Welcome to Bangladesh.
I spent 4 weeks in November and December 2025, cycling around Bangladesh. Here’s a little bit about what it was like.
Arrival in Dhaka.
The week before I landed in Bangladesh, the cargo terminal at Dhaka airport burned down. The next day there was a small earthquake, killing a dozen people. And 3 days after my arrival, there was a huge fire in Dhaka, where 1500 houses in a slum burned down. So it was a bit of mixed news that I arrived to.
Streetscene in Dhaka.
But everything seemed fine when I arrived and there was a big “welcome to Bangladesh” sign outside the airport. I cycled down to my hotel, which was called Afford Inn, after having collected my bike in the airport arrival hall. There are always some curious people when I start assembling my bike at various airports around the world. And Dhaka was no exception. I got really nice help from one of the curious people. A young friendly airport employee told me the easiest way to get down to my hotel by bike.
Candyfloss and cars in the streets of Dhaka.
There was a lot of intense traffic from the start. But all in all it was ok. Dhaka also has a lot of bicycles. There are a lot of bicycle rickshaws in particular. They have almost all had a small electric motor installed in the last 2-3 years and the locals call them “Dhaka Teslas”. Lots of bicycles is a good thing for me, as the cars are also used to taking bicycles into account. I had booked 2 nights at a hotel before arrival. In order to get a visa for Bangladesh, you also have to show a copy of that booking to get a visa upon arrival in Bangladesh.
The hotel cost about 25€ per night and was a small business hotel. There was no parking for my bicycle, which worried me a bit when I arrived. But the guard standing outside the hotel said that there was a guard all night, so it was perfectly okay to lock the bicycle to the hotel’s metal fence. It turned out to be perfectly okay. I also tipped the guard a few dollars for looking after my bicycle. In my experience, that kind of money is well spent. And then you also help a local who does an honest job, often for a small salary.
The country where you are often the only tourist in town.
Of all the countries I have visited (I have visited just under 100 countries), Bangladesh is one of the countries where I have met the fewest tourists. To be precise, I met 3 Western tourists in the 4 weeks I stayed in the country. Two of them were single female tourists from Sweden and the USA. Both of them were girls who wanted to visit as many countries as possible around the world (the Swede flew on to East Timor after Bangladesh). The third was a Croatian guy who worked for Disney Cruises and who just wanted to get as far away from the hustle and bustle as possible when he had time off. He certainly got that by vacationing in Bangladesh.
I only met local cyclists in Bangladesh. Not a single foreign tour cyclist.
All 3 foreigners I met were in the capital Dhaka. Outside of Dhaka, I did not meet a single Western tourist. However, that did not mean that I was alone the whole time, as there were many curious locals who I talked to. The people of Bangladesh are not as intrusive as people can sometimes be in India. The Bangladeshis were usually very polite, bordering on a little shy. But once they got the courage to talk, they were very curious. I didn’t feel “besieged” by curious locals, like I sometimes do in other countries.
One of the many friendly people that I spoke to during my cycling trip around Bangladesh.
Rural Bangladesh.
From Dhaka to the abandoned city of Panam Nagar.
I landed at Dhaka Airport, which is located a little north of the center of Dhaka, which has actually just moved up to be the world’s second most populous city, with 36 million inhabitants, if you count the suburbs. However, it was not nearly as difficult to cycle out of the city as I had imagined.
Directly east of the airport in Dhaka, they are building a new district. It is far from finished yet, so traffic was quite limited in the area, apart from a lot of construction machinery. I rode a mountain bike, so I wiggled my way around various construction sites, to get out of the city. In many ways, this is very typical of modern Bangladesh, which is undergoing a very large industrial development. The country is the world’s second largest producer of textiles (surpassed only by China) and there is also a huge steel industry in the southern part of the country.
There is lots of construction going on in Bangladesh.
I have never visited a country with so many newly built factories. This is mainly because wages are low in Bangladesh. An average monthly salary for a textile worker, for example, is 130€ per month. This has prompted all sorts of large clothing manufacturers to move to Bangladesh in a big way.
One of many textile factories in Bangladesh.
On the first day, I cycled a relatively short trip, about 4o kilometers. I always do this when I have to leave a big city. There is no need to stress when you have to leave a big city, where the traffic is often quite intense.
I had chosen to end the day at the abandoned city of Panam Nagar. Panam Nagar is one of the few tourist spots in Bangladesh. However, I only met local tourists when I was there.
Panam Nagar.
Panam Nagar dates back to the 14th century, but was inhabited until the 1960s, when it was abandoned after civil unrest when Bangladesh fought for its independence. Today, the city stands as a fascinating ruined city and is frequently visited by local tourists, just as the few foreign tourists who come to Bangladesh also often visit the place.
Sonargaon Royal Resort, where I stayed at Panam Nagar.
I had to pose for a photo with several locals when I visited the place. But it was just nice to chat with people for a bit. The place is also very popular with newlyweds, who have their wedding photos taken among the abandoned houses.
At Panam Nagar, I stayed at the most luxurious hotel of the trip. A large palace-like hotel, with heavily armed guards, who I guess were hired because the hotel is used by some people from the government, which shares the waters in Bangladesh. There has been a lot of political unrest in the country the last few years. And I could feel that sometimes. Incidentally, a leading opposition politician was killed in a drive-by shooting while I was in the country.
By bicycle through the unknown Bangladesh.
Cycling through rural Bangladesh.
From Panam Nagar I first cycled east, to the city of Cumilla. From there I cycled via the cities of Feni and Sitakund, down to the city of Chittagong, which is mostly known for being the city where a large part of the world’s tankers end their days in huge scrapyards.
Chittagong.
Chittagong Harbour.
However, it is an industry that is on the decline, after there has been a lot of negative focus on the huge environmental impact of this form of old-fashioned ship dismantling. Just as there has also been focus on how bad the working environment is among the people who cut up all the world’s supertankers. The scrapyards that remain are not accessible to the public because of that.
Countryroad in Bangladesh.
I spoke to someone who could arrange a boat trip where you could see the places from the sea side. It was quite expensive though as I had to rent the entire boat. Since I was the only tourist, I decided to skip it and only went to the part of the port that was publicly accessible.
My original plan was to cycle up to the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which is a mountain range that borders India. There is a large artificial lake where I could see that there are quite a few eco-resorts. But when a local policeman told me that it was best not to, as there had been a recent kidnapping of 3 foreigners (2 of them Danish engineers), I did not cycle up there. Instead, I headed northwest and drove to the southern and central part of Bangladesh.
One of several ferry crossings in Bangladesh.
My bicycle on a ferry in Bangladesh.
Via the semi-large city of Chandpur, I reached the central part of Bangladesh. I cycled around a mixture of small roads, combined with sometimes cycling a few hours on a busy road, to reach a town with an overnight stay.
Rickshaw driver in Bangladesh.
One of the places I travelled though was a provincial town called Madaripur, which probably ended up being my favorite place in Bangladesh. A super cozy town, where the center of the city was dominated by a lake, with open markets and cafes, restaurants and a few hotels. Madaripur had the same vibe as I experienced in Hanoi in Vietnam. Hanoi is one of my favorite cities in all of Asia.
Bangladesh by night.
I also stayed at a couple of really nice resorts that were located down to the big rivers, which I cycled along. Always as the only foreigner in the hotels where I stayed, in this part of the country.
I crossed the rivers with various river barges when there were no bridges. One bridge that I had to cross did not allow bicycles on the bridge. But I quickly got my bike on a bus, which then drove me the 3-4 kilometers over the bridge to the next city.
Walking through Old Dhaka.
When I came back to Dhaka, after a 3-week bike ride around the country, I spent a few days in this huge city. I had gotten in touch with 2 other travelers, through a Facebook group, who were in the city at the same time as me. Both were single female travelers. We had agreed to meet inside the old town. Mostly to talk to other foreigners, since all 3 of us were traveling alone.
Hindu Wedding in Old Dhaka.
Market scene in Old Dhaka.
Old Dhaka is really intense. For me it is really exciting, but there will probably also be Danes who think the place is a bit too intense. People live extremely close together and there are small workshops, factories and shops in every corner. We walked down a lot of very narrow alleys and never felt unsafe. People were very friendly and we were often invited in to see their small workshops and factories, which were often located in very small houses.
Fairy lights shop in Old Dhaka.
Printing house in Old Dhaka.
Where did I stay in Bangladesh?
On this trip I chose to make room in my budget to stay in more expensive hotels from time to time. The reason is that there are sometimes very few places to stay in Bangladesh, as there is almost no tourism industry. I am not one to camp when I am in tropical regions with heavy rains at night, and I also just prefer to be indoors when I have to sleep. It is pretty much only in Scandinavia and North America that I camp on my bike trips.
One of the many hotel rooms where I stayed in Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh I slept in everything from very simple guesthouses to a few very nice 4 star hotels. Most often, however, there was somewhere in between, in smaller provincial hotels. In terms of price, it ranged from 6-7€ per night, for the cheapest places, to around 60€ for the most expensive places, which were very nice hotels, with armed guards and large suites.
Bicycle tourist in a fancy hotel.
Also stayed for the night in one of these little huts.
I also like my bike to be stored safely, or looked after, when I sleep. Most of the places I stayed had a place where I could lock my bike. Often with an underground parking garage. There were also a few places where I had to park on the street. But in these cases, the hotel had a guard who stood by the door all night. I made sure to give him a good tip upon arrival. In my experience, that’s a good way to get guards to take extra care of your things.
One of the hotels let me park my bike right inside the reception area.
How is the food in Bangladesh?
The food in Bangladesh is spicy and really good. I generally love food from the Indian subcontinent and the way it is seasoned. So on the food front, Bangladesh was really nice. However, I try not to eat too much meat in countries where food hygiene can sometimes be questionable. And I was a bit challenged in Bangladesh, as they really like meat. But having said that, I didn’t have an upset stomach once during the 4 weeks I was in Bangladesh.
The food was good in Bangladesh.
At the Dhaka Food Fest.
The coffee in Bangladesh is fantastic.
I have been to India a few times before and expected the coffee in Bangladesh to be the same thin crap that you usually get in India. But I was pleasantly surprised. Even in small, cheap cafes, the coffee was often surprisingly good. If I went to a proper coffee shop, the quality was always fantastic. I learned that Bangladesh has started to grow a lot of coffee in recent years. That was a very positive aspect of the trip, as I am a big coffee drinker.
The coffee was fantastic.
What about safety in Bangladesh?
I didn’t have a single incident on the entire trip where I felt in danger. I would rate the traffic as the most dangerous aspect of cycling around Bangladesh, without that being a deterrent to anyone. I walked around megacities like Dhaka and Chittagong after dark without feeling unsafe in any way. As someone who has traveled to almost 100 countries and spent about 2 years in Brazil, I am good at sensing danger. But I felt completely safe in Bangladesh. I also met 2 female travelers on the trip, both of whom were traveling alone. They both said that they felt comfortable traveling around the country as single women. Incidentally, they were one woman from Sweden and one from the United States.
I felt safe at all times in Bangladesh.
What about dog chases in Bangladesh?
I didn’t have a single case where I was chased by a dog when I cycled through Bangladesh. As I see it, it’s because people in Bangladesh don’t have a tradition of using dogs to guard their houses. So dogs are not trained to be territorial, as you see in many other countries.
However, I chose to get vaccinated against rabies before the trip, as you now have a pretty good vaccine, which is valid for life once you have had your 2 shots. The vaccine doesn’t protect 100%, but it gives you a longer time to get to the doctor if you are bitten by an animal. And unfortunately, that is something that there is a small risk of when you travel around the world by bicycle.
Crossing a broken bridge in Bangladesh.
How many flat tires did I have in Bangladesh?
I didn’t get a single puncture during the entire bike trip through Bangladesh. I didn’t have any mechanical problems either. This is mainly because I typically prepare for such a trip by making sure I have puncture-free tires on my bike, and I often ask my local bike shop, back in Denmark, give the bike a check-up before going on an international trip.
I usually say that I’m more of a globetrotter than a bike mechanic. I am frankly pretty bad at repairing bikes. But it paid off once again, just spending a little time and money on being properly prepared.
I had no punctures in Bangladesh.
Pingback: Visiting Heinz Stücke: The greatest tour cyclist of all times. – Travelling Claus