Travel by Sea – Kurigram to St Martin

The Dhaka Times Desk Travel is essential to bring rhythm to a tiring life, so make time for yourself. Just imagine that you are sometimes traveling in a trawler or in a launch ship to see the beauty of the river between Dharla, Brahmaputra, Yamuna, Padma, Meghna, the beauty of the river on both sides, the beautiful view of the islands rising in the sea. How will those scenes? Although it seems like a fantasy, today I will give you a real route to discover where the timeless beauty will be hidden. When you start your journey from Kurigram Sadar via Dhaleswari, you will see exactly such scenery en route.

No one had ever been to St. Martin by sea from Kurigram. A few days ago this route plan first came to my mind. After extensive research, I found out the details of the trip.

On this journey, you can see numerous chars, the country's only railway ferry wharf, the view of Yamuna Bridge from below, the confluence of Yamuna-Padma, Manpura Island, Nijhumdwip, Sandwip, Kutubdia Island, Maheshkhali Island. It is called killing all birds with one stone. The currents of the river, the mesmerizing waves of the calm winter sea will multiply your pleasure. Standing in the middle of the sea and watching the sunset on the way can be the best moment of your life. To be a companion of this exciting journey you need to have a lot of patience, courage, time to adapt to any environment. The end of a 10/12 day long trip can get boring. So be patient till the end.

How to go?

You can start from two directions. From Roumari Ghat in Kurigram or Mughalbasa Ghat in Kurigram Sadar. You have to go to Roumari via Kurigram or Jamalpur by bus from Dhaka. The trawler left for Rajibpur at 9 am starting from Mughalbasa Ghat in Kurigram Sadar. You will go and wear the Brahmaputra in Dharla's lap. Go to Rajivpur. And if you start from Roumari, you have to go to Rajibpur from Roumari Ghat by trawler. From Rajibpur you have to go by trawler to Balasi Ghat in Gaibandha. Your first day journey ends here. Camping at Balasi. Go to Gaibandha Sadar if you want to stay in a hotel. Only 7 km away. But you can get hotel in Balasi too. This Balasi ghat is the only rail ferry ghat in the country. Before the construction of Yamuna bridge, the railway used to cross through this ghat to Bahadurabad ghat in Jamalpur.

The next morning you have to catch the trawler from Balasi to Sirajganj Sadar Ghat. Note that all trawlers leave by 10am. If you miss it, you will have to stay here for another day. The Arichar trawler should be caught from the ghat next morning after stopping the journey at Sirajganj at night. All trawlers leave from here before 10 o'clock. So can't be missed. Have to spend the night here. If you want, you can do camping at Aricha ferry ghat. If you want to stay in a hotel, you have to find it. The next day will go from Aricha to Chandpur. Sorry haven't found public trawlers for this route yet. So you have to go by reserve or cargo trawler. But you can't go to Chandpur and sleep. At night you have to catch MV Tipu 5 or Panama launch bound for Manpura.

After visiting Manpura Island one day, you have to go to Nizhumdwip by trawler the next day. After seeing Nizhumdwip, Hatiyar should go to Nalchira Ghat. From there you have to go to Sandwip by ship. See Sandwip by ship to Chittagong Sadarghat. From there to Kutubdia Island by trawler. Kutubdia turned around and saw Maheshkhali in the trawler the next day. There is nothing to see in Maheshkhali. Still you can spend the night here if you want. Go to Cox's Bazar by trawler from Maheshkhali. Then Teknaf in reserve or fishing trawler. Take the reserve trawler to Teknaf Jetty. From there by ship to St. Martin. On reaching St. Martin, wander around and drink in the beauty of nature. Spend 2/1 day in St. Martin and return to Teknaf by ship. Dhaka by bus from Teknaf. And if you don't want to go through so much trouble, you can come to Chandpur with a reserve trawler from Kurigram or you can come to Chandpur by a cargo trawler. Then the rest of the way is same as above.

How much will it cost?

Cost will depend on how you book the tour. If traveling in backpack style then it will cost like 6500. The cost will be even lower if the cargo goes by trawler. This is the cheapest tour. And if you take a tour from the hotel, it will cost 12,000 taka. If you reserve it, it will cost 15,000-20,000 taka.

Caution:

If you don't know how to swim, take a life jacket. Because you have to cross huge rivers and seas. Best not to go during monsoons for extra adventure. Rivers and seas are all rough during monsoon. Also do not camp in uninhabited areas of the island. Can be a victim of robbery.