 Sylhet is the capital and richest city of the Sylhet Division in Bangladesh with a population of over 500,000 residents.Understand |
Nestled in the picturesque Surma Valley amidst scenic tea plantations
and lush green tropical forests, greater Sylhet is a prime attraction
for all tourists visiting Bangladesh. Sylhet has developed due to
remittances from the expatriates living in Britain and America. Laying
between the Khasia and the Jaintia hills on the north, and the Tripura
hills on the south, Sylhet breaks the monotony of the flatness of this
land by a multitude of terraced tea gardens, rolling countryside and the
exotic flora and fauna. Here the thick tropical forests abound with
many species of wildlife, spread their aroma around the typical hearth
and homes of the Monipuri Tribal maidens famous for their dance.
The Sylhet Valley is formed by a beautiful, winding pair of
rivers named the Surma and the Kushiara both of which are fed by
innumerable hill streams from the north and the south. The valley has
good number of haors which are big natural depressions. During winter,
these haors are vast stretches of green land, but in the rainy season
they turn into turbulent seas.
These haors provide a sanctuary to the millions of migratory
birds who fly from Siberia across the Himalayas to avoid the severe cold
there. Sylhet has also a very interesting and rich history, Before the
conquest by the Muslims, it was ruled by local chieftains. In 1303, the
great Saint Hazrat Shah Jalal came to Sylhet from Yemen with a band of
360 disciples to preach Islam and defeated the then Raja Gour Gobinda.
An interesting feature of Sylhet region is the aboriginal tribes
such as the Tipperas, the Monipuris, Khasis and Garos who still live in
their primitive ways in the hills, practising their age-old rites,
rituals, customs and traditions. During festivals such as, Rash Leela
(Full-moon night in February) and Doljatra, the attractive young girls
dressed in colorful robes, dance with the male members of their choice
& love. The Monipuris perform their famous dance, based on
allegorical love themes of the ancient mythology.
Sylhet is one of the richest cities in Bangladesh, with the vast
majority of rich residents have money sent from the UK and America,
along with some of the most affluent residential areas in the country,
third to only Dhaka and Chittagong.
Get in
By plane
Osmani International Airport (ICAO: ZYL) is served by all major domestic carriers, Biman Air [1], United Airlines and Regent Airways [2].
Please check the airline's website for latest schedule. There are no
international flights, but most of the flights in Sylhet are destined to
the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, Dhaka.
By bus
There are many luxury coach and bus services from Dhaka to Sylhet.
Some notable services are Hanif, Shohag Poribahan, Green Line etc. These
services are available from 7:30 am to 10:30 pm. For latest schedule it
is recommended to contact with particular company.
For budget travelers , there are non AC bus services available
from the Sayedabad bus terminal (locally known as a Jonopath Mor, near
Sayedabad Hujur's Mosque) which depart every half hour from 6 am to
midnight. Efficient budget bus service companies are Hanif, Unique
Service etc. Ena non AC bus service available from Uttara(Dhaka) to
Sylhet.
From Mymensingh 440 taka, 8 hour by non AC bus.
By train
There are train services from Dhaka, Chittagong and Comilla
to Sylhet everyday. From Dhaka, there are three trains named Joyontika,
Parabat and Upoban depart at morning, noon and evening.There is a new
train named Kalni depart at afternoon from Dhaka.
From Dhaka, it takes 8-9 hours.
Get around
Rickshaws are a common mode of transportation throughout the small
town, along with the CNGs (auto-rickshaws). Don't take buses as they are
usually unreliable for foreign tourists. If you stay with a friend or
family member, they usually have atleast 1 driver who drives a car for
them. Do not take taxis if you are a foreigner, as crimes may happen.
The traffic is relatively light to moderate in contrast to Dhaka's long
jams.
See
Tea Gardens, shrines of Hazrat Shah Jalal Yamani and Hazrat Shah
Farhan, Shahi Eidgah, Chandni Ghat, Ali Amjad's Clock Tower, Kean
Bridge, Shah Jalal Bridge, Osmani Museum, Jaflong, Parjatan, Shah Jalal
University, Osmani Medical College and Hospital, Sylhet Polytechnic
Institute, Theme Parks, etc.
- Tamabil-Jaflong: Situated amidst splendid panorama, Tamabil is a border outpost on Sylhet-Shilong Road about 55 km. away from Sylhet town. Besides enchanting views of the area one can also have a glimpse of the waterfalls across the border from Tamabil. Jaflong is also a scenic spot nearby amidst tea gardens and rate beauty of rolling stones from hills.The natural view has gotten effected due to rock quarring. It's located in the Bangladesh-India border
- Kalibari at Jaflong: Kalibari temple which is one of the 51 Sakthi peet is situated near Jaflong. Currently this place is not maintained due to less hindu population.
- Greeva Peet - Mahalakshmi peet: South of Sylhet around 4 Kms from the city is place named Joinpur (Dakshin Surma - Surma is the river that flows through Sylhet). Sri Mahalakshmi temple is situated at this place. As every shakthi peet has its bhairav temple and for this peet Bhairav temple is situated 1 km away from this sakthi peet.
- Sree Mangal: Sree Mangal is famous for the largest tea gardens of the world covered by lush green carpet. One can have a look into the spectacular tea processing at Tea Research Institute. Bangladesh produces and exports a large quantity of high quality tea every year. Most of the tea estates are in SreeMangal. It is called "The land of two leaves and a bud". It is also called camellia, green carpet or Tea Mountain. There are a lot of tea estates including the largest one in the world. The terraced tea garden, pineapple, rubber and lemon plantations from a beautiful landscape. It is known as the tea capital in Bangladesh. Just offer entering into the tea estates the nice smells and green beauty will lead you many kilometres away.
- Lawacherra Rain Forest: Lawacherra Rain Forest is one of the important & well-reserved forests in Bangladesh. Here visitor may see gibbons swimming through the trees and birds like bee-eater owls parrot. It is a good habitant of Deer, leopard, wild chicken, squirrel, and python. Don't miss it especially if you are bird watcher. The terrain is hilly and vegetation is fairly thick. Only one rare Chloroform tree of Asia is here and a prime attraction of travel
- Madhabkunda: Madhabkunda surrounded by lush tea estates and full of waters lilies is a unique one. Magurchara ruined gas & Oil reserved field, which was inadvertently blown up while digging 3 years ago and was burning a 500-feet height for more than 3 months. A lot of burnt trees now carrying the symbols of disaster. Ever where a lot of rubber & lemon plantation form a beautiful landscape. And you can have a visit to Madhobkundo waterfall.
- Nazimgarh Resorts: This luxurious resort accomodates wealthy guests and visitors visiting Sylhet. It has an outdoor swimming pool, high class hotel suites, Wi-Fi internet, and a beautiful view of the jungles of Sylhet.
- Tilagor. It is a place with small and big hills which are cut or not. There are poultry farms, and dairy farms and houses on cut hills. There is also a tea garden
Do
At day time you can visit all the major attractions . There is not
much night-life in Sylhet compared to Dhaka, although some bars are
available in major hotels and the Station club. Drinking is strictly
prohibited in public areas. At evening it is a must see recommendation to visit Chadnighat
area where you will enjoy a beautiful view of Surma river, Ali Amjad
clock along with iron made Kean Bridge built in 1854.
Buy
Sylhet has a variety of malls and bazaars which offer shoppers plenty
of goods for sale. The relatively new influx of expatriate money has
rapidly transformed Sylhet into a shoppers' city. Hand-made textiles
are a speciality. Zindabazar is the shoppers paradise where most of the
big malls are located. For famous local fabric Monipuri fabric, the
shops located in Lamabazar area. Be aware of your personal belongings as
you walk around, pickpockets are rampant and unnoticeable among large
crowds.
Places to shop:
- Al Hamra
- Blue Water
- Millennnium
- Aarong
- Monorom
- Artisti
- Westex
- Kumarpara
- London Mansion
- Manipuri Bazar, Lamabazar. A big area with lots of shopping mall for famous hand weave Monipuri Sari and fabrics.
- City center
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