Lunch on Floating Restaurant

This is an awesome culture of this district. You can find smalls & tiny hills in Kaptai Lake again & again where small restaurants are available. You can order your favorite food there & they’ll prepare it for you. And that’s why it’s better at the starting of your tour, give order for lunch & then after 2-3 hours of sailing, return to the restaurant and take your lunch because if you order instantly you may wait for hours to get the foods. It’ll consume the time of your travel.

Sunset on Hanging Bridge

After taking lunch visit the hanging bridge to experience the sunset. You can go their anytime of the day. But the moment of dusk looks awesome & that’s why our suggestion will be going there at that time. There is 3 parts of attractions. First part is the channel through which your boat will enter into the bridge. Second part is of course hanging bridge itself. And the third part is the tourism area made by government surrounded to this hanging bridge. There are also some resorts & cottages there to stay at night. They are little expensive, but very safe as you’ll be guarded by government officials.

Visiting Sajek Valley

This is one of the most popular tourist destinations among the travelers of Bangladesh now days. If you want to go to Sajek Valley from Rangamati, you’ve to go to Langadu by launch & then you’ll find Chander Gari (4 wheeler car) and after 3-3.5 hours mount driving you’ll be on the top of Sajek Valley. There are 2 launches from Rangamati to Langadu. The direct launch sails on 7.30am & reaches to Langadu before 11am. And a local launch sails from Rangamati Launch Terminal at 8am & it takes almost 5 hours to reach Langadu. Since, you need to reach before 3pm to enter into Sajek, so don’t miss direct launch. For details about traveling Sajek Valley you can also read the article Sajek Valley & Konglak Para – The Roof of Rangamati District.

Introduction

Rangamati is the largest district of Bangladesh where more than 14 tribes including Chakma, Marma, Lusai etc. live together with harmony. This is the only district of Bangladesh where you’ll find no rickshaw anywhere. This is one of the oldest tourist spots of Bangladesh with a variety of tourist attractions. Besides, the whole district is connected by a man-made lake named Kaptai Lake which has made this city more adorable to all types of backpackers

Though you can go there almost all the year round, since the whole area is connected by Kaptai Lake, its better traveling to Rangamati in rainy season because in this season the whole lake remain full of water. The best months for traveling Rangamati is between June to September & the winter which means November to January is also good to go there. But for your comfort try to avoid summer season.

Rangamati & Kaptai Lake Itinerary

Rangamati doesn’t have a railway connection to the other districts. That’s why the bus is the only reliable transport. I need around 7-8 hours from Dhaka to Rangamati & 3-4 hours from Chittagong to Rangamati by bus. The popular buses are Dolphin, Shyamoly, etc. But inside the Rangamati, the best transports are boat because Kaptai Lake connected almost every part of the district. But you can take CNG to roam on the town.

How to Go To Rangamati

Rangamati doesn’t have a railway connection to the other districts. That’s why the bus is the only reliable transport. It needs around 7-8 hours from Dhaka to Rangamati & 3-4 hours from Chittagong to Rangamati by bus. The popular buses are Dolphin, Shyamoly, etc. But inside the Rangamati, the best transports are boat because Kaptai Lake connected almost every part of the district. But you can take CNG to roam on the town.

Hotels & Resorts in Rangamati

You’ll get lots of hotels & resorts to live in Rangamati. Among them, Hotel Shanghai & Hotel Sufia is the oldest. You can take boats just behind from these hotels. Besides, the tourism area near the hanging bridge also has lots of cottages. You can also stay there. These are the famous places to live in. You can also stay inside the town & there are both high & low budget hotels there.

Top Tourist Attractions & Activities

As this is the largest district of Bangladesh, it also has many tourist attractions. Though the list is really big, we are going to discuss the main attractions in detail. These places can be covered within a day. But if you want to relax a journey or want to cover more places then you must take 2 days in your hand.

Sailing on Kaptai Lake

The first and most adventurous part of traveling Rangamati is sailing on Kaptai Lake. The interesting point is this big lake is not natural. The whole lake is man-made & this is the largest man-made lake in south-east Asia using the water flow of Karnafuli River. Normally the rate of the boat is around 2000 BDT per day. Boats are big & almost 30 people can easily sit on the boat. You can negotiate the rate to the boatman. You can go to every tourist attraction through the lake.

Rajbon Bihar Pagoda

This is the nearest attraction to the Rangamati mainland. You need to sail 20-25 minutes to reach Rajbon Bihar Pagoda. Though they are not allowing tourists into the pagoda recent days, you can roam on the total compound, watch their cultures & activities and take photos to traditional architectures. But don’t spend too much time here because you’ve to cover lot more places later.

Trekking to the Statue of Buddha

You’ll find a statue of Buddha on the top of a hill between the routes of Rajbon Bihar Pagoda & Shuvolong waterfalls. You’ve to trek for 10 minutes to reach the top of the hill. The trekking is very comfortable & every beginner can do this easily. From this place, you can see a marvelous top view of Kaptai Lake which will definitely mesmerize you. On the base of the hill, you’ll get a tiny local market. You can buy local crafts or other souvenirs for your friends or family. You can east green coconut also. And I’ll recommend not to miss the taste of this coconut because the taste is really different & the water is cooler than traditional green coconut.

Shuvolong Waterfalls

In the rainy season, the roar of these waterfalls will amuse you. But in the other seasons, the fall faces scarcity of water. But in those seasons you can walk up to the steep stones & reach to the core of Shuvolong waterfall. But this is not recommended because there is a life risk. After visiting this falls, you can go to Shuvolong bazaar and pass sometimes there. This is not a tourist spot, but for taking rest the place is okay.

Local Foods & Drinks

Since this place has thousands of year’s old culture, there are lots of traditional foods here. The most popular among all of the foods are the ‘Bamboo Chicken’. This food is normally prepared by the heat of bamboo & very delicious to eat. Besides, local fish fries are also very tasty. In the case of drinks, local tribes have their own drinks. Normally during festivals, they publicly drink.

Conclusion

Rangamati is the oldest tourist spot of Bangladesh from the British period. Though lots of new tourist destinations in Bangladesh are now getting popular day by day, Rangamati will always have its place to the heart of people. So don’t miss traveling the largest district, the only district without Rickshaw & the district of surprises; The Rangamati district.