Intrepid travellers find impoverished Bangladesh a bargain

From Argentinian heavy metal fans to Scottish retirees, Joyanta Howlader’s couch has hosted the full spectrum of backpackers who arrive – sometimes with mixed feelings – in impoverished Bangladesh.

The south Asian country seems an unlikely stop on a budget traveller’s itinerary, but foreign visitor arrivals are rising and Bangladesh’s lack of tourist infrastructure is, ironically, proving an attraction.

“You have to be adventurous. There is no other way to travel in Bangladesh,” said Ms Howlader, a 38-year-old Dhaka-based television producer who has hosted dozens of tourists through Couch Surfing, a hospitality exchange network.

“One backpacker who stayed with me, he just hated it here, said he’d never come back. He was a real tourist, he just wanted an easy travel experience which Bangladesh is definitely not,” said Ms Howlader.

With mod-cons now available in backpacker haunts in Thailand, Vietnam and India, where prices are shooting up, increasing numbers of budget tourists are seeking out alternative, low-cost travel experiences elsewhere in Asia.

A four-day all-inclusive cruise through the world’s largest mangrove forest on a traditional wooden boat will only cost around $150, far cheaper than a comparable trip in neighbouring India, experts say.

Bangladesh is one of only a few places left in the region that still offer the original pioneering travel experience, according to Lonely Planet’s Bangladesh author Stuart Butler.