Moinot Ghat: Quick Escape for the Bored Dhakaite
Moinot Ghat as a day trip destination for Dhakaites has been garnering quite some popularity for the last several months. Being an avid fan of rivers, boat trips and minimal time to reach a destination, I just had to give it a visit. And I must say, it was well worth a day.
Moinot is a small quay on the bank of Padma located in Dhaka. Now don't get your hopes up like I did when hearing that it's in Dhaka. Padma is still miles away from the city and the nearest river is still everyone's favourite, Buriganga. The quay is situated in the Dohar Upazilla, southwest of Dhaka city and is around 2 and a half hours of travel from the capital.
Moinot is titled as mini Cox's Bazar, which you'll understand right away after reaching the shore. Be it the gush of fresh cold air, the stretched out sandy shore, or the vast Padma, you'll immediately decide it's a place worth a second visit.
After reaching, the place has three options in stall for you. One, you can enter one of the quay's restaurants, almost all of them serving hilsha dishes. Two, you can walk on the shore, occasionally dip your feet (or yourself) in the waves and take sips of tea in nearby tongs. And three, you can hire a boat for an hour or so, take a ride to a nearby islet and contemplate about life in blissful isolation.
You can visit Moinot for a weekend's stress relief trip or even arrange a huge picnic there for your class or office. The one facility that isn't there is accommodation. But that's actually a blessing in disguise. The best thing about Moinot is that it hasn't yet become this overly popular tourist attraction where private corporations reap profit providing urban commodities and swarms of visitors feel rather obliged to litter around. So visit Moinot while it still is a serene escape to nature and not a glorified drainage facility.
One last thing, don't underestimate the might of Padma. If you can't swim or aren't that good a swimmer, be extra cautious while bathing. Try not to turn a fun day out into a tragedy.
Itinerary:
Buses for Moinot Ghat leave from Gulistan and cost BDT 90. Only Jamuna buses will take you right to the shore.
When you decide to leave for Moinot is completely up to you. But keep in mind that the sun from 11 am to 2 pm is no friend to wandering travellers. So you can leave at 6-7 am and be done before lunchtime. Or as I would suggest, you leave around 10-11 am, reach there by 2, have lunch and then start the stroll. Bonus for the latter plan: you get to enjoy the sunset.
The boat trips cost around BDT 500 per hour. A boat is big enough for about a dozen passengers.
The last bus trip back to Dhaka is around 6 pm. And since there's no place to crash there at night, I highly suggest you don't lose track of time.
Fatiul Huq Sujoy is a tired soul (mostly because of his frail body) who's patiently waiting for Hagrid to appear and tell him, "Ye're a saiyan, lord commander." Suggest him places to travel and food-ventures to take at fb.com/SyedSujoy.