladesh from Kolkatta by bus. There no-one seemed to know whether we were leaving there country, or arriving in it, and there was excessive control of baggage, but it was fine. Be aware however: the 'daily' bus drives to Dhaka only on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and from Dhaka to Kolkatta on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Donald & Sophie Vandenbosch-Dejaegher, Belgium (Dec 05)
Direct bus service between Bangladesh and Kolkata: There are two services operated by the respective nations: the Indian - WBSTC and the Bangladeshi BRTC. The BRTC buses leave Dhaka Kamalapur International Bus depot at 7:30am and 8am and reach Kolkata that evening at around 7pm. These buses leave Dhaka on Monday Wedndesday and Friday and return back the next day. Similarly the Indian buses leave Salt Lake City International Bus depot at 7am and 7:30am Monday, Wedndesday and Friday and return back the next day. Each side operates 2 buses daily. There is no service on Sunday.
Bookings should be made at least 5 days in advance as the tickets are in huge demand. The Haridaspur-Benapole border crossing is extremely busy and thus these services are very popular. Please note that the direct services should not be confused with the other services such as Green line, Shyamoli Paribahan, Sohag parbahan etc which entail vehilce change on the other sie of the border. These services too are efficient but one needs to physcially walk across the border and change vehicles. The luggae is carried by coolies provided by the transport company. It is advisable to avail of the direct bus service as these are safe and comfortable.
Sujan Bhattacharjee, India (Jun 05)
Some information regarding the Change of Route Permit and also for obtaining an Indian visa in Dhaka: I have an Irish passport, and Ireland is one of the countries that doesn't require a visa to enter Bangladesh. This caused me lots of problems. I got a 15-day Landing Permit on arrival in Zia Int Airport. With an L/P, you cannot get a Change of Route Permit - though it took me alot of hassle to even get that info from the useless staff at the passport office.
Also, the Indian High Commission will not issue an Indian Visa to people with an L/P. I got around this by getting a 7-day extension on my L/P (the max days allowed), at the suggestion of the clerk in the High Commission. This extension can only be applied for when there's less than 7 days left on the initial L/P (i.e. you can't just go in to get 7 days added on to the visa expiry) However, I should have actually been given a 90-day L/P on arrival, which would have ruined any chance of an Indian Visa.
Philip Gough, Ireland (Mar 05)
Please take care when choosing to buy the visa-on-arrival at the Dhaka airport. Except for being quite expensive ($50 for 15 days) the surrounding countries don't accept this visa as it's just a landing permit. You won't be able to get a visa for India for instance because they say you don't have a valid visa for Bangladesh. You can probably get one by extending your visa at the Immigration office for about $50 because then you should get an official visa. Should, because maybe it's a renewal of the landing permit. But then it's still the question whether you're able to get a road permit to cross into India overland. So it could be wise to arrange your visa for Bangladesh beforehand, even if Biman Bangladesh Airlines says it's not necessary.
Joop van Dijk, The Netherlands (Dec 04)
Travel Tips
We took VISA travellers cheques (instead of AMEX ones) and could find no bank who would cash them - they all wanted AMEX, including HSBC and Citibank.
Katharine Nowitz, UK (Jan 06)
We have been travelling in West Bangladesh and found out (with bad result) that there is only one ATM there (except for Dhaka), and that one is in Bogra in the Stanard Charterd bank. As no other bank has an ATM or has ever heard of Visa this is the only place to get money!
The staring: my god, I didn't know it was so bad! We have not been alone for one minute, and that does take lots of your energy. However you are right - if you manage to talk with them, or as I did sometimes, start making drawings of them - it gets somewhat better. As for tourists, in the area where we were there were none. We met 3 American girls at one point and they started screaming. They were teaching in Bangladesh and were there for over a year. We were the first tourists they saw.
PAHARPUR
-Be wiser than we were and do not go there on the holiday that follows Ramadan. We were there then, and the whole of Bangladesh appeared to be visiting the ruins. You wrote about staring in your LP. Well, just imagine what it is like when you visit a monument where about 500 people have noticed that a white man and woman have arrived. I do assure you that arriving on the red carpet in Hollywood is less glamourous than this! As we travelled to really poor areas, we could only buy rice at 6pm, and bananas and a sort of pancake at 9pm. Meanwhile, we were hungry.
Donald & Sophie Vandenbosch-Dejaegher, Belgium (Dec 05)
Tick Removal: The method described in the back of the Lonely Planet travel guide to Bangladesh is good, but more often than not the tick holds on tight when gripped by tweezers and half of the time the mouth parts then break off, even when the head is pulled out. These pieces of tick left under the skin may become infected. Thus it is better to rub a drop of oil on the tick first. (Ticks breathe through pores on their abdomen, oil blocks the passage of air and before suffocation sets in, the tick loosens it's grip and begins to back peddle), then proceed (maybe after 30 seconds) as described in the book.
Otto Insam, South Africa (Sep 01)
Moving About
We wanted to go from Dhaka to Bogra, and as we couldn't travel by bus we took the train. As is stated in the LP the train goes up to Bahadurabat Ghat, there you take a boat, and on the other side of the river, you get on another train. However tourists should not travel there in the evening, because if you miss the boat there are no hotels in Bahadurabat. It's better to get of the train in Jamalpur, sleep there and go further the next day.
Also, take the train at 8:30am in Jamalpur because otherwise you'll arrive too late for the boat - the last one leaves at 3pm (at least that's how it was when we were there). As for the boat, this is not as easy as it seems. The train stops at the banks of the Brahmaputra, and then there is a mass of people trying to get in one of the 10 boats waiting on the water. When asking for Bogra, we were led to the boat the furtherest away from the train, and it was only after it was dark and we were floating for about 4 hours that we heard we weren't going to Bogra at all but to Gaibanda. I guess you should take one of the boats nearer to the train, but propably it will always remain some kind of adventure.
Donald & Sophie Vandenbosch-Dejaegher, Belgium (Dec 05)
Scams & Warnings
Going to cinemas in rural areas: our tour guide in Sremangal told us that women should really not go into a cinema, prostitues are the only women who go there, and there had been incidents of Bengali women (in company of their husband/brother) who had their clothes ripped off etc. So maybe stay away from rural cinemas if you are female.
Politically the country is very unstable. During our weeks in Bangladesh, one opposition party leader was murdered, followed by many Hartals of course. Also BRAC and Grameen bank offices where bombed. And also during a Valentines day celebration (non-political) at Dhaka university there were 6 small bomb blasts, a few students injured but no-one killed. To get update on security issues we read the Daily Star and asked people.
Gunilla Leander & Monica Prieto, Sweden (Mar 05)
Even though it's a far cry from Delhi, for example, Dhaka has its share of hardcore con artists too. One common trick comes from people who approach you on the streets with bogus medical records and prescriptions, begging for your help to finance urgent medical treatment. Be prepared that some are excellent comedians and extremely persistent! Foreigners have also been approached at their hotel and even residence by people who pretend to be company salesmen or fundraisers for charities, coming up with ample documentation and all. Often, they already know the foreigner's name and profession - which indicates that they were tipped by hotel or domestic staff.
Bruno De Cordier, Belgium (Jan 04)
Gems, Highlights & Attractions
About 2 km west of the famous Kantanagar temple is a small mosque which I was told was made at the same time as the temple, designed and constructed by the same builder, and commissioned by the same maharajah. It is just gorgeous. It has the same grace of proportion as the temple, and although it lacks the latter's extensive ornamentation, the little bit of decoration it does have is stylistically very akin to Kantanagar. There is a low wall which creates a courtyard in the front where, when we arrived early that morning, a huzoor was conducting a madrassah lesson for village children (all of which was of course eagerly stopped in order to watch us, and then show us around!). It received extensive restoration in the Zia period, and all in all looks in good shape. The inscription over the entrance is interestingly in Farsi, not Arabic; the huzoor told me it was built for 'Baghdadis' who worked as traders in the area. It sits in a field all by itself with a only a few village buildings in the distance behind it; it is not as confined as the temple, which has that ugly cloister-like building around it. This feels wonderfully freer and undiscovered.
Any rickshavan along the road knows where this temple is. Although its official name is the Naaban Masjid (which is indicated along with the temple on the sign in Rampur, where the loop road starts off from the northern end of the Dinajpur road), everyone knows it as the 'Purana Masjid', which means 'Old Mosque'. The fare from the temple was 15 tk. It is located in the village of Mistripara, which means 'mason's village' and this is apparently where the builder of both the temple and mosque was from.
Claudio Cambon (Dec 04)
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