Very near to the natural retreat of Meghla Parjatan Resort is a place which many tourists love to visit. The name of the place is Nilachal. The specialty of the place Nilachol Bandarban is the view it offers. A vast horizon filled with clouds moving, an endless wave of mountains filled with green trees Nilachal is one of the most sublime tourists spot in the whole of Bangladesh.
AT A GLANCE Name: Nilachol Location: Nilachol, Bandarban,Bangladesh Destination: Dhaka to Bandarban. Transport: Shamoli Paribahan, Hanif Enterprise, Year-71 etc bus services from Fakirapul, Saydabad , Kalampur,Panthopath etc. Fair: BDT 350 to 700 (Dhaka to Bandarban) Time: 9-10 Hours Explore: Nilachal Hill, Bandarban,Bangladesh Distance: 5 kilometers from Bandarban sadar . Cost: Depend to coverage tourists spots. Accommodation: Hotels, Government rest house ,Cottages etc available. Food: Available. Advice: Keep dry foods, water, medicines, saline, glucose, extra money, and kits.
Only five kilometers from the Bandarban town and situated near about 2000 feet above sea level, tourists can select Nilachal as their first destination to visit when coming to Bandarban and for a starter, Nilachal has in its store the total view of Bandarban. Standing on the Nilachal tourists can glance at the whole of Bandarban in the form of a vast landscape. The whole of the grace and splendor of Bandarban can be seen in a single landscape, and such is the grandeur of Nilachal.
In the winter the sky takes on a different form, the sky is filled with fog and mist, clouds are dense and impenetrable. In the summer the clouds are white as snow, the sky is clear and transparent making the whole of the enormous landscape visible. In the evening Nilachal offers a fantastic view of the twilight and in the night starts, and a different quality of darkness can be seen and felt in Nilachal.
How to visit Nilachol?
Nilachal is very near from Bandarban town, just 5 kilometers in a place known as Tigerpara. Tourists can take a bus from Dhaka to Bandarban. There are many bus services such as Shamoli Paribhan, S Alam Paribhan, Unique Service, Dolphin Service, etc. They depart from various points in Dhaka such as Arambag, Sydabad, Asadgate, Shamoli, Gabtoli, Fakirapool. Almost every night a bus from Fakirapool departs for Bandarban.
The bus fare is 550 taka per person. Once tourists are in Bandarban they can take a baby taxi, a vehicle locally known as “Chander Gari”, jeeps are also available and from Bandarban town and go to Nilachal. The cost of reserving a “Chander Gari” is 2000 or below; the rate can be negotiated. For a person, around 90 taka will be charged by these vehicle drivers for which they can take the tourists to Nilachal.
While driving from Bandarban to Nilachol the roads go up taking extreme curves, and all around there can be seen plenty of cinematic greenery as the place is filled with trees. The road slowly goes up to the point where it reaches 2000 feet above sea level. At that point the tourists will reach Nilachal and experience the large landscape view; layers of mountains one above the other with and the spreading of green trees above them which together takes the shape of a big static wave and the majestic clouds above hovering indifferently. Nilachal presents one big living still image of nature at its best.
Food and Living Accommodations
Nilachal is a place where wilderness from a mountaintop can be experienced in its purest form. Hence there are no accommodations for a living. However, there are a few food stores recently opened up in the Nilachal due to it being one of the main tourist attractions. Nonetheless, travelers can carry with them light foods such as snacks, etc.
It is wise if visitors rent a hotel at Bandarban town or Meghla Parjatan Complex, as there are a wide variety of hotels to choose from at different price, eat and freshen up before starting their journey to Nilachal. Tourists can stay one day at Bandarban town, relax and the next morning starts towards Nilachal after breakfast.
However, tourists staying the whole day till night at Nilachal can carry personal food and eat at the restaurants at Nilachal. After that, they can head back to their hotels to Bandarban to sleep for the night. As the distance between Bandarban town and Nilachal is just 5 kilometers, the fact that there are no living accommodations in Nilachal will not be a huge problem.
The cost of living in the hotels of Bandarban town varies from hotel to hotel and the different types of service they have regarding rooms and other facilities associated with room service. For example, there are expensive hotels such as Hotel Plaza which has rooms costing from 1725 taka, for non ac 2 single bed, to royal suite air conditioned room worth 5200 taka per night.
On the other hand, there is Sakura Hill Resort just 3 kilometers from Bandarban town, and near to Nilachal, where tourists will find cottages instead of hotel rooms to spend the night. There are cottages, bungalows and tribal cottages as well as a dormitory. The price for VIP complex, air conditioned with two beds, is 7500 taka. Non air conditioned cottages are 2500 taka per night.
Also, there are 3-star hotels in Bandarban town. As a result, there is a variety of hotels to choose from when visiting Bandarban, and when visiting Nilachal tourists can stay at any one of their convenient hotels in Bandarban town.
