Ghagutia poddo (or padma) beel is located in Akhaura of Brahmanbaria district, Bangladesh. It is a waterbody where lot of lotus use to bloom during the blooming season (usually after rainy season). It is a nice place to see lot of lotus flower at the same time. Recently saw an article in a newspaper about a beel (waterbody) which is rich with thousands of lotus flowers. After reading that article I have instantly decided to visit this wonderful place. This beel will be dried up fully by the end of the month of October. So didn’t want to miss my chance. Also as Brahmanbaria is near from Dhaka and have good option for transports I didn’t hesitate to make a tour plan for this.
We have started our journey from Komlapur Bus Stand (Dhaka) using the Bus of Shohag Poribohon. It was 07:15 am in the morning. The bus service wasn’t the top class one but handy enough to travel for 2-3 hours. When we have reached at the Brahmanbaria it was almost near to 11:00 am in the morning. It took more than three hours to reach there. We had our breakfast there.
After a quick breakfast we have hired an auto rickshaw for the Minarkut village of Ghagutia. I have collected the road direction from the restaurant’s manager and forwarded that info to the auto rickshaw driver. The route for Ghagutia was something like Gongasagor -> Mugra -> Ghagutia. This information was enough for any vehicle driver of that area. We have hired our vehicle for 320 Taka for a single trip.
The Auto rickshaw journey was not boring as I’ve thought initially. Vast area beside the road was just flooded by water from a river nearby. At one place the road was completely over the water. Only the road is bisecting the water. It was miles after mile and kept continuing. We have captured photos from several places during our ride.
After reaching at Gongasagor the road was new to the driver too. So we were asking the pedestrian villagers for the correct directions. Ghagutia is near to the Indian border and several BGB camps are located there. After querying to several villagers we have confirmed that the beel is actually located beside the Ghagutia BGB camp. Local people pronounce that village name as Ghaguit-ta.
Initially the soldiers from the camp were not interested to let us pass. Lot of drug and unauthorized dealings use to happen near that place. So they were reluctant to trust us that we would go there only to visit that poddo beel beside the camp. Also they were asking whether there were anything similar near Dhaka or not, and why we chose to come Ghagutia than there. It was almost 12pm at noon when we have reached at Ghagutia.
There is a house available near the camp and that house only has boat. Without any boat you can not explore the Poddo beel. But unfortunately both of the boats were gone from the house. One was taken for an invitation attending and other one was busy with collecting grass from the middle of the beel. So we had nothing to do unless sitting beside the beel and waiting for the boats. Possibly we have waited around 1.5 hours before one of those boats returned.
The owner’s name of the boat was Mohammad Shohel and his father’s name is Mohammad Younus. Remember, they are not poor, and wealthy enough as per village standard. Shohel was enthusiastic to push the boat for us along with his kid daughter. It was a nice experience to ride in a boat over such a marshy place. It was hard to push the boat through those dense leafs of lotus and lilies as the water level was decreasing day by day.
The number of lotus flower was not bad on the Ghagutia poddo beel. Usually it had more in the morning. Lot of those lotus flowers were collected by the villagers. We could see the broken stalk of flowers here and there. We have collected lot of flowers from the Beel during our ride. Also we have collected lot of lotus fruit pods. The whole beel was covered with plants like Lotus (poddo, padma), Shaluk, Water snowflake (or Chand Mala), and other aquatic flowers.
Indian border was just beside the Ghagutia poddo beel. In fact few of the portion of that beel is actually inside the India. But almost 80 percent is inside Bangladesh. Within few month the water will be completely dried up and the villagers will cultivate paddy there. Again at next rainy season this place will be flourished with lotus and other aquatic flowers.
We have thanked Shohel for his help. He was generous and kind for us. While we were waiting beside the beel he invited us to sit at his house. Without his help we had to return back with an empty pair of hands. Sometime we meet lot of unknown people during our tour and then later we never meet them again, ever.
We have kept the Auto rickshaw driver with us. So while returning from the Ghagutia village we’ve used his vehicle. Once again after through that beautiful path we have returned back to the Brahmanbaria town. When we have returned back to the town it was just after 4:00pm in afternoon. We have paid to the vehicle driver a total of 850 Taka for his service as he was also a great help for us.
How to Go:
The route for Ghagutia Poddo Beel is like this Brahmanbaria -> Gongasagor -> Mugra -> Ghagutia. Take an auto rickshaw driver with you to follow the route. If the driver doesn’t know about it then take him for Gongashagor or Mugra. From there take another one. For your help, GPS coordinate of Ghagutia poddo beel is (23°47’26.71″N, 91°13’28.31″E).
Best time to go:
September is the best time to visit Ghagutia poddo beel. You can go there at late of August or early of September at best. Otherwise you won’t see any lotus there. It would be either water or dry field.
Where to stay:
Ghagutia is ideal for a day trip around the nature and scenic beauty of Bangladeshi village. It is not a famous tourist destination but a different place to enjoy your day. You can easily go there and come back within the day from Dhaka. If you are not from Bangladesh then you could stay in Dhaka. Here are the list of hotels from Dhaka.
Ghagutia Poddo Beel,
Village: Ghagutia,
Upazila: Akhaura,
District: Brahmanbaria,
Country: Bangladesh,
GPS Coordinate (23°47’26.71″N, 91°13’28.31″E).
This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icwow.blogspot.com/
Friday, 05 October 2012
so sweat
Great post.
Hope to visit soon.
Keep touring.
Sadiq