Kurigram, Rangpur
The old Brahmaputra port of Bhawaiya song, where boats leave for the chars and the far bank across one of the widest rivers in the country.
Chilmari sits on the Brahmaputra near where the Teesta joins it. For generations it was a busy river port, where cargo boats and steamers called and traders from the chars and the far bank came to buy and sell. The port’s fame reached far beyond the district through Bhawaiya: the cart drivers of the north sang of carrying their loads to Chilmari.
The river has changed course and eaten into the land many times, and the old port has moved with it. Today the ghats are still a gateway to the chars and to Rowmari and Rajibpur on the far side of the Brahmaputra, and the government has worked to revive Chilmari as a river port.
To stand at the ghat is to see the Brahmaputra at its widest in Bangladesh: water and sand to the horizon, boats coming and going, and char villages floating at the edge of sight.
Take a morning bus or CNG south through Ulipur.
Watch the boats load and unload, and ask about services to the chars and return times.
If the weather is good, take a boat to a nearby char and walk its fields and villages.
Back at the ghat, eat river fish and rice.
Watch the afternoon light on the river, then head back to Kurigram.
October to March, when the river is calmer; avoid the monsoon floods
South of Kurigram town via Ulipur, roughly an hour by local bus or CNG. From Chilmari bazar, a rickshaw or battery auto-rickshaw takes you to the river ghat.
From the ghat, engine boats carry passengers to the chars and across the Brahmaputra, and small country boats can be hired for a short ride on the river. Agree on the route and the return before you set off.
