Bangladesh

Dhaka (population 22 million, 44,000 people per km² — the most densely populated megacity on earth) is simultaneously overwhelming and captivating. Old Dhaka (Puran Dhaka) — the Lalbagh Fort (17th century Mughal fort, never completed), the Ahsan Manzil (Pink Palace, 1872, the former residence of the Nawab of Dhaka, now the most ornate colonial building in Bangladesh), the Star Mosque.

💡 The Ahsan Manzil (“Pink Palace”) was the official residence of the Nawab of Dhaka, the wealthiest family in Bengal, from 1872. It contains 28 rooms, a Corinthian-columned facade painted pink, and personal collections including a billiard room and ballroom used to entertain Queen Victoria’s son during his 1875 India tour.

Sadarghat river port — the busiest river port in the world by passenger volume, with 30,000 people arriving and departing on wooden paddle-wheel ferries every day. The Baitul Mukarram National Mosque (1968, the national mosque of Bangladesh, capacity 40,000) and the weavers of Mirpur producing jamdani — the UNESCO-listed muslin weaving tradition of Bangladesh.

💡 Jamdani muslin — a handwoven cotton fabric with geometric floral patterns, produced on traditional looms in Dhaka since Mughal times — is so fine that Mughal emperors called it “woven air.” The finest jamdani (300 thread count) has been produced since the 17th century and UNESCO inscribed it on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013.

1h flight to Jessore + boat, or overnight ferry from Dhaka. The Sundarbans (UNESCO World Heritage Site, the largest mangrove forest in the world, 10,000km² spanning Bangladesh and India) is home to the largest population of Bengal tigers in Bangladesh — approximately 100 individuals — and 300 species of bird.

💡 The Bengal tiger in the Sundarbans has adapted to swimming between islands — the only swimming tiger population. They kill approximately 50–70 people per year in the Sundarbans, mostly honey collectors and fishermen who enter the forest. Woodcutters traditionally wear masks on the back of their heads, as tigers only attack from behind.

A full day by country boat through the tidal channels — the Sundarbans at high tide, channels reflecting the forest canopy, spotted deer on the mudflats, fishing eagles above, and the possibility of tiger tracks on every riverbank. Irrawaddy dolphins in the larger channels.

💡 The Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) lives in the Sundarbans waterways — one of the few remaining coastal populations of a species critically endangered globally. They are identifiable by the absence of a distinct beak. The Sundarbans population is approximately 400 individuals.

1h flight from Dhaka. Chittagong — Bangladesh’s second city and its main port — has the most important ship-breaking yards in the world (Sitakund beach, where supertankers are run aground at high tide and dismantled by hand by 200,000 workers, the steel sold on) visible from the coastal road.

💡 The Chittagong ship-breaking industry dismantles approximately 50–80 large vessels per year — oil tankers, cruise ships, aircraft carriers — in conditions condemned by international labour organisations but representing the primary recycling industry for global shipping steel. Entry is restricted but the scale is visible from the road above.

2h from Chittagong. The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) — a hilly region bordering Myanmar and India, home to 13 indigenous Buddhist hill tribes including the Chakma, Marma and Tripura — is one of the most culturally distinct regions of Bangladesh. Rangamati on Kaptai Lake, surrounded by forested hills.

💡 The Chittagong Hill Tracts have a distinct Buddhist culture entirely different from the Muslim majority of Bangladesh — the Chakma people have their own script, language, weaving tradition and Buddhist monasteries on stilts above the lake. The area requires a special permit for foreign visitors.

1h30 from Rangamati. Cox’s Bazar — 120km of unbroken sandy beach on the Bay of Bengal, the longest natural sea beach in the world — has developed rapidly since the 2000s. The beach at Inani (25km south of Cox’s Bazar town, rocky headlands, entirely undeveloped) is the most atmospheric. Fly from Cox’s Bazar (CXB) to Dhaka.

💡 Cox’s Bazar at 120km continuous beach is the longest natural sea beach in the world — longer than the entire Belgian coast. Despite its scale, it remains largely undeveloped beyond the town itself. The Inani headlands at sunset, with fishing boats returning, are the finest natural scene on the entire beach.