Sajek Valley is one the best tourist spots in Bangladesh. Although winter and rainy season are perfect to visit Sajek, tourists and backpackers visit Sajek all the time. Sajek Valley is located to the northern border of Rangamati district near Mizoram of India. With an area of more than 700 square miles, Sajek is the largest Union of Bangladesh.
Sajek Valley is located in the Kasalong range. It is around 1800 ft high from sea level. Also known as the ‘Roof of Rangamati’, Sajek is named after the Sajek river that flows between the border of Bangladesh and India.
Ability of touch the clouds, mesmerizing scenery and sudden rain are the main attractions of Sajek valley. Sajek is a place of evergreen forest with natural waterfalls and dancing soft velvet cloud. The awesome landscape is decorated with green hills, steep cliffs wedged between cloud and sky, rivers filled with cold water and tribal villages. This magnificent area is so blessed by nature that the place is known as the Hill Queen and Roof of Rangamati.
The main ethnic minorities on the valley are Chakma, Marma and Tripura. There is a BGB camp in Sajek. There is a helipad nearby.
My wife and I visited Sajek Valley in September 2018. I have described our experience in this post.
How to Go to Sajek Valley
Although Sajek Valley is located under Rangamati, the best way to go from Dhaka is through Khagrachhari. From Khagrachhari, you need to reserve a jeep (called Chander Gari) or CNG three-wheeler to go to Sajek via Dighinala and Baghai Hat. You need to stay a minimum of one night at Sajek to fully experience the journey. Sajek is 70 km from Khagrachhari, 49 km from Dighinala and 34 km from Baghai Hat.
Here is how you can go to Sajek Valley from Dhaka:
How to Go from Dhaka to Khagrachhari
Direct AC/Non-AC bus service is available from Dhaka to Khagrachhari. It takes around 8 hours to reach Khagrachhari from Dhaka. Here is more info:
AC Bus
- Hanif Enterprise: Ticket Price around 1,000 taka, Contact: Arambagh Counter 01730376343, 01713402631, 01713402632, 01713402671, 027194007, Panthapath counter: 01730376341, Khagrachhari counter: 01613185591, 01820704380
- Saint Martin Paribahan: Ticket price around 900 taka, Contact: Arambagh counter: 01762691340, 0176269134
Non-AC Bus
Ticket price will be around 520 taka.
- Shyamoli Paribahan: Arambagh- 02-7194291, Kallyanpur- 02-9003331
- S Alam Paribahan: Fakirapul- 9331864, Gabtoli- 02-9002702
- Shanti Paribahan: Arambagh- 01190994007
- Saudia Paribahan: Fakirapool- 01919-654858, Arambagh: 01919-654932, 01919-654933, Panthapath: 01919-654926, 01919-654927
How to Go from Khagrachhari to Sajek Valley
From Khagrachhari town, you can hire a jeep or CNG to go to Sajek. Which type of vehicle you should hire depends on how many people are travelling with you. If you are travelling in a group of 4-15 persons, you need to hire a jeep (Chander Gari). If you are a couple or three persons, you can hire a CNG. We were two persons , so we hired a CNG.
It will take around 8,500 to 11,000 taka to hire a jeep for the round trip. You have to bear the food and accommodation cost of the driver for the night stay. The rent is negotiable of course. I hired the CNG for 4,500 taka for the tour with one night stay. I gave the drive the cost of food. He managed his own accommodation.
We started from Kharachhari at 8:15 am with CNG. We reached Dighinala at around 9:00 am and reached near Baghai Hat at around 9:30 am.
You need to go to Sajek with army escort. You need to take permission from Baghai Hat army and police camp. There are two escorts each day from Baghai Hat. One is at 10:30 am and another at 3:00 pm. Each vehicle has to enter passenger info in the army check post and get a token before lining up for the escort. Make sure you reach there in time or else you won’t be allowed to pass through. And don’t take pictures in the army post.
Since we reached Baghai Hat early, we went to the Hajachora waterfall nearby. It is about 15 minutes walking track from main road. This waterfall is simply amazing. So much so that we decided to have a quick shower in the cold water.
Then we came back to the main road and went to the army check post to catch the 10:30 am escort. After entering info, we started around 10:45 am. The road to Sajek is typical curvy mountain road with lots of upwards and downward slopes. The local drivers are experienced in driving through these roads.
After an hour of journey, we took a short break. The scenery is amazing. We had some snacks and took some pictures.
We reached Sajek at around 1:00 pm. It already felt like being at the top of the world. We checked in to our resort Sajek Resort.
Places to Visit in Sajek Valley
At around 4:30 pm, we went out to to have a walk. The main area of of Sajek starts from Rui Lui Para. There are more than 83 resorts and cottages in Sajek for the tourists. There are plenty of restaurants, tea stalls and BBQ hotels available.
Rui Lui Para
Rui Lui area isn’t that big. There are several monuments and tourists sites that you can explore. You need to buy tickets to enter them. Ticket price is 15-30 taka per person.
The roads in Rui Lui para are well-organized and clean. There are restaurants and cottages on both sides. The helipad and several monuments are located in a few minutes walking distance away.
You will see local people busy with daily activities. Many local women run stores, tea stalls and restaurants. They work very hard. Often times you will local men and women climbing the hills with heavy baskets.
Watching Sunrise from Konglak Pahar
Konglak Para is the last village of Sajek Valley. The view from the top is magnificent. You can watch the spectacular sunrise from Konglak Pahar. It takes around 30 minutes trekking through hilly roads to reach Konglak Para. Local people live there. So, be polite with your behavior.
Next day, we started from our hotel at 5:00 am. It was dark outside. I called the CNG driver who took us 3/4th of the way to Konglak. Then we got off the CNG and started to walk through stiff walking paths through cliffs. We took two bamboo sticks to help us with the climb. It rained the previous night, so the road was slippery and risky.
There were clouds and mist all around us. We could see and feel the cloud moving past us. It was unbelievable!
The path goes by the side of house of local people. We saw several beautiful garden. There is also a burial ground on top of a large boulder. How they bury the dead into the rock I don’t know!
We climbed for 10 minutes before we reached the top of Konglak Pahar. There are some boulders around. A local woman has given a tea stall on top. The scenery around is breath-taking. It really felt like we were on the top of the world. Many white-grey velvet could were dancing around below us. A local woman was saying some sort of prayer nearby. We couldn’t understand what she was saying.
We had coffees and biscuits from the shop. The coffee was really tasty. As soon as we finished the coffee, we had a glimpse of the sun. It was a bit cloudy, so we could not view the full beauty of sunrise. But it was excellent indeed.
Suddenly a deep cloud shrouded us. We could see and feel the cloud passing by. It was amazing. All the surrounding area was covered with cloud. We couldn’t see the sun anymore. Exceptional!
We stayed there for half an hour before climbing down the hill. We saw other tourists climbing the hill.
Komlok Water Fall
Also known as Sikam Toisa waterfall or Pidam Toisa fall, Komlok waterfall is another great place to visit in Sajek Valley. There is a steep hill road to the right-hand side between Rui Lui para and helipad road. That road will lead you to this waterfall. The place is really hard to track, we learnt. You have to climb almost vertical hill treks to reach there. It’ll take 1.5 hours to reach Komlok waterfall.
Since it was a tough trekking, we avoided the journey.
There are other places in Rui Lui such as the helipad, monuments, parks, cottages, selfie-bridge etc where you can roam around.
Food & Drinks
Some available food items include chicken, vegetables, rice, khichuri, egg, poreta, nun ruti etc. Pork is also available for foreigners. Beef is limited. There are many coffee and tea shops. Packaged snacks, cakes, biscuits are also available.
We had chicken, beef, moog dal, bbq etc in our resort. We saw several restaurants preparing chicken bbq for the tourists. You can find good food at Runmoy resort.
The whole atmosphere was happy, cheerful and relaxing.
Then we had our breakfast and tea. We when back to the hotel, packed up and checked out from the hotel at 10:00 am. We boarded the CNG and went with the 10:30 army escort. We reached Khagrachhari at around 1:15 pm.
Useful Information
Places to Stay at Sajek
- Sajek Resort: This resort is run by Bangladesh Army. It has several rooms at first floor. You have to book early to get a room. Rent is around 10,000 to 15,000 per night. It has great facilities. Contact: 01859025694/ 01847070395.
- Runmoy Resort: It has three rooms on ground floor. There are four tents. Four persons can stay in one tent. Contact: 01862011852
- Megh Machang: It will cost around 3,000 taka per night. Contact: 01822168877
- Meghpunji Resort: It has four beautiful cottages. Contact: 01815761065
- Alo Resort: It has six rooms. 4 double bed and 2 single bed. Contact: 01863606906
- Megh Kabbo Resort: Contact: 01815162600
- Niribili Resort: Contact: 01815162600
Transportation to Sajek
Chander Gari (for 4 to 15 persons): Driver Raj (01820741662), Hanif (01828829908), Nur Alam (01820732043), Shibu (01820746744)
CNG ( for 1 to 3 persons): Driver Babu (01851997876)
It is better to reserve a vehicle in the previous day of tour. Make sure you negotiate the price. You may have to give some advance money to book the vehicle. Also, don’t forget to tell them you will visit the Hajachora water falls on the way to Sajek. They will plan the trip accordingly.
Places to Stay at Khagrachchari
- Hotel Mount Inn: Located at Narkel Bagan in city, Contact: 03-7162828
- Hotel Echo Chori Inn: Located near Khagrachhari Cantt. Contact: 03-7162625
Safety Precautions
- Make sure you have either airtel or robi sim available. The network of other operators such as grameen and banglalink is very poor or nil in Sajek valley.
- There is a risk of getting Malaria with mosquito bite at Sajek valley. So, please take Odomus or other type of mosquito repellent with you. Apply Odomus in your hands and feet before going out and during night. It is advised to sleep inside mosquito net at night.
- Take a first aid kit with you. Dettol, bad-aid, savlon etc may be required any time.
- Be polite with the locals to avoid trouble.
If you liked my post or have any query, please write in the comment section below.
Cheers!
Kazi
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