Rangamati
February 25, 2008

I arrived in Rangamati in the evening. I was excited to discover that there was an internet cafe in town. (There is no phone service in the hill tracts because the government has restricted access and most towns are not advanced enough to have internet cafes...) Their computers were having power issues, however, so the machines weren't working. I was able to bribe a guy there who had a laptop though so that I could check my e-mail!

Rangamati is located on the large man-made Lake Kaptai. Rangamati town is basically a collection of islands that are linked together by roads and boats. The lake is enormous and beautiful. I hired a boat for the day and went around to see several islands. I stopped at a couple of hotels in town to check them out. There were a few island places that had bamboo huts, my hotel (the Hotel Sufia), the Parjatan Hotel, and a couple of other locals hotels with basic amenities.

Again, there are no beautiful, international standard resorts in the area. After seeing the area I decided that Rangamati will be the location of my second resort. Rangamati is the closest hill tract town to Chittagong, which is a large port city with an airport. It is about a 2.5 hour drive from town and is already a tourist destination. I would love to get my own island!

I was planning on seeing more of Lake Kaptai my second day, but unfortunately I got extremely ill and decided to fly home to Dhaka where I was closer to a good quality hospital. So, sadly, I only got one day in Rangamati. I will be back though...

Kaptai Lake
The lake is very large. Rangamati is a set of islands on the western side.


Islands
The islands break up the waterway a bit and create fantastic views.


Private Island
My future winter home?


More of the Lake
Some of the islands are connected by bridges. Others, like these, you have to take a boat to get to.


Boat Trip
These are the two primary kinds of boats on the lake - one is smaller (but still motorized) and the other is larger and covered.


Stilt Houses
These houses are built on the water next to the dock.