Mymensingh
The broad, slow river that frames Mymensingh town, with a long riverside park, boats to the sandbanks and the green campus of the Agricultural University downstream.
The Old Brahmaputra was once the main channel of one of Asia’s great rivers. Over the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the main stream shifted west into what is now the Jamuna, leaving this quieter channel past Mymensingh.
It is still the town’s centre of gravity. The riverside park around the Zainul Abedin Museum fills up every evening, small boats ferry people across to the sandbanks, and in the dry season the river shows wide chars of white sand. Downstream, the large, tree-lined campus of Bangladesh Agricultural University, founded in 1961, runs along the bank and is a favourite place for a walk.
Start in the morning with a walk around the green campus by the river.
Back in town, visit the zamindar palace and its garden.
Rice and river fish in the town centre.
See the Zainul Abedin Museum, then take a boat across to the char.
End the day with tea by the river.
October to March, in the late afternoon; the river is fullest from July to September
The riverside park is in town, a short rickshaw ride from the centre. Bangladesh Agricultural University is a few kilometres away by auto-rickshaw.
