A grand 16-day journey across Bangladesh - UNESCO heritage sites, the Sundarbans, tea gardens, hill-tract tribes and the old capital Sonargaon.
Meet your guide at Dhaka International Airport and transfer to the hotel, where you are briefed on the itinerary. If time permits, stroll around the city to get a first impression of Dhaka life. Dinner and overnight in Dhaka.
Start early with the colorful flower market, then visit the Karwan Bazar wholesale vegetable and fish markets, the Parliament House and the 1678 Lalbagh Fort. See block-printing work at New Market, take an old Dhaka walk and rickshaw ride past the Hindu street and Star Mosque, admire the Pink Palace, and finish with a boat ride at the bustling Sadarghat river port.
Drive towards Bogra, visiting a Grameen Bank village centre to learn about the Nobel Prize-winning micro-finance project and meet villagers over tea. En route see the decorative 1607 Atia Mosque and traditional pottery making in a Hindu village, enjoy an authentic lunch at an organic farming NGO, and cross the longest bridge on the Brahmaputra before arriving in Bogra.
Walk the oldest citadel of Mahasthangarh from the 3rd century BC, visiting its museum and Govinda Bhita, then stop at a large vegetable market for photography. Drive to the Paharpur UNESCO Buddhist monastery, the single largest Buddhist monastery south of the Himalayas. Continue to Rajshahi for a sunset Ganges boat ride.
Visit the delightful temple city of Puthia with its palaces and the Govinda, Aniina and great Shiva temples, then take a photo break at the century-old Hardinge rail bridge. Cross tobacco fields to the cultural capital Kushtia to visit the shrine of Baul pioneer Lalon Shah and enjoy intangible-heritage Baul songs, before a gentle drive to Jessore.
Drive to Mongla and board a motor boat for a day-long Sundarbans cruise. See the hundred-year-old technique of fishing with otters, visit the Karamgol forest office for forest trails and watch towers, and cruise through this dolphin hotspot. Stop at a fisherman village to enjoy village life, then dinner and overnight at the Mongla resort.
Drive to the Bagerhat UNESCO site to visit the 60 Dome Mosque, the shrine of Khan Zahan Ali and the 9 Dome Mosque. Around noon board the century-old British-era paddle steamer for an afternoon cruise through the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta to Barisal, watching riverside daily life and enjoying the sunset on arrival.
Visit the newly built Guthia Mosque, then board a hired engine boat to catch the floating markets - rice, fruit and seasonal vegetable markets. Visit gypsy boats and their traditional life, then drive to Dhaka crossing the mighty Ganges by ferry. Overnight in Dhaka.
Drive to the tea capital Srimangal, passing rice processing mills, and walk to tea workers' villages to taste the famous seven-layer tea. Hike deep into Lawachara rainforest in search of hoolock gibbons, visit a Khasia tribal village and a community school the operator supports, and enjoy a colorful Manipuri cultural program. Visit lush tea gardens and the Baikka Beel bird sanctuary for sunset.
Take the long drive to Chittagong, stopping at local markets and villages along the way. Visit the 8th-century Mainamati kingdom sites near Comilla including Salban Vihara, its museum, Itakhola Mura and Rupban Mura. Continue to the Chittagong ship breaking yard, the world's fourth largest, with a boat tour on the Karnaphuli river at high tide. Dinner and overnight in Chittagong.
Optionally visit Chittagong's early-morning sea fish market, then drive to Rangamati Hill district. Visit the Rangamati tribal museum, the only one in Bangladesh, then cruise the vast manmade Kaptai Lake to see people transporting goods and fishing. Visit a Buddhist monastery in the middle of the lake and spend time in a Chakma tribal village. Overnight in Rangamati.
Enjoy the sunrise on the lake, then visit the large Banarupa weekly tribal market in Rangamati. Drive a scenic hilly road towards Bandarban, stopping at villages for tea with locals and visiting a Marma tribal village of bamboo huts. See the gold-plated Golden Temple before transferring to the Bandarban resort for the night.
Drive to remote tribal villages to meet the Murong tribe living a traditional life, then visit a Bawm village famous for weaving and hike to meet the lesser-known Tripura tribe. Enjoy a special tribal lunch and a boat ride on the Sangu river, then transfer to Chittagong airport for the evening flight to Dhaka and overnight.
Explore the old capital Sonargaon, visiting the decaying mansion street of Painam Nagar and the restored Sadarbari palace with its folk-art museum. Visit a Jamdani weaving village to see the intangible-heritage handloom tradition and take a boat ride on the Meghna river, then transfer to Dhaka airport to end the tour.
