How do I book a trip with GHORA GHURI?

Send a booking request or a message with your dates, headcount and budget. Within a working day you receive a day-by-day itinerary and a fixed taka quote; a 30 percent deposit confirms it and the balance is paid on day one.

Which payment methods are accepted?

Bank transfer to our Dutch-Bangla Bank account in Khulna, bKash, Nagad or Rocket, or cash at the Daulatpur office. This preview build has no card gateway enabled.

Do I need permits for the Sundarbans or the Chittagong Hill Tracts?

Foreign nationals need a short entry permit for certain Hill Tracts upazilas, and Sundarban entry requires a forest permit plus a licensed vessel. We file both; send passport scans 10 working days ahead for foreign passports.

When is the best time to visit Bangladesh?

October to February is the working season everywhere. December and January are cool in the north and warm on the coast; June to September is monsoon - waterfalls and haors at full volume, beaches often closed for swimming.

Answers

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is the cancellation policy?

Free date or name changes up to 7 days before departure. 30 or more days out the deposit is retained or credited for 12 months; 7 to 29 days is 50 percent or documented supplier penalties if higher; inside 7 days is 100 percent.

Everything below is the policy we actually run, not a template. If an answer here conflicts with your written quote, the quote wins.

Booking & payment

How do I book?

Send a booking request (or an email/WhatsApp with dates, headcount and budget). Within a working day you get a day-by-day itinerary and a fixed taka quote. A 30% advance confirms it; the balance is due on day one, in cash or by mobile banking.

Which payment methods work?

Bank transfer (Dutch-Bangla Bank, Khulna branch), bKash personal, Nagad, Rocket, or cash at the Daulatpur office. Card payment is not enabled on this preview build - the server-stubs/ folder contains the SSLCommerz or Stripe endpoint scaffolding if you need gateway checkout in production.

Do you take full payment in advance?

No, unless a supplier requires it (some Sundarban launch owners and Cox's Bazar properties at New Year). Those lines are marked in the quote.

Can I pay in dollars or pounds?

Foreign guests may pay by international transfer in USD/GBP/EUR at the day's rate, or in BDT on arrival. Local guests pay BDT only.

Changes, cancellation, weather

What is the cancellation policy?

Free date change or name change up to 7 days before departure. Inside 7 days: the advance is applied to a future trip within 12 months, minus supplier penalties already incurred (typically 10–30% of the trip value, itemised in your invoice). Within 48 hours, non-refundable except for medical emergencies with documentation.

What happens if the weather closes the forest?

Sundarban entries are suspended by the forest office in rough weather and during cyclone warnings. Boats do not depart against a closure. You are offered a rerouted land itinerary, a date change, or a credit - we do not pocket supplier deposits and pretend otherwise.

Monsoon travel - is it worth it?

June–September is the greenest, emptiest and wettest season. Waterfalls and haor boat-channels are at their best; beaches and island launches are often closed; hill tracks get muddy. Bring dry bags and expect schedule slack.

On the road

Who drives, and what vehicles?

Localhire fleet: Lite Ace / HiAce microbuses (11–15 seats), AC coaster buses (25–30), sedans and SUVs with professional drivers, all with commercial insurance and driver-hour limits. Long night drives are never scheduled back-to-back with an early start.

Are guides included?

Yes - a Bangla-speaking guide on every package, and English-speaking guides at Tk 2,200 per trip where added. Heritage circuits use archaeology-trained guides; hill and forest routes use guides from those districts.

Is it safe for solo and women travellers?

Our standard is female-friendly accommodation with verified night security, drivers with no incident history, and a 24-hour WhatsApp line to the office. Solo women travellers are matched to shared departures with a single-room supplement rather than shared rooms with strangers.

Can you handle dietary and medical needs?

Yes: vegetarian, Jain-style, halal-only kitchen preference, allergies and diabetes-friendly meal timing are all noted on the booking and confirmed with each property. Carry prescription documentation; remote-area pharmacies are thin.

Do I need permits for the Chittagong Hill Tracts or Sundarbans?

Foreign nationals need a simple entry permit for some upazilas in the Hill Tracts; Sundarban entry requires a forest permit and a licensed vessel. We file both - send passport scans 10 working days ahead for foreign passports. Bangladeshi nationals need no permit for either, though the forest counter still registers groups.

Data, prices and this website

Are the prices on the site current?

Ranges are reviewed each season and shown in BDT including VAT. Peak weeks (late December, Eid, Pohela Boishakh) are higher; the quote is the binding number.

What happens to my booking details?

On this static preview build, requests are stored in your own browser's localStorage and nothing is transmitted anywhere. In production they post to our booking endpoint; see the privacy page for the field list, retention and removal route.

Do you use cookies?

Only a consent-stored flag and, if you accept, anonymised analytics. No advertising cookies are set by default. Manage it from the cookie notice on this site or the privacy page.

Where do the photographs come from?

Mostly from Wikimedia Commons contributors under CC/CC0 licences, resized and re-encoded for this site, plus generated poster art where no free-licensed photo was topical enough. Every credit is listed in ATTRIBUTION.md shipped with this build.