A heritage-focused week visiting Bangladesh's UNESCO sites - Paharpur, Bagerhat and the Sundarbans - with Mughal forts, terracotta temples and Baul music.
Begin with the colorful early-morning flower market, then visit the Karwan Bazar wholesale vegetable and fish markets, the Parliament House (from outside) and the 1678 Lalbagh Fort. Take an old Dhaka walk and rickshaw ride past the Hindu street and Star Mosque, admire the colonial Pink Palace, and finish with a boat ride from the bustling Sadarghat river port.
Drive towards Bogra, stopping at the Savar National Monument and the decorative 1607 Atia Mosque. Walk through a neighbouring Hindu village to see traditional pottery making, then enjoy an authentic Bangladeshi lunch at an organic farming NGO and tour its community seed bank and puffed-rice making. Cross the longest bridge on the Brahmaputra before arriving in Bogra.
Walk the oldest citadel of Mahasthangarh, dating from the 3rd century BC, visiting its museum and Govinda Bhita, then stop at a large neighbourhood vegetable market for photography. Drive to the Paharpur UNESCO World Heritage Buddhist monastery, the single largest Buddhist monastery south of the Himalayas. Continue to Rajshahi to enjoy the sunset and a Ganges boat ride.
Visit the temple city of Puthia with its dilapidated palaces and the Govinda, Aniina and great Shiva temples. Take a photo break at the century-old Hardinge rail bridge, the first railway bridge built in Bangladesh, then cross tobacco fields to the cultural capital Kushtia. Visit the shrine of Baul pioneer Lalon Shah and enjoy intangible-heritage Baul songs before driving to Jessore.
Drive to Mongla and board a motor boat for a day-long Sundarbans cruise. Stop at a riverside to see the hundred-year-old technique of fishing with the help of otters, then visit the Karamgol forest office for forest trails and watch towers. Cruise unique routes through this dolphin hotspot, where river dolphins often jump around the boat, before dinner and overnight in Khulna.
Visit the Bagerhat UNESCO site and its impressive 60 Dome Mosque, with a Quran recitation by a local Imam, then walk to the shrine of Khan Jahan Ali and the 9 Dome Mosque. Drive to Barisal, stopping at a floating gypsy village on the riverbank and taking a public boat cruise to enjoy the sunset.
Visit the newly built Guthia Mosque, famed for its design, then board a hired engine boat to reach the floating markets - rice, fruit and seasonal vegetable markets that sit in different parts of the region each day. Visit some gypsy boats and their traditional life, then drive to Dhaka crossing the Ganges by ferry, with free time for shopping before the airport transfer.
