River, lake and haor, Bandarban
Sangu Riverসাঙ্গু নদী
- Time needed
- An hour in town; a day upstream.
- best months
- Oct–Feb
- Cost
- Town boats ৳300–500 an hour; Thanchi–Remakri ৳4,000–6,000 return.
The hill river that runs 294 km from the Myanmar border through Thanchi, Ruma and Bandarban town to the sea at Chattogram: boat rides from the town ghat, and the upstream journey from Thanchi through Tindu to Remakri that is one of the great trips in the country.
At a glance
- Length
- 294 km
- Upstream route
- Thanchi → Tindu → Remakri
About
The Sangu (Shankha) is the one river in the country that rises inside its hills. In the town it is wide and slow under the bridge, with boats for an hour's ride past the Marma villages and bamboo rafts coming down. Upstream from Thanchi it becomes another river: a green gorge, the Tindu rapids, the boulder field of Raja Pathar, Marma villages on the terraces and the engine boats working against the current to Remakri. Winter is low and clear; after rain the river is brown, fast and sometimes closed.
Getting there: Boats at the Sangu bridge ghat in town; upstream boats from Thanchi bazar.
Things to do
- An evening boat from the town ghat; the Thanchi–Remakri run if you have two days.
Good to know
- Life jackets on every boat above Thanchi; the rapids tip boats every season.
