The Chittagong Hill Tracts

Southeast of Chittagong the flat delta finally rises into forested hills, and this is where Bangladesh keeps its uplands, its highest peaks and around a dozen Indigenous peoples with their own languages, dress and Buddhist and animist traditions quite distinct from the lowlands. Kaptai Lake, created by a dam in the 1960s, fills the valleys around Rangamati with an enormous body of water dotted with islands and half-drowned trees, crossed by boats that serve as the local transport. Around Bandarban, ridges climb towards Keokradong and Tazing Dong, and the Nilgiri and Nilachal viewpoints look out over cloud filling the valleys at dawn. Golden Temple at Bandarban is the largest Theravada Buddhist temple in the country.

What you actually see

• Kaptai Lake - boat travel among islands and drowned forest around Rangamati.
• Nilgiri and Nilachal - ridge viewpoints above cloud-filled valleys near Bandarban.
• Golden Temple, Bandarban - the country's largest Theravada Buddhist temple.
• Hill villages and weaving - Indigenous textile traditions across the three districts.

When to go

October to March is dry and cool with the best chance of clear morning cloud seas from the ridges. The monsoon brings landslides and difficult roads.

Honest expectations

Foreign visitors need permits and must register, and some areas are not open; arrangements take time and are best made through a local operator well in advance. Roads are winding and slow, and public transport is limited. Photographing people in Indigenous villages without asking is intrusive and increasingly resented, so ask first and accept a refusal.

Nearby

Chittagong city and port lie west; Cox's Bazar is south along the coast.