Tanguar Haor – Sunamganj

Tanguar haor is possibly the second largest Haor from Bangladesh. This is declared as the motherland for fishes of Bangladesh. Lot of Beel and swamp areas all together are called as Tanguar Haor. Local people say this as Tangua Haor. This large waterbody is located in Dharmapasha and Tahirpur upazila of Sunamganj district of Bangladesh. During the rainy season the whole area gets under water and small villages look like an island amid of massive water. During the winter when the water level decreases lot of migratory birds use to come here. That’s why in winter lot of visitors come here to see the migratory birds in Tanguar haor.

Plenty of rivers and canals passed through this massive Tanguar haor. Most of those rivers were originated from the Indian hills. If you go there during winter then you would have to go through the Baulai river. The journey through that river is really an amazing one. The meandering river is not very wide but has very clear water. We have had a swim in the water after visiting the Tanguar haor. I was able to see quite a far way under the water.

Basically I went there to watch the migratory birds from the haor. Lot of such birds use to come from Siberia during the winter. Unfortunately my timing wasn’t good. It was almost at the end of winter. I should have gone there a month earlier or two. Best time to visit the Tanguar haor is December-January.

After crossing the Baulai river, we had to pass two massive Beel (a water body) to reach near to the birds. Most of the birds were Little cormorant, Kaleem, White egrets, Lesser whistling ducks, and lot of unknown birds. Whenever we were trying to get closer to them they were flying away. It was a magnificent scene when such a large number of birds fly together. Their wing flapping in air makes a nice noise. We needed to go there with a small boat (without engine). Cause the engine of our boat was scaring the birds. Also it was very difficult for a large boat to go through marshes of the Haor.

The water of the Tanguar haor was totally clear which would allow you to see everything under water. Lot of dense marshes were available under the water. Through those bushes plenty of fishes were passing extremely fast. I felt like I was watching an aquarium from the boat. As the fishes were tremendously quick it was hard to identify them.

There is no locality available around the Haor. Only few small boats from the fishermen and others who use to live based on the Haor. You’d only hear the chirping sounds from the birds, nothing else. Sometimes the farmers bring their ducks (sometime nearly thousands) near the haor to feed them. That would be a nice experience to see such a large number of domestic ducks together.

We have hired an engine boat which was ok, but mistake was not to hire a small boat along with the engine boat. Due the the sound of the engine, the birds were flying away. By any means we weren’t able to reach to the most closing position to the birds. We’ve tried that for an hours but didn’t work.

Another mistake was not carrying a binocular with me or not having a long zoom camera (I don’t have any yet). It was useless to shot in Tanguar haor using a point to point digital camera (like mine). So if you are planning to go there in next winter make sure you have those with you. They would help you to see the birds from far but with more in detail.

I love to swim in water. But I didn’t dare to swim in the Tanguar haor in winter. Cause the water level was very low, and lot of underwater bushes were available. And under those bushes you’d find plenty of muddy patches. These kind of conditions are risky and not pleasant for swimming. Also those grasses are a very good hideout for the leeches. The crystal clear water of the haor was luring me and I had to control myself unwillingly.

There is a temporary Ansar camp at the middle of the Tanguar haor. Also there is an organization available which is controlling the fishing in the haor. Possibly it is morning 9am to afternoon 3pm is the period to catch fish from the haor. After that, no fishing is permitted. This is how they are making sure that we are not doing any overfishing.

How to Go:

This is for the trip during winter. Rainy season would be different. Also the price calculations are based on year 2012.

1. Using a bus from Dhaka you could easily come at Sunamganj town. Best services are Mamun, Shamoli, etc. Bus fare is 500 Taka. It would take around 6-7 hours during night journey.

2. From the Shaheb Bari Ghat (25° 4’17.65″N, 91°23’31.54″E), cross the river and come to Monipuri Ghat (25° 5’12.04″N, 91°23’22.09″E). It is 10 Taka per person and around 15 minutes of boat journey.

3. From the Monipuri Ghat hire motor bike to come at Tahirpur bazar. Each one would cost around 250-300 Taka. Two person could ride on bike after the driver. GPS coordinate of the Tahirpur is (25° 5’54.73″N, 91°10’35.72″E). It would take around 40-50 minutes. Alternately you could use the Auto rickshaw if you traveling with family.

4. Using a bike from the town, come to Solman Ghat, GPS coordinate is (25° 5’16.82″N, 91° 6’55.94″E). It would be 50-60 Taka per bike and a 30 minutes of ride.

5. Hire a boat from the Solman Ghat. A small engine boat would cost around 800 to 1000 Taka per day. From the ghat it would take around two hours to reach at the middle of the Tanguar haor.

Where to Stay:

You could stay at the Tahirpur upazila guest house (25° 5’50.88″N, 91°10’36.05″E) or Tahirpur Dak Banglo (25° 5’56.60″N, 91°10’39.91″E) during the trip. This is the nearest possible accommodation from the Tanguar haor. We have hired two rooms from the Upazila guest house, each of the room were 100 Taka per night. Contact number of the Guest house is 01724968161.

If you go during rainy season you could hire the boat for 2/3 days and during night you could stay inside the boat. It would be a nice if you go there during full moon night. During night try to park the boat near a village for safety reason.

Things to do in night:

During the rainy season you could easily roam around the Tanguar haor with your boat. But during night your activity would be very limited as it would be very cold nothing much to do there. We have done barbecue there during night. We’ve bought all the stuffs (not real barbecue set, we used steel net) from the local market and done the barbecue with fishes.

Tips for your Tanguar trip

** Along with the engine boat, hire a small boat or two. Tie the boat behind the engine boat. You could use that to observe the birds more closely. At the middle of the Tanguar haor you might find difficulties to hire such boats.

** There are lot of bamboo bridges would be on your path to cross by feet. It would be 2 Taka per person. To cross using your hired bike it would be 10 Taka per bike. So during hiring the bike make sure about who would pay the bill.

Tanguar Haor,
Tahirpur,
District: Sunamganj,
Country: Bangladesh.

This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://alonelytraveler.com/

Saturday, 04 February 2012