Lawachara National park, Sreemangal
Lawchahra National Park is one of the largest parks in Bangladesh. Which is located in Komalganj upazila of Moulvibazar district. It is a protected forest with an area of 1250 hectares. The Government of Bangladesh declared it a “National Park” in 1997. Actually, it is a sanctuary for animals and birds. The forest authorities claim that there are many endangered wild animals in this forest. It receives a lot of rainfall throughout the year like an equatorial rainforest. A railway line passes through the forest. Humayun Ahmed’s movie “Amar ache Jol” was shot on this railway line. Also, the Oscar-winning Hollywood movie “Around the World in 80 Days’ was shot here.
Suitable time to visit Lawachara-
You can visit any time of the year. But according to me, winter is the right time to visit Lawachara park. Those who like trekking like me can come in winter. You can’t actually trek in monsoon because a chara(small lake)/stream runs through the forest. For this stream the name of this forest is Lawachara. And in winter, snakes or other poisonous animals stay inside the forest. I visit Lawachara in winter.
How to go to Lawachara?
There are two ways to go to sreemangal by train or bus!
By Train- All Sylhet-going trains stop at sreemangal. Jayantika/Upaban, Kalni, Parabat, Surma mail express etc. trains stop at sreemangal. Trains depart from Dhaka’s Kamalapur station at different times. Fare per person- Tk 240 + 15℅ VAT(Shovon seat) . It will take 4-5 hours to reach. Dhaka to Sylhet Train Schedule
From Chittagong by Train-You can go to Sreemangal directly from Chittagong by Udayan/Paharika Express. Fare – From Tk 250 (Shovan) to Tk 1024 (AC Berth). Online ticket booking
Bus- Buses like Hanif, Ena, Shyamoli, etc. are available from various bus terminals of Dhaka like Syedabad, Kalyanpur, Chittagong Road, TT Para, Arambagh, Maniknagar, etc. Fare per person- Tk 570 (Non-AC), Tk 700 (AC). It will take 4-5 hours to reach.
By Air- You can also travel by air from Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka to Osmani International Airport, Sylhet.
After getting down from the bus stand/train station, you can come directly to Lawachara by jeep/CNG, an easy bike. CNG fare for the whole day will be Tk 1200-1500, Easy Bike-Tk 700-800, Mahendra Car/Jeep- Tk 1800-2000. Best Places in Sreemangal You must visit
You can contact Md. Faruk for CNG ride. He is so humble and friendly. Contact NO- 01717648525
Lawchahra ticket price-
Entry ticket – 50 Tk per person
For children and students – Tk 20 (students must need their ID card)
For foreign tourists – 500 Tk
Parking Cost- CNG/Chander Car/Jeep Tk 25
A trekking guide inside the forest cost 300-500 taka. There are several routes here, you can hire a guide according to your preferred route.
My Travel Experience in Lawachara National Park-
It is the middle of January, I decided to go to Lawachara National Park. It was the middle of winter. Even though it was winter, the sun rose at around 9 o’clock in the morning. There was no way to understand seeing the sun’s heat that it feel unbearable cold at night. It takes about 30 minutes to reach Lawachara from the bus stop/station. You will see Grand Sultan Resort on the way. I went down and bought the ticket from the ticket counter. I didn’t get any discount because I didn’t take the student ID card. I went inside and started walking straight along the road. There are rows of huge trees on both sides. The whole forest is completely silent. If you remain silent, you can hear the sounds of different animals. After going some distance, I saw a railway line. The beauty of this railway line through the forest is unimaginable. This is the place where the movie “Amar Ache Jol” was shot by Late Humayun Ahmed. Also some clips of the Hollywood movie “Around the World 80 Days’ ‘ were shot here. I crossed the railway line and reached deeper into the forest.
My destination was “Khasia village”. Khasia village is a village of tribals. There are many roads to reach this Khasia village. Since we didn’t have a guide, we were trying to find our way through the forest on our own. If you ask the tribals on the way, they will tell you the road to Khasia Palli. After going some distance, I saw that chara(small lake type). There was a little water in there and I soaked my foot. The water was so cold. After that, I found a large field. Next to it, Khasia tribals are selling various fruits including lemons, pineapples, and plums. If you want, you can try these foods and make yourself stronger. Every time I walked, I felt like I was walking toward wild animals. Narrow dirt roads and jungle on both sides. I saw Khasia village while enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the forest and the chirping of the birds. There is a food shop at the entrance to the village. You can take a rest here to relieve the tiredness of trekking.
I went up the stairs to the village of Khasia. This village is basically made by cutting the hill. Two or one house on one floor then upstairs for another floor. The village is very clean. After visiting Khasia Palli we started trekking again. It was an easy trek from Khasia Palli, since we didn’t have a guide with us, we returned by the previous route. I see many monkeys on the way. They also walk and play naturally with people.
There are about 167 species of plants in the Lawachara forest. Among them, Garjan, teak, Gamar, Menzium, Jamrul, Chapalish, Nageswar, Shimul, Lohakath, Jam, Fig, Tun, etc. are notable. Also, different types of indigenous trees and orchids can be seen in this forest.
There are 460 species of rare flora and fauna in Lawachara National Park. These include 167 species of plants, 4 species of amphibians, 6 species of reptiles, 246 species of birds, and 20 species of mammals.
There are many species of mammals in this forest. Lauachara is famous for endangered apes. If you are lucky, you may hear apes yelling while walking in the forest. Apart from apes, there are animals like entellus, monkeys, foxes, tigers, wild dogs, Asiatic black bears, deer, etc. There are different species of reptiles in this forest. Python is unique in it. Yellow turtles and green-colored snakes are also found here.
Tips for visiting Lawchahra National Park-
1) Book the train ticket 4-5 days before travel.
2) Night train -Upaban (from Dhaka) and Paharika and Udayan ( from Chittagong) will drop you at sreemangal station at midnight and if you want to come by bus, the night bus reaches sreemangal at dawn. Lowest-cost hotels in Sreemangal
3) If you want to reduce the cost, come in a group of 4/8/10 people. Sharing rent reduces costs.
4) The students must carry their student ID cards with them.
5) If you are a budget traveler, you can come by Surma mail train. The ticket is Tk 110. It leaves Dhaka at 10.30 pm and reaches sreemangal at 5 am. What is the mail train? Is it safe to go? Find out
Precautions while visiting Lauachhara Park-
1) Harassment and feeding of wild animals, inside the park are totally prohibited.
2) You can’t create any fire inside the forest.
3) Do not play a speaker or create sound loudly in the forest.
4) Avoid tearing leaves, and flowers, or writing your name on trees.
5) There are tribal villagers inside the forest, so do not disturb them and do not misbehave with them.
6) Use the trails, created by forest directorates. Don’t go inside the forest by curiosity. There are lots of snakes and poisonous animals in this forest so please be careful.