Meet Khasia, Manipuri, Tripura, Mro, Marma and Chakma communities across the tea hills, Bandarban and Rangamati, with markets, boats and kayaking.
Arrive in Dhaka, transfer to the hotel and begin sightseeing at Kawran Bazar wholesale vegetable and fish market, famous for the morning rush and the fish market on the train track. Visit the Dhakeshwari temple, Dhaka University with its Language Monument and Curzon Hall, Shakhari Bazar (Hindu Street), the Pink Palace and a boat tour on the Buriganga to the dockyard.
Drive to the tea capital Sreemangal, home to 120 tea gardens and several tribal communities, stopping at rice processing factories to meet workers on the way. Walk deep into the tea gardens and visit tea workers' villages to learn their traditional way of life, then taste the famous seven-layer tea at a local tea stall.
Walk deep inside Lawachara forest, a sub-tropical rainforest home to the rare hoolock gibbon, then visit a Khasia tribal village, one of the major matriarchal tribes living by betel leaf cultivation. Visit a Tipra village and a Manipuri weaving village for a homemade lunch and traditional dance, then climb the watchtower at Baikka Beel wetland to see migratory birds.
Drive to Brahmanbaria to catch the Chittagong-bound train and enjoy a four-to-five-hour ride in air-conditioned chair coach seats through the scenery. On arrival check in, then tour Chittagong's Second World War cemetery and the famous fish harbor in the late afternoon as fishermen prepare their nets and boats.
Drive to the Bandarban hill district on the Sangu River, home to some 13 ethnic minorities of which the Morong and Marma are largest. Take an afternoon boat ride on the Sangu River, visit a tribal market on market day, enjoy a special tribal lunch, then hike to meet the remote Murong and Tripura tribes in their villages.
Drive towards the Rangamati hill district, stopping at Kaptai for kayaking amid beautiful nature and local fishermen. Visit the Rangamati tribal museum for an introduction to tribal history and culture, then drive a scenic hilly road between lake and hills, stopping at villages for tea with locals.
Cruise Kaptai Lake, one of the largest man-made lakes in South Asia at around 724 sq km, watching people carry goods by traditional boat and fishermen at work. Visit a Chakma tribal village on an island where fishing and handloom weaving are the main trades, enjoy a tribal lunch and visit a Hindu Tripura village before driving back to Chittagong.
Drive towards Dhaka, visiting the ship breaking yard by boat on the Karnaphuli River during high tide, then the Sonargaon Folklore and Art Museum housed in the renovated Sardar Bari. Walk through the abandoned Panam City, famous for its Bengal-British decorated palaces, before transferring to the airport to end the tour.
