Moulvibazar, Sylhet
The largest haor in Bangladesh, a sea of water in the monsoon and a patchwork of beels full of migratory birds in winter.
Hakaluki is the largest haor — a bowl-shaped wetland — in Bangladesh. It spreads across several upazilas of Moulvibazar and Sylhet districts and is fed by rivers coming down from the hills of Tripura and Assam. In the monsoon its many beels join into one sheet of water stretching to the horizon, dotted with village islands; in the dry season the water draws back into the beels and the land between is farmed for boro rice and grazed by cattle.
The haor is best known for its birds. Every winter tens of thousands of ducks and waders arrive from the north, and the swamp trees (hijal and koroch) and reed beds shelter resident birds and fish all year. Because of its importance for fish and wildlife, Hakaluki has been declared an Ecologically Critical Area.
For travellers it is a place to slow down: a boat ride across open water in the rains, or an early-morning walk along the beels in winter with binoculars.
Leave Moulvibazar town before sunrise for Kulaura or Juri, then a CNG to the ghat.
Spend the best light on the water in the wet season, or walking the beel edges for birds in winter.
Fish and rice at a haor-side bazar.
Return to Moulvibazar town or continue to Sylhet before dark.
December to February for migratory birds; July to October for the haor at its fullest
From Moulvibazar town, take a bus or CNG to Kulaura or Juri (about 1–1.5 hours), then a CNG to a haor-side village or ghat; boats go out from there. The haor also reaches Fenchuganj in Sylhet district, an easy approach from Sylhet city. Ask locally which ghat is best for the season.
In the wet season everything is by boat, hired from the ghat by the hour or for the trip. In winter you can walk the raised paths between the beels, with a local guide to find the bird areas.
