The Shari River flows down from the Jaintia hills of Meghalaya, carrying dissolved minerals and fine riverbed sand that turn its waters a luminous shade of blue and green during dry months. The standard boat journey starts from the Sarighat bridge and winds upstream past tea estates, betel nut plantations, and riverside hamlets toward the border rapids. Local resorts on the hillside provide lunch stops with wide verandas overlooking the river bend. The river water is cleanest and most transparent between November and February when seasonal rains cease.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- Half a day
- Cost
- Engine boat hire roughly ৳1,000–1,500 return for a group; bus from Sylhet city about ৳70–100 each way
How to get to Lalakhal
About 42 km north-east of Sylhet city along the Tamabil highway. Reach Sarighat by local bus or private car in about an hour, then board an engine boat at the bridge pier.
Sylhet town is about 240 km from Dhaka, around 5.5 hours by road. Every way to get there is in the Sylhet guide.
Boats cannot proceed past the border outpost at the upper end of the river channel.
More to see in Sylhet
Photo: S M Mahfuzul Islam Rahat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Ratargul Swamp Forest রাতারগুল সোয়াম্প ফরেস্ট
A 504-acre freshwater swamp forest in Gowainghat where wooden canoes glide through half-submerged groves of koroch and hijal trees.
- Best time
- July to October
- Give it
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Small canoe roughly ৳800–1,200 for up to four people; CNG auto from Sylhet city about ৳600–800 return
Photo: Farhan alvee, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Hazrat Shah Jalal Dargah হযরত শাহজালাল দরগাহ
The fourteenth-century tomb complex and mosque of the revered Sufi saint Hazrat Shah Jalal, the spiritual center of Sylhet.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free entry; optional donation; rickshaw from central town roughly ৳30–50
Photo: Rahirafsan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Bholaganj Sada Pathor ভোলাগঞ্জ সাদা পাথর
A wide mountain riverbed where cold waters from Cherrapunji flow over polished white stones right at the Meghalaya frontier.
- Best time
- May to October
- Give it
- Half a day
- Cost
- Boat hire roughly ৳800–1,200 return per boat; shared auto or bus from Sylhet about ৳100–150 each way
Photo: Redmin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Malnicherra Tea Estate মালনীছড়া চা বাগান
The oldest commercial tea estate in Bangladesh, established in 1854 on rolling hills just north of Sylhet city.
- Best time
- October to March
- Give it
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free to enter and walk public estate paths; auto-rickshaw from city about ৳60–100 each way