Bandarban

Local food to try

Bamboo chicken
Bandarban
Spiced chicken sealed in green bamboo and cooked over the fire — the hill dish every visitor asks for.
Bamboo shoot and hill vegetables
Bandarban
Young bamboo shoots, jhum vegetables and wild greens, boiled, mashed or cooked with dried fish.
Sangu river fish
Bandarban
Small fish from the Sangu, fried or in curry, at the riverside towns of Thanchi and Ruma.
Hill fruit
Bandarban
Pineapple, papaya, bananas, jackfruit and oranges, depending on the season, piled up in the town market.

Where to eat

Hill-food restaurants in town
Bandarban town
Small Marma- and Bawm-run restaurants serve bamboo chicken and hill dishes; ask locally which are open.
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Around the town market
Bandarban town
Everyday Bangali restaurants for rice, fish and curry near the bus counters.
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Bazar eateries in Thanchi and Ruma
Thanchi, Ruma
Simple rice meals before setting off on a trek or boat trip; on treks, guides arrange meals in villages.
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Where to stay

Hotels in Bandarban town
Town centre
Simple to mid-range hotels near the bus counters, the base for day trips to Nilgiri, Nilachal and the Golden Temple.
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Hill resorts and cottages
Around town and along the Nilgiri road
Quieter stays with views over the hills; book ahead for winter weekends.
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Village homestays and cottages
Boga Lake, Remakri
Basic rooms in Bawm and Marma villages for treks, arranged through your guide.
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Culture

Bandarban’s many peoples keep their own languages, dress and festivals, and most Marma villages have a kyang (Buddhist monastery).

Sangrai: the Marma New Year in mid-April, part of the hill peoples’ Boisabi season, is celebrated with the water festival — young people splash each other with water as a blessing — along with music, dance and rice cakes.
Rajpunya: the Bohmong Raja’s traditional gathering, when the people of the circle come to the palace in Bandarban town, with a fair around it.
Probarana Purnima: at the end of the rainy-season retreat, Buddhists light lamps and release paper lanterns (fanus) into the sky.
Weaving: Marma and Bawm women weave on backstrap looms; shawls and cloth are sold in town.
The Mro are known for their bamboo flute music and dances; their villages are deep in the hills.

History

Bandarban is the wildest of the three hill districts, with the country’s highest peaks — Keokradong, Tazing Dong and Saka Haphong among them — rising along its south-eastern border with Myanmar. The Sangu river runs through the district from the far hills down past Thanchi and Ruma to Bandarban town.

The town is the seat of the Bohmong Raja, head of the Bohmong Circle, one of the three traditional circles of the Hill Tracts. The Marma are the largest hill community here, and the district is also home to the Mro, Bawm, Tripura, Tanchangya, Khumi, Khyang, Chak, Lushai, Pangkhua, Chakma and others — more distinct peoples than almost anywhere else in the country.

For travellers, Bandarban means mountain roads and long walks: Nilgiri and Nilachal for views over the clouds, the golden Buddha Dhatu Jadi near town, and deeper in the hills Boga Lake, Keokradong and the waterfalls of Nafakhum. Much of the interior is remote and access depends on security conditions, so plans here need patience and a local guide.

Plan your visit

Best time to visit

October to February for dry trails and clear views. Waterfalls are fullest from July to October, but boats and treks are riskier then.

How to get there

From Dhaka: direct buses run to Bandarban town, about 8–10 hours, mostly overnight, via Chattogram and Keranihat.
From Chattogram: buses leave from the Bahaddarhat area, about 2.5–3 hours via Keranihat.
From Cox’s Bazar, go up the highway to Keranihat and change for Bandarban.
Carry your national ID card or passport for checkpoints on the hill roads.

Getting around

Chander gari (open-backed jeeps) are hired in Bandarban town for Nilgiri, Thanchi and Ruma; the roads are steep and winding.
CNG auto-rickshaws for the town and nearby spots like Meghla, Nilachal and Buddha Dhatu Jadi.
Boats on the Sangu river from Thanchi to Remakri, and in places from Ruma.
On foot with a registered local guide for Boga Lake, Keokradong and Nafakhum.