Bangladesh route and destination advice sought
 

I am starting to plan a winter getaway and somewhere that interests me is Bangladesh and I am after destination and route suggestions from anyone who has been there, if I get there I will probably be travelling by bicycle if that makes any difference.
Any advice appreciated.

Nice to hear someone wanting to visit Bangladesh. I spent a month there but want to say this was in 2008, before the Rohingya refugee crisis. So things may have changed.

I liked Bangladesh, it was way below Pakistan in terms of excitement and adventure, but still memorable, and a lot less aggravating than being in India. The country is small and almost square with the capital very roughly in the middle, so it does not lend itself to linear overland routes. I was travelling by car but being on a bicycle opens the possibility of using ferries which are how many Bangladeshis get around.

Dhaka is an experience in itself, one not to be missed (and perhaps not to be repeated). It makes Kolkata or Karachi look like spacious, calm places. The density of people is quite staggering, as is the traffic and filth. It was still quite charming in places though, with so much bicycle-rickshaw traffic and friendly locals who are surprised and happy to see a foreigner.

The undoubted highlight of the country was going into the Chittagong Hill Tracts, I spent time in Lama and Thanchi, the latter being the end of the road in the jungle, surrounded by fascinating hill tribes living quite cut off from the outside world. I remember the road in was one of the steepest I have ever drive on. The police were obstructive and tried to limit my movement on the grounds that it was dangerous (or more likely to keep outsiders from seeing Bengali settlers encroaching into tribal districts). I have no idea what the place is like now.

Another highlight was the paradise island of Saint Martin's. There is not much to do except enjoying the peace of a place without roads where people get around on foot, but it's quite a change from Dhaka.

I also spent time in Chittagong and Jessore, though neither were very exciting.

I wish I had gone to the Sunderbans, and if I had had more time I would have visited the few ancient Buddhist and Hindu sites in the country.

If you want to see pictures, there are reports of my trip on my website.

Good luck

EO

Thanks for that which sounds encouraging, the current Foreign Office advice is to avoid the Chittagong Hill Tracts which also invalidates travel insurance if you do unfortunately but I think I will buy a map and start to mark places to visit which is my way of showing intent.