Backwater trip to Barishal

Start
Dhaka
+2 Destinations
Barishal
End
Dhaka

Highlights

  • Century-old Paddle steamer (Rocket)
  • Sightseeing at Old Dhaka
  • Cruising through the narrow canal at Barishal
  • Explore the biggest delta on earth. 
  • Primitive village life. 
  • Impact of the river on daily life. 

The river-laden division of Barisal has a lot to offer to the tourist who loves to discover the maze of waterways, luxuriously green farmland and quiet village life. A tour here can make for a wonderfully true riverine experience in Bangladesh. Barisal is famous for paddy growing & many small and big rivers awash with numerous rivers and canals which is part of the Ganges Delta. Hundreds of them flow through this region resulting a lush landscape with more shades of green. In Barisal Backwater Tour we take you to explore the rivers and canals of Barisal by country boats where you can experience and photograph life in Ganges Delta which will be an unique experience. Traveling by boat is the way of life here. You’ll take an overnight ferry to Barisal and explore the canals and rivers next 02 days on small country boats.  Endless guava gardens and floating guava markets on it’s full ripen season, floating markets of rice, vegetables, and fruits, traditional life on the bank of the rivers and canals, bazaars, schools, and many more interesting things. 

Itinerary

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Day-1: Full day sightseeing at Dhaka and Overnight ferry to Barisal

The tour will start at 7 am in the morning depending on the  your hotel location. Visiting  the backstreets and bazaars of New & Old Dhaka will be the main attractions of the first day of the tour  including Kawran Bazar, Tejgaon Railway Station, Swarighat, Chawk Bazar, Islampur Road, and Shakhari Bazar. Short boat ride on river hyper busy Buriganga and visit sounding of the river if possible village market on the other side of the river before embarking a traditional ferry in Sadarghat River Station at around 6 pm for an overnight journey to Barisal.

Day-02: Welcome to Barishal, Experience life on the Ganges river and it's Bank

Leaving the boat at Barisal in the early morning around 5.30 am, and transfer to your hotel. After check-in, and freshen up, drive to a remote place in Barisal on a three wheeler Tuk-Tuk . Upon arrival you’ll embark at our waiting country boat, and start cruising immediately toward a floating market or other interesting place depending on the day of the week. These floating markets start around 7 am and finish within 9 am in the morning. And this is why we start the days early in this tour. Breakfast will be served on the boat procured from the local market. Being a very remote place where no descent restaurant is available, this will mainly be bread and some fruits. You continue cruising whole day in the rivers and small canals in Barisal and visit a floating market where they bring everything to sell by boat which is full of activities and perfect for photography. Goods on these markets are mainly sold on wholesale from farmers to resellers. We’ll buy some seasonal local fruits from a local market for lunch such delicious jack-fruit(If you can eat those !!!), watermelon, lichee, mango, coconut, and continue cruising. You’ll also visit few bazaars on land, stop on a village and have tea while meeting with local people and exchange culture with them, and visit a factory yard where they make fiber from coconut which is used as a raw material to make carpet and rope. Return to our starting place around 3.00 pm, transfer to Barisal by tuk-tuk, and retire for the day. 

Day-03: Experience life on the Ganges river and it's Bank (Part-2)

Today our activity will be a bit similar to yesterday Breakfast on a restaurant at Barisal at 7 am, and transfer to a remote place in Barisal by Tuk-Tuk (Three wheeler CNG). Board on our waiting boat upon arrival, and start cruising immediately. Today you will be taken to some other places to visit through the narrow canals and rivers. You’ll float through the backyards of people’s house and see their lifestyle while they welcome you and greet you from the land, see a floating guava market, visit numerous guava gardens where a big percentage of Bangladesh’s guavas are grown, visit kids and teachers on a school where you can talk with them, and exchange culture. Locally bought fruits will be served for lunch on boat as yesterday with some bread procured from local source. Continue cruising through the narrow canals and rivers. Next attraction for today will be visiting a timber market where  you will see logs dumped beside the river spread in miles long places, carried away on the river very slowly with the help of a boat, loading and unloading them manually with the help of tide. Also visit numerous saw mills where they saw the logs according to the needs of the customers located on the bank. Return to our starting place around 3.00 pm. You’ll return to hotel in the afternoon and late check-out after freshen up for night long journey to return to Dhaka. Transfer to Barisal ferry station at 6 pm to embark on to passenger ferry to Dhaka. Overnight at Ferry (Sleeping Cabin).

Day 4: Return journey to Dhaka on Overnight boat

You will arrive at Dhaka early in the morning around 5 am. Disembark from boat at 7 am, breakfast on a local restaurant, and drive toward Rupganj which will take roughly one hour plus journey time, an area famous for traditional weaving from the ancient period. Experience the Jamdani hand-weaving process. Interact with the master weavers and learn about the process of making Jamdani. You also can buy some to those finished product as souvenir ob Bangladesh. Drive back to Dhaka and visit some flagship stores where the finest quality of Jamdani and other handicraft products are sold, including Aarong and Jatra. Drop you at your hotel/residence and end of the tour with unique experience of a trip to biggest delta of the earth. 

What's included

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What's included?

02 Nights accommodation on passenger ferry in a sleeping cabin on twin sharing basis. 1.5 Night accommodation in a hotel at Barisal.

02 Breakfast, 02 lunches with locally purchased breads, fruits, drinking water, tea while on country boat at Barisal.

Tuk-Tuk / CNG three wheeler and Rickshaw as transport in Barisal.

All boat rides mentioned in the itinerary.

English speaking guide.

All tips other than our guide and boat driver.

 

What's not Included?

Any food or drinks other than mentioned above.

Any personal item.

Download PDF Itinerary

Special Notes

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Good to know

The locations in the itinerary of this tour are fully open not fixed. There might me some change depending on the day of the week, as different markets and bazaars sets on different days of the week in the different location.

Activity starts very early in the morning every day. So we recommend you to go to bed early and have a good sleep to enjoy the days.

There will be no descent restaurant available while on cruising on the country motorized boat at the backwaters. These are very remote places of our country. You’ll find a decent restaurant only in Barisal city where you can have dinner.

This tour is for people who love to see different people and culture. There is not any designated sight-seeing attraction on this trip.

If you are interested you can travel up to Barishal by Rocket which is available only on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. A regular passenger boat will be on service rest of the days which starts from shadarghat in the evening and arrive at Barisal next day morning.

We, Travel and Explore BD will not be responsible for any schedule change of Rocket steamer in the case of you decide to travel by Rocket.

Best time to travel:

June – September: Rivers and canals will be full of water, and everything is green in it’s fullest. Also the ripen season of guava when you can see the floating guava market. Best time of the year to travel but bearing in mind of hot weather during this time. 

November – March: Weather is cool and comfortable, and less humid.

 

Price

Group Size BDT price per person USD price per person
2 30000 $300

Please send a mail or WhatsApp at +8801714085999 for the price.

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