Kuakata: Where to Stay and Food

Where to stay

There are few hotels and motels in Kuakata as the most attractive tourist resort site has yet to be tapped by its full potentials through a global campaign. Hotel Banani Palace is one of those which is located close to the beach for having the most pleasant views of the sunrise and sunset. Rooms and bathrooms are quite modern in Banani and the room rent is also quite reasonable in between Tk 800-2500. 

There are some other hotels too and all those are also near the beach --"Hotel Kuakata Inn", "Hotel Grevar Inn", "Hotel Sea Palace", “Anandabari Guest House”, “Hotel Shoikot”, “Sagorkonna Resort”, “Golden Palace”, “Biswas Sea Palace”, “Hotel Mohona”, “Hotel Nilanjona”, “Hotel Sky Palace” and "Hotel Al-Hera.” And most of the hotels are located in the Kuakata Parjatan Area under Kalapara upazila of Patualkhali district.

And all those hotels are quite reasonable for their accommodation charges considering their low room rent in local currency and the only impediment is the bumpy road which could be forgotten when someone reaches the sandy beach with bounty full of natural beauty.

Food delicacies

All the tasty treats of Bangladeshi cuisines and mouth-watering dishes are available in all those hotels along with some roadside food shops serving semi-Chinese and fast-foods as those are popular among the local tourists. But local foods like rice, different dishes of curries prepared with chickens, beefs and sea fishes are quite delicious and the best for consumption fresh from the over. Having the taste of fresh cooked Hilsha fish and some other fishes like Rupchanda could be memorable for years. 

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The main attraction in Kuakata : Part 2

Even visitors could have a very close look at the simple and quite laborious life of Rakhaine tribes at their village and also see the lifestyle and livelihood of fishermen’s colony at Jelepara (fishermen's village) and feel the beauty of their simple lifestyle.

If the tourists are adventurous enough, then they might try for going fishing on the fishing boats of the fishermen by convincing them. Such a fishing trip could be a lifetime experience too.

In the fishing village, tourists could by fresh Hilsha fish from the fishermen who had just returned from the sea for selling those to their arot (fish selling centres). There are also some local restaurants where fresh cooked Hilshas are served for having a delicious and unforgettable taste of the golden fish.

The tourists can also visit the huge Buddhist statue at the Buddhist Temple at Misry Para in Kuakata. There are two wells there which were dug around 200 years ago and locals believe in the healing power of the wells’ water. Local name of the well is Kua and Kata and a combination of which finally made the place’s name as Kuakata.

Tourists can also collect souvenirs and memorabilia from Rakhaine market to keep the memory of the great Kuakata trip afreh in mind. Various handicrafts and other products made of bamboos, wood, brass metals and corals could be bought from that market along with fabric and colorful dresses. 

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The main attraction in Kuakata: Part 1

Kuakata beach is the main attraction in Kuakata for having the most attractive sight of sunrise and also the setting sun from the same beach in the early morning and in the twilight hour. Watching the fascinating sunrise from the quiet seashore early in the morning could be a lifetime experience for rest of the life to revisit in memory along with enjoying the serene sunset with chirping of many species of exotic birds. The sight of the sun rising from a depths of the sea and sinking into the same gorge of waters at dusk is really something which could never be forgotten in a lifetime.

After that the visitors could still pay a short trip to the Gangamoti Resurve Forest for having a refreshing forest visit and look at the greenery and its flora and fauna. The mangrove forest is located at the eastern end of the beach. Kuakata was part of the larger Sundarbans forest when the Rakhines settled in the area in 1784. The Sundarbans is now an hour’s distance from Kuakata by speedboat. As a mangrove forest, Gangamati, is like the Sundarbans and it offers the beach some sort of protection against tidal surges. But like all the forest resources in Bangladesh it is also threatened by illegal logging and deforestation activities by a section of local people. The best way to reach the forest is to go there on foot or by using a bike along the beach, where a flock of flag-flying fishing boats can be seen trawling along the coastline. 

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How to get to Kuakata

One needs to travel by road to get to Kuakata from the capital Dhaka or by launch or air to Barisal and then to Kuakata by bumpy road. The other route could be a launch trip to district headquarter Patuakhali and then by road to Kuakata which is just 70km away from the district town but the road is real bumpy to get to Kuakata, the only place on Earth from where anyone can have the glimpse of both sunrise and sunset from the same beach, which can no way be done from any other place in the world. And this is the key attraction of Kuakata along with serenity of nature.

There are launch and bus services available for reaching Barisal or Patuakhali from Dhaka and then by road to Kuakata. But still there is no direct bus or launch services to reach Kuakata and this typical travel hassle has still kept Kuakata the virgin and less crowdie for enjoying the bounty of nature.

From Patuakhali or Barisal, the rundown buses render daily trip to Kuakata. This trip takes about 5-6 hours due to real bad and bumpy ride to Kuakata. For reaching the Sagor Kanya from Barisal there are 5 ferries too, which could be availed for reaching the virgin beach averting the bumpy road. 

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Discover Kuakata: Kuakata the lone place on earth for watching the sun rise and sun set

Kuakata is the world’s most gifted place on Earth as it is the only natural and virgin beach in the world from where one can see both sunrise and sunset against the picturesque backdrop of a deep forest. There are hundreds of sandy beaches across the world from where visitors can either see only the sun rise or sun set, not both. Kuakata sandy beach has gentle slopes into the Bay of Bengal and bathing there is as pleasant as is walking or diving into the sea of serene beauty. Kuakata is truly a virgin beach, a sanctuary for migratory winter birds, a series of coconut trees, sandy beach of Blue Bay and truly a feast for the eyes. Boats rowing in the Bay of Bengal with colorful sails, fishing, towering cliffs, surfing waves everything here touches every visitor's heart against the backdrop of greenery and deep mangrove forest.  

Kuakata is locally known as Sagor Kanya (Daughter of Sea) and it is located 70 km from Patuakhali district headquarters and 320 km southeast of Bangladesh capital Dhaka. The scenic beach is around 30km long and 6km in breadth. The Kuakata beach is a beautiful, picturesque natural sandy beach with horizon wide blue sky and a vast sheet of water of the Bay of Bengal.

Most of all, the evergreen forest in the beach area is quite enough for soothing eye of the beholders, specially tourists of both local and foreign origin who would love it at the very first site. The serenity of nature far from the madding crowd would bring in peace of mind and would steer any one’s thought towards spirituality and eternity. The scenic creation of the nature would drive people to think about the eternity beyond life and death and think about the supreme creator of the universe and his superior prowess he had dedicated to the service of humanity. 

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Discover More Tourist Spot of Bangladesh

And all these are just the beginnings of splendors of beautiful Bangladesh as the country is blessed with many more attractive places, spots and attractions rich with archeological and historic values. 

Some of those are Kantajir Mandir (a revered temple) and Ramsagor (a big water body) in northern Dinajpur district, Sonargaon – the ancient capital of Bengal with many decaying architectural marvels, including Panam Nagar, Zamindar Baris in Gazipur including the Bhawal Raj Bari, Mohastan Garh (ancient capital of Pundra of Bengal) in Bogra, Paharpur (ancient Buddhist Monastery) of northern Naogaon district, Rani Bhabani’s Palace in Natore, Chittagong Hill Tracts full of serene natural beauties and hilly resorts and lakes including Kaptai Lake – a marvel of nature and manmade beauties, Sylhet Harzat Shahjalal and Shahparan’s Shrine, tea gardens in Srimongol and eco resorts and cottages there, Shrine of Shahmakhdum in Rajshahi, Jamuna resort in Kalihati Tangail, Tajhat Zamindar Bari and Bamondanga Zamindar Bari in Rangpur, Shilaidaha Kuthibari of Rabindranath Tagore in Shahjadpur, Sirajganj, Chalan Beel – a huge natural water body spreads across three districts Natore, Sirajganj and Pabna, Zamindar Shashikanta’s palace and many other Zamindar Baris in Mymensingh and Brahmaputra riverside, Garo Hills areas in Sherpur, Hazral Khanzahan Ali’s Shrine in Bagerhat, Tentulia border areas in Panchagarh district from where you one can have a glimpse of the Himalayas and many more sites and places of archeological values.

And for attracting global tourists, the Bangladesh government needs to take few steps for ensuring safety, security and tourist-friendly policies and guidelines for ensuring a pleasant stay with all the luxuries in tourist resorts setting aside the old and conservative mindset.  

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Sundarban The Largest Mangrove Forest of Bangladesh

 The most attractive and revered tourist attraction is the Sundarbans, the single largest chunk of productive mangrove forest in the world which still exists with roaring tigers to greet the globe-trotters. The Sundarbans is named after its most attractive Sundari trees. The Sundarbans is full of natural resources – the most beautiful and thick forests, plenty of fisheries, and blissful wildlife and many other features of water resources. The forest of Sundarbans is always mysterious to its many time visitors even as it changes its color and splendours with seasons and also with the changing positions of the moon. It holds hundreds of mysteries of nature for its lovers, scientists, researchers and eco-tourists too.

The UNESCO has declared the Sundarbans as a world heritage site in 1999 and has taken different protective measures for preserving its mangrove forests and its natural habitats for the severely endangered Royal Bengal Tigers, the big cats that still roam around and roar around in the Sundarbans divided in between Bangladesh and India’s West Bengal state. But Bangladesh owns two thirds of the Sundarbans and the rest by West Bengal. 

The Sundarbans of Bangladesh part still provides shelters to around 460 Bengal Tigers in its dense mangrove forests. It is still one of the largest reserves for the Bengal Tigers that roam around with thunderous roar to attract the globe-totters to have an encounter with the rarest species of Tigers and hold the breath as a lifetime experience to be shared later to grand children in later part of life. There are three wildlife sanctuaries in the Sundarbans forest “Kotka-Kochikhaki” (east), “Hironpiont” (south) and “Manderbaria” (west) which holds hundreds of species of fishes, animals and reptiles along with its most famous Bengal Tigers.The Sundarbans is still home to around 330 plant species, 35 species of reptiles, 400 types of fishes, 270 species of birds and 42 species of mammals. Dublar char and many other chars around the Sundarbans with deer breeding grounds could help tourists enjoy all the cool of life far from the madding crowd.

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Cox’s Bazar The Longest Natural Beach of Bangladesh : Part 2

Other than Cox’s Bazar sea beach, Bangladesh’s southern Patuakhali district possesses another beautiful beach which is another God gifted and only place on Earth from where one can watch both the sunrise and sunset from a single beach. In most of the world famous sea beaches one can either see the sunrise or sunset from those beaches, but Kuakata sea beach is the only exception from where tourists can enjoy both the wonderful natural beauty of the sun rise and setting sun into the horizon of the Bay of Bengal.

The Cox’s Bazar’s other attractions are trips to Moheshkhali, Sonadia Dwips and Bangladesh’s only coral islands  the St Martins Islands – the tip on the Bay of Bengal and most beautiful place on Earth in the middle of sea. Another attraction is Dulahazara saffari park. It is a natural sanctuary of many exotic birds and many species of animals and reptiles living on swampy lands in their natural abode in a large protected area. 

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Cox’s Bazar The Longest Natural Beach of Bangladesh : Part 1

The country’s most unique and pride possession is the world’s longest naturally sloping, sandy and shiny beach in Cox’s Bazar. The beach is around 125 kilometres long which has natural sloping. One can drive through the whole long beach from Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf and enjoy the serenity of seashore beauty enjoying such a beautiful journey on Earth and return to their splashy posh hotels back after a day’s drive through such a beautiful shoreline.

The Cox’s Bazar sea beach has all the global splendors of beauty and blessings of nature to greet the globe-totters. And the tourists could enjoy all the spelendours of a sea beach funs like sunbath on sandy beach and surfing with huge waves in the Bay.  

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Bangladesh The land of six seasons : Spring

Basanta, the king of nature, is widely celebrated throughout every nook and corner of the country with funfair and gaiety. Just a day after Valentines’ day, the festival of love revered across the world, Rituraj Basanta is celebrated in Bangladesh with riot of colors on all streets of capital and major cities and all university and college campuses.

In Basanta, flowers of different colours and fragrances bloom all around making people love-sick and looking for love. To celebrate the great season that brings new leaf to all the trees and blooming numerous flowers, Dhaka University’s faculty of fine arts celebrate Basanta Utsav at its Bakultal premises every year with presentation of songs and colourful dances, which is participated by tens of thousands of people. The programe is aired live from the spot by different TV channels.

Just by cashing in on the six distinctive seasons and global craze for eco-tourism, Bangladesh could bring in millions of eco-tourists highlighting its unique natural possessions in the age of information technology by positive branding of Bangladesh in the global village.

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Bangladesh The land of six seasons : Winter

The Himalayan cold breeze brings in winter in Bangladesh, though the winter here is not as chilly as that of the West. Still bone-chilling cold bring in many winter delights, specially many leafy vegetables and specially different forms of winter cakes that were made in rural villages just after settling down to rejoice the good harvest. Now the capital and other metropolitan cities during winter organize Pitha Utsab (cake festivals) along with rural villages going by the age-old traditions. Moreover, people enjoy Jatra both in rural villages and also in small towns. 

The guest birds flock to swamps, rivers and natural lakes (beels, haours like Chalan Beel, Tanguar Haor, Jahangirnagar University swamps) and big water bodies crossing thousands of miles from cold zones to relatively warm places in Bangladesh. Chirping of tens of thousands of guest birds makes those places heavenly with serene beauty of Bangladesh in winter days. Hundreds of species of winter birds from many continents visit Bangladesh for few months each year having congenial atmosphere and natural hospitality as well with adequate natural foods and fishes in those water bodies creating a rare scope to bird watchers to have glimpse of so many birds.

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Bangladesh The land of six seasons : Hemanto

In Hemanto, the gentle breeze start blowing and make people busy with harvesting their crops of hard labour and the whole rural Bangladesh bursts into harvest festivals with smiles all around heralding the start of celebrations and gaiety with good harvest. And the natural gentle breeze spreads the scent of new paddy all around driving away penury of even the hardcore poor people’s life, at least for a while. 

The rural Bangladesh then gets busy with processing paddy and store those for a better price, though most farmers are forced to sell their crops just after harvest and repay the loans they took for procuring farm outputs earlier. But after repaying the loans rural Bangladesh gets busy with celebrations of harvest feast and festivals all around organizing Pala Gaan, Kobial gaans, Putul Naach, Jatra and traditional dance fests (Folk song and dance festivals) making rural life real colorful and full of fun.

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Bangladesh The land of six seasons : Autumn

In Sharat (Autumn), astronomers and star-gazers can explore the beauty of limitless sky and the enormous space with even bare eyes as the sky remains all clear with bluish blush and white patch of serene clouds making fun all the timer hovering all around.

 And at night, thousands of stars and celestial beauties of the universe and milky ways could be enjoyed without any hindrance with bare eyes and all those would inspire anybody to explore the space with telescopes and space observatories. Kite festivals were also organized on the shoals of Padma and other places when kites of different colours and sizes make the sky full of fun spreading the message of peace and the urge of festivities.

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Bangladesh The land of six seasons : The Rainy Season

Then comes the rainy reason for refreshing the nature with its healing power of rain drops to make the trees leafy with fresh leaves. The rainy season is greeted by students of Fine Arts faculty of Dhaka University for many years with Borsha Boran festival with participation of innumerous people bored with dog-tiring mechanical life of the capital to refresh their lives with a dose of funfair. The gloomy season of nature sheds tears and makes people search for spirituality in the serene beauty of Bangladesh when nature sings its rainy songs ceaselessly washing away all the dirty things of life and livings.

Bangladesh is also a land of rivers criss-crossed by 56 trans-boundary rivers and their hundreds of tributaries. During rainy seasons people can enjoy the serenity of nature by going on boat trip on mighty rivers full of waters to their brims and enjoy fishing.

Responding to the urge of eco tourism, different private sectors of beaming Bangladesh in recent days have developed several eco-tourism spots and resorts in the country’s Sylhet tea garden areas, Sonargao – the ancient capital of Bengal, Jamuna resort on the bank of mighty Jamuna, Padma resorts and many more spots in the midst of natural beauties and surroundings. Spending just a few days in those resorts during the rainy season, one could really go spiritual and feel the essence of life and the beautiful creation of earth by the Almighty.

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Bangladesh The land of six seasons : Summer

Bangladesh is the lone country in the world which has quite distinctive six seasons – Summer, rainy season, autumn, late autumn, winter and spring- the king of all seasons (Grishma, Barsha, Sharat, Hemanta, Shit and Bashanta).  

All these six seasons could be quite distinctively felt and differentiated in Bangladesh which were celebrated by people of this South Asian country through various cultural, traditional and social programmes for ages to make life meaningful, enjoyable with this bounty of nature.

Summer is celebrated with ‘fruit festival’ by the people of this country as the seasons brings with it numerous summer delights – Jackfruits, watermelons, litchis, melons, pineapples, mangoes and many more mouthwatering fruits which are not just tasty and full of nutrients, but also rich in medicinal food values necessary for boosting human beings’ immune system.

Summer is also celebrated with traditional village fairs, picnics, Jatra, Palagaan, Kobigaan and many other festivities of folk art and culture of natural roots which are part of our rich heritage and tradition. 

  

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Bangladesh Tourist Mecca of the World!! Dream vs Reality

The mother nature has given Bangladesh many of its unique gifts quite bountifully and few of the those are: Bangladesh is the only country in the world having six distinctive seasons, it owns the world’s longest natural sea beach, the globe’s largest mangrove forest and also the world’s most exciting seashore on earth from where one can see both sunrise and sunset.

Having all such exciting places on earth in one country --Bangladesh should have been the tourist Mecca of the world. But in reality it is not, only due to lack of the country’s positive branding in the era of information technology when the whole world is in one’s fingertips. 

Lack of positive campaign necessary for the country branding and also lack of awareness too about what ‘unique resources we have’ among the general people and also the people in power and policymakers kept the country known as land of disasters, poverty and fire tragedies in its factories. 

The people in power and the government machinery blamed for the negative branding across the world and the country image could still easily be changed through meticulous campaign planning using the all powerful information tools –Internet and information and communication technology and also online media. And the positive campaign and country branding should be launched immediately as still the negative headlines like garments factory disasters and factory fire incidents are ravaging the country image. But against the backdrop of Rana Plaza disaster and media focus on Bangladesh, the campaign for country branding efforts could help change the image of Bangladesh as the most industrious nation where women empowerment is visible everywhere as the country is virtually ruled by the womenfolk and it is the most progressive nation in South Asia region despite its majority Muslim populace.

Now the people in power must have to care much about propagating those things for positive country branding of Bangladesh to bring globetrotters to explore the big bowl of Eco-tourism thriving with all its resources, tradition and rich cultural heritage and hospitality as well to greet global tourists with open arms.

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