Bangladesh Photography Trip

After reaching Dhaka Airport, receive greetings from your guide and transfer to your hotel. Explore around via rickshaw, escorted by the guide, or simply relax for the rest of today. Stay overnight in Dhaka.

➤ Tips on Having a Great Photography Tour:
Since you’ve chosen our photography trip, you must come with a purpose to record Bengal life as well as the country’s exotic cultures and nature. We are here to share some tips for you to get the most of our carefully-designed itinerary, hoping this photography trip of yours will be different.

1. As you prepare for your tour, you can search for others’ photography works of certain attractions in this itinerary, whose perspectives may inspire you a lot.
2. Pack as light as possible. Only bring the lens/lenses you think you will need for certain shooting styles. You might want to take a robust tripod and several batteries and memory cards - you will shoot tons of photos!
3. Before shooting local people, why not learn some Bengali words from your guide like “hello”, “photo”, and “thank you”? Show respect while shooting and ask for permission if need be.
4. Choose your favorite season for travel in Bangladesh. The coolest season is from November to February, which is Bangladesh’s winter and sees the most tourists. March and April are cultural months, with colorful Holi Festival and Bengali New Year being celebrated. May would be sweltering hot, but there will be less tourists in hot attractions. June through October is monsoon, when you will discover Bangladesh’s breathtaking natural views. 
5. Last but not the least, when shooting pictures, especially for novice photographers, don’t be hard on yourself. Just go with the flow and be ready to capture candid moments!

Accommodation: Sky City Hotel Dhaka / FARS Hotel & Resorts

The first place in your 10 days best Bangladesh private tour is Shakhari Bazaar. Get your camera ready! Aka Hindu Street, Shakhari Bazaar is the oldest neighborhood in Dhaka to capture the boisterous world of Bengali Hindus, most of whom make a living here by selling their artful handicrafts. Brick buildings lining the street, Hindu temples, and artisans crafting bangles from conch shells and native musical instruments among other curios... There is something for every photographer! Next, head to Islampur Market to see Bengal’s largest wholesale clothing market, whose cloth with unique Bengali pattern designs and dazzling sari robes will make great photos. We will also spend some time at Chawk Bazaar, the business center of Dhaka and one of the world-famous iftar markets during the month of Ramadan. If your tour falls in the month, be ready for a spectacle of food stands packing the streets. You will then enjoy some time recording the energy of the nearest port of Showarighat on Burganga River.

In the afternoon, head for Sadarghat port, the biggest water transportation hub of Dhaka running 24/7. Every day, there are hundreds of ferries or boats transferring people south. Busy passers-by, ships puffing smoke, and clusters of traditional wooden boats are all your candidates for great photos. A thing of note is that, take care of your belongings while we are on the bank, or you are likely to be a victim to pickpocketing. Go on to see how ships are made in a small Shipyard across the river. After dinner, get on a modern ship, which leaves at 20:00 for Barisal, and settle yourself in an A/C first-class cabin. Your guide will travel with you through the way to ensure your enjoyment of the trip, even on board and train.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Modern Ship - 1st Class A/C Twin Cabin

Disembark early in the morning and transfer to your hotel in Barisal. After breakfast in a restaurant, visit Bakerganj Pottery Village, where most people are still engaged in the traditional industry of making potteries with clays, but now they are facing hard times due to lack of financial support to meet increasing demand after shutdown due to Covid-19. Make a record of their pottery-making finesse through your lens - your photos might attract pottery dealers and those who’d love to help. Afterwards, go to a school to take pictures with children and snap their curious faces eager to learn the world around them. Do you know that nearly four in every ten Bengali children above 7 are still unable to read, even the simplest verbal language? Here, you also get the chance to see how the local educational system actually works. With precious moments kept in your camera, let’s next while away some time at ferry piers. Lots of fascinating moments to zoom in on!

After a lunch treat, you will have a whole afternoon’s free time to photograph here and there. Today’s trip will be rounded off with an evening tour to local markets and shops. Enjoy a night stay in Barisal.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel Grand Park Barisal

Welcome to Barisal! The Venice of the East for its intricate canal systems. In the morning, hop in our private car to Banaripara. You will take a boat through narrow canals flanked by idyllic villages to a floating wholesale market. Take your time to shoot photos along the way and of fruits, vegetables, and, of course, people bargaining over them. We will also taste some fruits bought from sellers. As Barisal is also known for the floating Manta community, you will probably meet some of its people on our way. They would spend most of their life on boats, eating, fishing, hang-drying laundry, or even wedding. Women of this community are ill-educated to a point that they can’t even count numbers - while their husbands are out, how much money they’d get from their fish products are at the mercy of buyers. If you meet them, why not strike a conversation with them, record their life, and speak for them? Afterwards, mingle with locals and school children at a village, and get some group selfies to smile in the future. See if you can catch some gypsies!

After lunch, enjoy a free afternoon: relax or grab your camera and venture deep into local communities for inspiration. We will sail back to Dhaka at 8:30 via the same ship that took us here.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Modern Ship - 1st Class A/C Twin Cabin

The ship will arrive at Sadarghat port this morning. After breakfast, drive to Gabtoli Bridge area and then a brick factory to capture the life of local working class. At the bridge area, workers are unloading coal and sand from ships, while in the factory, you will find adults as well as children carrying piles of bricks on their heads to kiln, their skin caked with dust. They can work as long as eighteen hours and only earn as much as $6 a day, which barely cover their family living expenses. With red dust polluting the air and no protective gear to wear, their health and safety are at the mercy of gods.

This afternoon, you can choose to visit either the largest slum houses in Dhaka or Jamdani Weaving Village. Of all the slums in Bangladesh and the world, situations of Dhaka’s would be the saddest. 40% of Dhaka’s population - Dhaka has nearly 24 million people - are crammed into five thousands of slums, with many households sharing a same roof. Vendors on the streets, skinny yet happy kids, iron sheets as walls, thrash, foul sewage… all these are materials for striking visual stories to reveal their tragedy, or tenacity.

Transfer to your hotel in Dhaka after dinner for a night stay.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Sky City Hotel Dhaka / FARS Hotel & Resorts

Today, a special train journey will begin at 7:00 am from Kamalapur Railway Station of Dhaka to Chittagong. Train stations of Bangladesh are another portal to access the vibrancy of local life. Speaking of taking a train in Bangladesh, will you worry about finding yourself amid the insane crowds who would cram on train roof for a free ride? In fact, the scene that went viral on social media was shot during Bishwa Ijtema, the Muslim gathering in January, or Eid Festival in April. For restrictive policies, people in usual days would not practice train surfing in plain sight where there are policemen around. As the train we arranged for you is the most advanced and thus the most regulated Bangladesh offers, so you won’t get involved in the soul-stirring spectacle. This will be a 5-6 hours’ journey so you might prepare for it in advance; remember to keep you camera ready for either the exotic culture or landscapes outside your window.

By 1:00 pm or so, the train will arrive at Chittagong Railway Station. Check into your hotel and have lunch. The afternoon will see us boating before the world’s largest Shipbreaking Yard by Kumira dock. Mount your telephoto lens or switch to the same mode on your phone, as you are to capture some exciting scenes of abandoned steel giants being dismantled. Overnight in Chittagong.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel Agrabad Chittagong

In the morning, we will drive to Bandarban. Stop by Karnafully fishing front and see what one of the largest fishing spots in Bengal looks like.

After lunch, go on a visit to Sangu Riverside slums, including the special Marma slum. The hilly Bandarban area, with the splendid Sangu River running through it, is a place to meet natural beauty and ethnic diversity. The Marma people we will visit are believers of Animistic Buddhism, which thinks all things including the inanimate possess a soul. Slums here would provide a different insight into the life of deprived Bengali people. Overnight in Bandarban.

Kindly Remind: In Bandarban, you will see many police and army checkpoints on the roadside. They may stop you for data entry and request you to show the passports for security. Take it easy, they are friendly and always ready to help.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Venus Resort

This morning, put on your most comfortable shoes to have some hiking to Hatiabandha Tripura Village nestled in hills, whose people live in a matriarchal-like society. We will next drive to Chimbuk Hill for Murong Villages, known for their solitary and peaceful lifestyle. Have a cup of coffee and shoot some fascinating scenes around the Chimbuk area, and finish today’s tour with a visit to Bawm Village of Faruk Para. The origin of Bawn people in Bangladesh was enigmatic, but it’s said their immigration to Chittagong Hill Tracts can date back to the 1500s. They believe in Christianity and practice the farming method of “jhum” (slash and burn), which, however, has been threatening their homeland. Approach them, ask them whatever you like with the help from your guide, and capture their life to make special photos! Overnight in Bandarban.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Venus Resort

Today, drive back to Chittagong. We will stop along the way by Nilachal Hill Point, from which you will overlook the hill tracts, with downtown Bandarban in the distance; the morning here is beautiful: you will breathe refreshingly cool air and admire clouds that seem within reach among the rays of a tender sun. Stay at Sadarghat area for some great photos until lunch time.After lunch, go to Potenga Sea Beach to capture a beauty of a great number of ships and boats sailing off the seashore. Then, head to Chittagong Airport and catch a flight back to Dhaka. Overnight near Dhaka Airport.

★ Special Arrangement for Accommodation Tonight
Given Dhaka’s staggering population density (65 thousand people per square km) and how congested the traffic can be (the traffic speed is 4.8km/h on average, not much faster than walking speed), if you sleep in the downtown tonight, you will have to make plenty of time to catch your flight, which is why we choose a hotel near the airport - you will be picked up tomorrow at a designated time and arrive there in no time. Of course, if you have much free time tomorrow and want to check out more of Bangladesh’s capital, we are also glad to offer other options.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel Marino Royal Dhaka - Near Airport

This is the last day of your spectacular photography trip. We will see you off at the airport and wish you a safe journey home.

➤ Recommended Attractions for Your Free Time
1. Dhakeshwari Temple (20 km from airport). This national Hindu temple offers photogenic temple architecture and Hindu cultures.
2. National Parliament Building (13.5 km from airport). Sitting on water, it looks like a modern art museum instead of something political.
3. Dhaka Christian Cemetery (20 km from airport). The Columbo Sahib’s Tomb inside will mesmerize you with how nature has crept in its decayed octagonal structure.

Special note: As the spots recommended are a long way from the airport, if you want to see them, please do make sure time allows considering the traffic conditions of Dhaka. Don’t forget that the airport also suggests you to arrive there 4 hours prior to departure - it’s true that you are likely to meet disorganized scenes during pre-boarding processes. If you hesitate about whether to go, feel free to consult your driver or the hotel staff.
Meals: Breakfast