Hello people, I hope you are well. This is my first post in the Hive community (after the introduction post). Today I will share a great travel experience of my life. Sajek Valley is one of the most popular tourist spots in Bangladesh. Although it is part of Rangamati district, it is easy to reach this place through Khagrachari district. Without further ado, let's take you through my travel experience.
We have a total of 5 days and 5 nights, destination Sajek Valley, we wanted to give a relaxing tour, but the journey is so long that it will be a little difficult. I planned it like this;
Although I visited almost all the popular tourist places in the country, I did not go to Sajek, so I had been planning to go to Sajek for a long time, but the time and opportunity were not available anymore, I had planned it three months ago but had to cancel it. Finally, despite many adversities, I was a little brave and made the final plan to go to Sajek. Meanwhile, even though the departure date was very close, no hotels or resorts were booked, yet I was not worried because I was very confident because my friend had a resort in Sajek. I told my friend about the plan over the phone, and arrangements were made for two nights in two cottages. Meanwhile, a colleague suddenly offered to go to Sajek, he did not know that I was going to Sajek. Finally, although it was a little difficult, I was able to arrange a resort for them because I only had 4/5 days at hand and the time was very rushed because there were 3 consecutive government holidays.
Our tour time was during a government holiday, so there would be a huge rush at the tourist places. That is why there was a huge pressure everywhere in hotels and cars. Finally, the day of the journey approached, it was Thursday. I left the office a little early, got ready at home, and went to the bus counter with the name of Allah.
The cars from Barisal to Chittagong started leaving at 6 pm, but the cars at 6/7 pm reached Chittagong by 3/3.30 pm, so we wanted to get up a little late, but since there were no more cars after 7.30 pm, we chose that. Our car left at 8 pm.
Good cars from Barisal to Chittagong are Saudia, Unique, Hanif, we chose Saudia, Alhamdulillah I was not disappointed, the car was running at a moderate speed.
When I reached Jatrabari at 11 pm, I was a little tense, thinking that I would reach Chittagong by 3 pm, that's all. Anyway, I got off at the Dampara Saudia counter at 4 pm, waited for dawn at the counter, when the light came on, I went to the oxygen intersection on CNG, had breakfast and set out for the Khagrachari train. This is where we made the mistake of not knowing, if we had bought the Khagrachari ticket before breakfast and went to eat, the suffering would have been much less. At 6.30 am, I went to the BRTC and Shanti Paribahan counters and found out that there were no seats in any train before 7.50, this 1.30 hour period was incredibly annoying because there was no place to sit, the impossible passenger pressure, and the intensity of the sun at 7 am. Finally, I boarded Shanti Paribahan at 7.50 and started my journey for Khagrachari. With good and bad, I reached Khagrachari at 12 noon. We arrived and got off in front of the Shanti counter. We all immediately got into two rooms at the Hill Touch Hotel. We all freshened up in the rooms. Then we went downstairs to the hotel and had lunch. After that, we went to the room and rested until 4 pm because we had a long journey from yesterday evening.
Usually, everyone visits Sajek and takes the same car to Khagrachari to visit Alutila, Risang Jharna, and the Hanging Bridge. We plan to visit these spots first and then go to Sajek and then return to Barisal via Khagrachari.
We left at 4 pm and took CNG from the bus terminal as planned and went to Alutila Cave. We had a contract with CNG for Alutila and Horticulture Park and Hanging Bridge. Total cost was 800 taka for the return trip. However, due to lack of time, when it got dark in Alutila, we did not go to the other two places. From there, we came to the city, ate, and went to the room. After eating, I was thinking about the car for Sajek the next day, because we still could not decide whether to go by CNG/safari or jeep.
I was thinking about the cost, there were four of us, four people can go in CNG, but CNG is risky on this mountain road and the last 5 km of Sajek is difficult for 5 people including the driver, but the fare is quite bearable, 2 nights in Sajek and 5500 taka to and fro.
We will stay in Sajek for 2 nights, usually everyone stays in Sajek for 1 night, so sharing is tough for tourists, privacy was also a concern, so I once thought of taking a safari, although it costs about 11500 taka for 2 nights, so while thinking about what to do, the thought of Mahindra came to mind, although the sound of the engine is one thing, the sound here is not less than that of Chand's car or other cars. The fare for 2 nights in Mahindra is 6700/-, it has more space than CNG, it will be comfortable to sit, and you don't have to think about other things either, so I reserved a brand new Mahindra.
The distance from Khagrachhari to Sajek is 64 km. It takes about 1 hour to travel from Khagrachhari to Dighinala, which is 24 km, and from Dighinala to Sajek, it is 40 km. From Dighinala, vehicles arrive at Baghaihat Army Camp and all types of Sajek-bound vehicles are waiting for the army escort. The first escort leaves from Baghaihat at 11 am for Sajek, the second escort leaves at 3 pm. These times are variable, so you must take good information when you travel to Sajek. To catch these two escorts, you must be present at Baghaihat Army Camp before 11 am and 3 pm, otherwise you will have to wait for the escort of the next day. No vehicle is allowed to go from Baghaihat Army Camp to Sajek without these two escorts. There is a resting spot before Baghaihat Army Check Post, if you reach well before 11 am you can spend some time there too, there is male/female washroom facility here. Many people have their breakfast here.
Here you will see a good example of discipline, there is a specific place for all types of vehicles, according to that all the vehicles take their position and leave one after the other at the specified time, there is no rush. The escort going to Sajek and the escort going from Sajek to Khagrachari cross at a specific station, the group that arrives earlier comes to this station and waits for the other group, after that crossing everyone leaves for their destination. This is done for the narrow hilly roads so that head-on accidents can be avoided.
Throughout this journey, you will find mountain fruits like bananas, papayas, oranges, sugarcane, and grapefruit at various places. Small children will bring them to the car to sell. From our experience, we can say that you will definitely try the sugarcane and papaya, I hope it will stick in your mouth.
In an hour and a half, you will reach the last 5 km to reach Sajek. This path is really risky, very steep, but I don't think the path will be 5 km. If you spread it around, what else can happen? I reached Sajek by 1.30 am, Alhamdulillah. That day, the sun was strong and there were so many tourists that it was annoying. The previous night, hundreds of tourists had spent the night under the open sky in Sajek.
🔴2nd day at Sajek:
Finally, I checked in to my friend's Meghmachang Resort, which I had booked in advance. All the annoyance and fatigue disappeared. When I came to the balcony and saw the view, everyone was so happy, I liked it more because of the excitement. Among the best view resorts in Sajek, Meghmachang Resort is on the 1st side.
After showering and freshening up, I went out for lunch. Popular restaurants in Sajek include Montana, Simbal, Kashban, Fudanki, and Zumbi. You can eat at any of these,,After lunch, I came to the cottage and took a rest,,In the afternoon, I left for the helipad,,You will definitely find such a point in every hill tourist area,,,,In Darjeeling, like Zero Point, you will find various fast food items, fried rice, various organic fruits of the hills,,,,And a huge gathering of people,,This time of evening is really enjoyable here,,In the moonlight, as far as the eye can see, rows of mountains, one can see two lights burning in the distance,,,The atmosphere is great with chats, songs, if there is a full moon,,,An otherworldly feeling,,,,After eating dinner, I came to the room, actually the whole night passed in a blink of an eye,,,,I fell asleep and got lost in the state of sleep like that day,,,,Woke up in the morning and took some photography
Meanwhile, the driver is calling, at 6 am I left for Kanglak. If I wanted to see the clouds, I had no choice but to go to Kanglak in the morning. Anyway, I did a trek to Kanglak and a hill. After coming to my room from Kanglak, I checked out of Meghmachang and checked in to another cottage of my friend, "Sajek Eco Valley Resort".
Although Meghmachang is a bit older, Sajek Eco Valley Resort is absolutely stunning, but Meghmachang is the best in terms of view. After taking a bath in the room, we went to the balcony with Babai and did some photoshoots. After eating, we went to bed in the morning, unconscious from incomplete sleep. Meanwhile, lunch time is coming, no one wakes up. What else to do, I am waiting for it after eating bananas and biscuits in the room. In the afternoon, he woke up. I got ready and left for Lusai village. It was on the way to the helipad. It took 20/25 minutes to walk from the Sajek entry to the helipad, it took 10 minutes on the ground. From there, we went to the helipad in the evening and had fried food. Our food review here is not very positive. I came back to the room and dressed. We went out for dinner at around 9 pm. It was a little late, but if you don't order in advance, it is late to get the food. After visiting a few restaurants, we went to Kashban and got Bamboo Chicken ready to cook. We Two of us ordered Half Bamboo Chicken and watched it cook. After 30 minutes, we sat down to eat. We took a package here with rice, vegetables, side dishes, and lentils for two and Half Bamboo Chicken. Alhamdulillah, we ate well. It was even better because we got some discounts. However, we liked the food at Kashban compared to others. All restaurants in Sajek have the same price, but if you haggle before ordering, you can get a discount. If there are many people, you will definitely get some discounts. And Bamboo Chicken, Bamboo Biryani, and Chicken Barbecue are usually tried by everyone at night, so you will order them in the evening. However, I would recommend trying an item with the live music at Kashban's rooftop and Simbal. In this case, I would suggest lunch at Kashban and dinner at Simbal. You can have breakfast at Fudanki, and I hope you will enjoy the wonderful atmosphere while sitting on the balcony.
The sky was not good since evening, I thought that I had got all the weather conditions in Sajek, but it would not have been bad if it had rained in the end. After dinner, I went to the cottage after visiting the nearby shops. I thought about sitting on the veranda for a while, but raindrops started falling on me. In a few moments, it started raining heavily. I made myself a bed and went to sleep. I fell asleep thinking about what kind of weather I would get the next morning.
The next morning at around 6 am, I went out alone to explore Sajek's morning as if it were my last day. I walked to the helipad. There were only white clouds all around. I went to the helipad and ate ripe mountain papaya and steaming tea in a bamboo cup. I like the morning in Sajek better than the rest of the day because there are fewer tourists at this time. I came to the room around 8 am and when the others woke up, the three of us went out for breakfast. After breakfast, I went to the Stone Garden and took some pictures. The entrance fee is 20 taka per person. Finally, I went to the balcony to enjoy the last hours of Sajek,,,Finally, I checked out at 10.30 am and got into the car to catch the return escort,,,,One after another, the cars are lined up, everyone gets into their cars and waits,,,At the exit point, each tourist including the car has to buy a ticket at the army check post, each ticket is 20/-,,,,,,
The time it takes to go to Sajek is comparatively less on the return journey, I reached Khagrachari at 1.30 pm, I went to the Shanti Paribahan counter, there was no seat in any car before 4.30 pm, so I quickly went to the local counter without waiting, because our destination was to reach Chittagong in the evening,,,In this case, I would say that if you want to take the Dhaka-bound bus, then you should also buy a return ticket while traveling from Dhaka, otherwise you may not get a ticket on the bus as required, and those who are going to Chittagong should buy a ticket before going to Sajek. Book your return ticket from Khagrachari to Chittagong with Shanti Paribahan or you will suffer.
Shanti Paribahan takes 3.15 to 3.30 hours, and local transport takes 4.00 to 4.30 hours, I reached Chittagong by evening, stayed in Chittagong overnight and went to Barisal via Dhaka the next day, we could have taken a bus directly from Chittagong to Barisal but the journey was so tiring that we had to rest and arrive broken.
🔺If there are two or three people in the tour, CNG will be cost-effective, if there are 4/5 people, I would suggest Mahendra. The road to Sajek is not as risky as it is, but it becomes even more risky due to reckless driving, we also saw an accident on the way to Sajek, the main reason for which was reckless overtaking. So you must tell your driver to drive carefully.
Alhamdulillah, this is how the many days of adorable Sajek tour ended.
Thank you very much for reading this long article with patience. I will forgive mistakes and errors and look at it with a good eye.