| Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 | |
found this online..regarding bdCountry forums / Indian Subcontinent / Bangladesh | ||
Bangladesh visa info/ Bangladesh Visa Fee
Other hand, Duth Bangla Bank Ltd. has more than 200 ATM's in Dhaka (also in Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna, Sylhet, Coxsbazar) those accepet Master/Vis cards. So, definitely you will find a DBBL ATM ner to your hotel. Ask hotel manger. He will help to find. Money Changers : You will find four banks inside airport (at lest 2 banks are open 24 hours) where can exchange money. But please DO NOT Exchange big amount from these banks as their rate is much lower than privte money changers. You can find money changers at Motijheel, Fakirapool,Purana Paltan, Gulshan Circle 1& 2 and many other places. Some addresses are : Avia Money Changer, 52 Motijheel C/A, Dhaka (Near Shapla Circle), Multi Money Changer, Globe Chamber, 104 Motijheel C/A, Dhaka, Omni Money Exchange, Dhaka Sheraton Hotel, Good Will Money Exchange, Land View Shopping Complex, Gulshan Circle-2, Dhaka, Kamas Money Exchange Corp, 61 Gulshan Shopping Center (1st Fl.), Gulshan-1, Dhaka. FYI, almost money exchanges are closed on Friday. In case of emergency, you can go to a Money exchange inside Bashundhara City Shopping Mall (Panthapath, Near Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel). Also will find a Money Exchange at Sheraton Hotel.
Though the usual Taxi fare should be Tk 150/- but almost all Taxis will demand Tk. 500. If bargain, may decrese to Tk. 350 - Tk. 400. But if you walk around 100 meters, will find main road. Cross the road & take a Taxi/Baby taxi (Tooktook, Locally called : CNG) which will take only Tk. 120-150 to any place of Dhaka City. You will find also many buses to Gulistan/Motijheel/ Gulshan area. Fare only Tk. 10-18.
a) Hotel Ramna, 45 B.B Avenue, Dhaka ( Near GPO & Gulistan Mazar. Ask Taxi/Baby Taxi to go Gulistan area). Ph : 880-2- 956 2279. Tariff : Taka 300 - Tk. 700/Night b) Hotel Yemeni Intl., 219 Syed Nazruil Islam Sharoni, Dhaka (Opposite to GPO, same building of Gulistan Peer Yemeni market). Ph : 956 5220 Tariff : Tk. 250-Tk 800 c) Hotel Pacific,120/B Motijheel Commercial Area, Dhaka (Near Toyota Building & 100 meters west of Motijheel Biman office). Ph : 955 8148 Tariff : Tk. 750-Tk. 1000 d) Hotel Sugandha Intl, Ph : 243/244 Nawabpur Road, Dhaka Ph : 955 6720 Tariff : Tk. 120 (S), Tk. 180 (D) e) Hotel Grand Prince, Main Road, Mirpur Circle-1, Dhaka (Near Mirpur Circle 1, adjacent to Bata Shoe store) Ph : 9012952 Tariff : Tk. 850-3000 f) Hotel Al Razzaque, 29/1 Nort South Road, Nazira Bazar, Old Dhaka. Ph : 956 1990 Tariff : Tk. 200-400 g) Hotel Farmgate, 82 East Teajturi Bazar, Farmgate, Dhaka (Adjacent to Ananda/Chanda Cinemma hall), Dhaka. Ph: 912 0612 Tariff : Tk. 700-Tk 1000. h) Hotel Abakash (Govt. owned), Mohakhali, Dhaka Ph : 8811150 Tariff : Tk. 1200 (Air con/Double) h) Hotel Zakaria International, 35 Gulshan Road, Mohakhali Wireless Gate, Dhaka. E-Mail : hzi@bdonline.com Ph : 8825003 Tariff : Tk. 800 (Non Air con/Single), Tk. 1400 (Double) Tk. 1200/1800 (Air con, Single/Double) Other hand, you will find many hotel at Fakirapool, Motijheel & Nawabpur area. The tariff is Tk. 150-600/night.
Due to language diffiulty, an English speaking guide can help you to make your travel plan as well as to execute that plan. It is cheap here to hire a Guide. I know some guides who can serve only for USD 15-25/day (Depending on duration & destination). This cost in Excluding his foodTransportaccomodtion while he will be with you. If you decide to hire a Guide, can contact me to give some references.
You have to submit the USD encashment certificate of same amount of the ticket price. So, at first be sure about the ticket price, go to nearer bank (Preferred Standard Chartered Bank), ask them that you wat to exchange the said amount also you need an encashment certificate. They will provide certificate with somefee (USD 5-7). You will find many travel agents in Motijheel, Fakirpool,Gulshan area.
Days : Every day except Friday (But only Saturday, Monday & Wednesday Rockets go till Mongla & Khulna. Remining days till Morelgonj i.e 1 stoppage before Mongla) Dhaka-Mongla first class fare : USD 15 (Taka 1,030/person), Each Cabin has 2 beds. Deck Class fare : USD 2.2 (Taka 150)/Sleeping bag needed to travel by this class. Advance Ticket : You can book the ticket in advance & buy ticket just before 2-3 days of your trip from Bangladesh Inland Transport Corp (BIWTC), 5 Dilkusha, Dhaka. Ph : (+880 2) 955 9779. Office hour : Sunday – Thursday from 9 am – 5 p.m. No online or e-mail booking facility. In case of 2nd Class, you have to call another number : 739 0691
Barisal -Chittagong : Friday at 9.00 p.m. Reach Barisal 5 p.m (Next evening) Ph : (0431) 64736 Chittagong-Barisal : Thursday at 9 am from Barisal Steamer Ghat. Ph : (031) 613358 Fare : Tk. 300 (Deck), Tk. 850 (2nd Class/Quarter share), Tk. 1,400 (1 st Class/Twin share).
It is easy to hire a Car in Dhaka. The usual cost is Taka 2500-2600/day with Driver (+Drivers food & Accomodation for outside Dhaka Trip). Palton Circle is the best place. You will find a car rental service association in tht circle. Talk to them & hire the car. Almost cars are run by Gas. If you buy Gas for Taka 200, you can drive whole day inside Dhaka (At least 120 Kilometers).
To enter Chittagong Hill Tract districts (Rangamati, Bandarban) it is mandatory to take the permit from : Divisional Commissioner, 718 Chatteshari Road, Chittagong (Near Stadium). It is easy to take, takes half an hour & no fee. But you have to go within office hour (Sun-Thu, 9 am-5 p.m)
The Road condition is good, buses are international standard. It takes 5 hours (275 K.M) to reach Chittaong. Shohag, Green Line, Silk Line are the best in this route. Fare : Tk. 450-480 (air con), Tk. 230-250 (non air con).Dhaka Coxsbazar fare is : Tk. 800 (Air con) & Tk. 450 (Non air con). Almost buses have the Ticket Counter at Arambag/Fakirapool area (Just 200 Meter West rom Motijheel Shapla Circle). Some addresses of their head offices (also bus counter) are as under : a. Shohag Paribhan (Trasnport), 114 Malibag DIT Road (Near Rail Line), Dhaka. Phone : 933 4477 b. Green Line : 9/2 Outer Circular Rd., Rajarbag, Dhaka. Ph : 933 9623
From Dhaka, everyday many train go to different cities (Except Southern Citilies like Barisal, patuakhali). Train service is good & safe here. Some details as under : 16.1. Dhaka-Chittagong a. Mohanagar Provati : 7.40 am – 3.15 pm (No off day) 16.2. Dhaka-Srimongol/Sylhet a. Parabat Express : 06.40 am – Sri : 11.06 am / Syl : 1.40 p.m (Off day : Tuesday) | ||
So you have all the info you want ! No problem then ... LR | 1 | |
It's a great detail. | 2 | |
Has my quick reading missed the info about cost of the visa? | 3 | |
Not a bad list of information, did you raid Mahmud's secret stash? There are many more hotels in the Gulshan/Banani area that aren't on the list. And the Hotel Al Razzaque only accepts males, if your female, look elsewhere! Also, you will need to bargain real hard with the CNG drivers (there is a sort of CNG mafia that jacks up prices for westerners). The rickshaw driver's aren't too bad, as long as you know what the trip should cost in advance. Traffic can get very busy crossing through Dhaka (eg. Gulshan to Motijheel, allow at least an hour...). | 4 | |
Hi joe, u copied my website.great! The fact is that i deal only with the backpackers. They usually are not interst fr gulshan hotels where tariff starts from usd 50.pls dont misunderstand me. Mahmud | 5 | |
Try some places in Gulshan and Banani. You can do very well for 1000-1500 taka. I think the extra few hundred taka is well worth it to stay in that area - much nicer than Central Dhaka, better restaurants, cleaner, but a little distant from Old Dhaka is the only disadvantage. | 6 | |
Hi fortymilliondaggers, can you inform some details fo such hotel in Gulshan area so that I can recommend to the trvellers? | 7 | |
Mahmud montre les griffes diplomatiquement ... ! LR | 8 | |
the hotels in gulshan area tend to overinflate their prices, so it might take a bit of work to get a good deal, but i liked the way hotel lake shore plaza (1500) and sky park guesthouse (1000) did business and would recommend them. both very well located. but there are heaps of other suggestions in the bradt guide (better than the lonely planet). its hard to recommend any one particular place, because wherever you go theyll see you coming and youll have to bargain hard to get a good rate. but in my opinion, gulshan/banani area is far better than central dhaka for a tourist. | 9 | |
and i wouldnt worry about the extra money - i was on a budget too, but i found the extra few bucks tremendous value in terms of dhaka hotels./ | 10 | |
I respect your opinion fortymilliondaggers but how is gulshan/banani area far better than central dhaka for a tourist ? I travel to see the country as it is ! I like to see, smell and feel the local+ and if I want to stay in +posh areas then I will go to Europe, the US or Malaysia... But this is Bangladesh ! My opinion .... LR | 11 | |
I think you are missing the point LoneRunner, there are many different tourists out there, some will want to stay in $2/night places & others will want something a bit more comfortable. No matter what level they travel at, they are all tourists! Your comments imply that you consider an authentic Bangladeshi experience can only involve peasants or slave labourers & that Gulshan/Banani isn't the real Bangladesh. If I were Bangladeshi I would find your comments patronising & offensive... Bangladesh is a hard working developing nation & through those efforts deserve whatever spoils come their way... to have middle class suburbs like Gulshan/Banani etc. is a sign that those efforts have been successful. | 12 | |
Your comments imply that you consider an authentic Bangladeshi experience can only involve peasants or slave labourers ... I dont see where I wrote these words or that idea ! These are your words not mine ! Read my post again ! Bangladesh has its specifications ! Every country has its own reality, way of living and culture ! When I go to BD I want to feel the real Bangladesh ! I want to feel the change ! I dont know if you understand this feeling, if not I dont see why you would choose to visit Bangladesh ! LR | 13 | |
No need to rub your nose in it all day every day to experience the real Bangladesh. Solo female may wish to stay in Gulshan/Banani - more liberal attitudes than the rest of the country. Then again, solo females may wish to steer clear of the whole country, but that's a whole other topic. | 14 | |
Bangladesh, like any other place in the world has multiple facets to it. Hence, there are different social classes like anywhere else...I do not think, it is 'unreal' Bangladesh, just because the vicinity is affluent. There is widespread inequality and yes, most of the rich are probably corrupt and exploit the have nots. Having said that, it certainly does not imply that every single individual who reside there, fall under such negative category. On the other hand, there may be a handful of luxurious homes located in other, not so affluent areas, but are equally grand as those ones in the aforementioned areas. Some travellers might opt for the extra comfort and choose such areas, there is nothing wrong with that. At the same time, one can travel all around the country and draw a contrast of the different lifestyles that coexist in Bangladesh. Enjoy your stay there, everyone! | 15 | |