Sylhet
A wide river bed of pale stones and cold, clear water below the hills.
Bholaganj lies in Companiganj, where the Dhalai river comes out of the Meghalaya hills into the plains of Sylhet. As the river slows it drops the stones it has carried down, and over the years a wide bed of pale, rounded stones built up at the mouth of the hills, with cold, clear water running over them. Locals call it Sada Pathor, the white stones.
Bholaganj was long known for something else: stone. It has been one of the country’s major sources of stone and gravel, and a ropeway was built decades ago to carry stone from here; you may still see parts of it. Only in recent years did the stone bed itself become a tourist spot, made popular through photos shared online.
The white stones have also been under pressure from illegal extraction, and the scene can look different from older photos. It is still a striking place: sitting in the cold water among the stones with the hills ahead is the reason people come.
Hire a CNG or car and head for Companiganj early, before the crowds.
Take a boat from the Bholaganj ghat up the Dhalai to the stone bed.
Wade in the shallows and sit among the stones with the hills ahead — staying out of the fast channels.
Change into dry clothes, eat at the ghat, and be back in Sylhet by the afternoon.
Late monsoon to early winter (August–November) for full, clear water; in the dry months the water is low, and after heavy rain the current is dangerous.
About an hour by road from Sylhet city to Bholaganj in Companiganj, then a short boat ride to the white stones.
Boats leave from the ghat at Bholaganj for a short ride upriver to the stone bed. There you walk over the stones and wade in the shallows; the boat waits for the agreed time and brings you back.
