Natore is a district from northern part of Bangladesh. This district doesn’t have too much appeal amongst local or foreign tourists. It has few attractions like Dighapatia Rajbari, Rani Bhabani Rajbari, etc. From the scenic beauty’s perspective the Chalan Beel and the mile after mile paddy fields should fill the gape. River Atrai is the main river from the district. Paddy, Mango, and Sugar are the top crop that Natore produces. Here are a list of attraction that district Natore has.
#1 Rani Bhabani Rajbari
The Rajbari of Rani Bhabani is possibly the most visited attraction from Natore. This place is located at the heart of the town (or might the town grew around it). This place is comprises with several old houses and ponds. Few of the buildings from the place are more than 200 years old.
#2 Dighapatia Rajbari
Dighapatia Rajbari is also known as Uttara Gonobhaban that is a kilometer or two from the Natore town. It has a nice stylish palace that was build by the minister of Rani Bhabani. This well maintained place is another must visit place for the tourists.
#3 Chalan Beel Museum
Chalan beel is a massive wet land that is formed during the rainy season. This Chalan beel is spread into parts of three districts (Natore, Pabna, and Sirajganj). A local guy made a small museum in Gurudaspur of Natore. During the rainy season you could explore the Chalan Beel using a boat. During the dry season in most of the places it doesn’t have any trace of water. You could walk through the village fields that time. During your visit you could visit that small museum as well. I visited the museum during dry season.
#4 River Atrai
River Atrai is one of the prominent rivers from Natore district. This river has several branches and flowing throughout the district. It is one of the main contributor to the Chalan Beel. This river is full with scenic beauty when explored through boat.
#5 BTV relay station, Natore
This is not a tourist place that you must have to visit. It requires a permission to enter inside. I added this into here as I’ve visited this place during my visit. Also during my childhood BTV was the only channel to watch, and we grew up by watching this television channel. So it is nice to sneak inside a place like this.
#6 Natore Railway station
If you are looking for photography opportunity then Natore railway station could be an option for you. Every day thousands of people use to come here and go. You could stand at the middle of the foot over bridge and observe and busy and lazy life of people.
#7 Natorer Kacha Golla
Natore is famous for one thing, and that is Kacha Golla of Natore. This is a sweet made from cheese curds and sugar. During your visit you must taste this sweet, and also bring few home for family. The best Kacha Golla can be found from the Lalbazar near (where the Joy Kali bari temple is located). You’d see plenty of sweet shops are selling this sweet. I went inside the temple after purchasing my sweets. That time a Kirtan was on going, but as I had to catch the bus for Dhaka I couldn’t enjoy it for a longer period.
#8 Mango from Natore
We only know that Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj are the only two districts which produces mango in Bangladesh. And we never consider Natore that is also a big contributor the mango production. During the mid June is the best time to have a mango tour. Next time you might consider visiting Natore for the mangos.
How to Go:
The distance between Dhaka and Natore is approximately 250 kilometer and takes around 8 hours overnight journey. Popular bus services are Hanif, Shyamoli, Desh Travel, etc. Natore has both air conditioned and non air conditioned bus services. Apart from winter I’d suggest you to use the air conditioned bus services for your comfort.
Where to stay:
There are few normal quality hotels available in Natore town. Such hotels are Hotel VIP, Hotel RP, etc. I stayed in Hotel RP and used a single bed room. I stayed there two nights.
Where to eat:
This is a bit interesting. When I asked the hotel manager about any restaurant to eat, he Suggested me the Pochur Hotel. In Bangla the word Prochur means enough, and people from many part of the country use to say Pochur as Prochur. So I thought the manager said the town had plenty of hotels. I asked the rickshaw puller about a restaurant and he also said about Pochur hotel (which I thought plenty of restaurants). So I asked him to take any of the places to eat, and he dropped me near this Pochur Hotel. It was not a good quality hotel, but the name was very funny. You might try the village restaurant. GPS coordinate of the restaurant is (24°24’43.4″N, 88°59’55.8″E). FYI, in Bangladesh by hotel people also mean a restaurant.
Written by Lonely Traveler,
For blog alonelytraveler.com
