The biggest guava garden in
the Asian continent has grown along the borders of three districts- Jhalokati, Barishal
and Pirojpur. This guava garden has been formed on 31,000 acres of land across
26 villages of these districts. Around 20,000 families of these places are
directly involved in guava cultivation. Besides, Banaripara Upazila of Barishal
is also famous for cultivating guava.
Vimruli floating market is
located in Jhalokati district, which is in the southern part of Bangladesh. Though
this market is operated throughout the year, it becomes active during the
season of guava. Trading goes on from morning to evening every day of the week over
the small zigzag canal, which is 15 kilometers away from Jhalokati city. Hundreds
of boats are loaded with guava. Sellers search for buyers there on the canals. Most
of the buyers are wholesalers. They come to the bazaar with a big engine-run
boat. They buy guava from small boats and send it to Dhaka or any other big
cities.
Vimruli market sits in an
estuary of canals. Three canals from three sides have joined here. In this
estuary, fruit farmers, on fruit-loaded boats, search for buyers. There are
many guava gardens in all the villages surrounding Vimruli. From these gardens,
farmers take guava directly to bazaar by boat. There is a small bridge over the
canal at the northern end of the floating market. From there, market is seen clearly.
The interesting thing is that size and design of all boats coming here are
almost same. It seems all boats are made by the same artisan.
The busiest time of Vimruli
market is from 12 O’clock at noon to 3 O’clock in the afternoon. During this
time, the number of boats exceeds a few hundreds.
How do you go there?
There are many ways to go
there, but the best way is going by launch.
What is the way of going to Jhalokati
by launch?
From Sadarghat, ‘MV Tipu’ and
‘MV Sundarban-2’ leave for Jhalokati at 6 O’clock in the evening. Rent of
double cabin is Tk. 1,800 and single cabin is Tk. 1,000 while the rent of the
deck for per person is Tk. 200.
What is the way of going to
Jhalokati by steamer?
BIWTA’s rocket-steamers- ‘PS
Mahsud’, ‘PS Ostrich’ ‘PS Lepcha’ and ‘PS Tern’- leave from Sadarghat, Dhaka at
6 O’clock in the evening. Steamers are left for Jhalakathi one after another
during the weekdays. Rent for each person in the first class cabin is Tk. 1,250
while rent in the second class cabin is Tk. 760. Rent for each person in the
third class deck is Tk. 190.
What is the way of going to guava
market through Hularhat by launch?
From Sadarghat in Dhaka, you
can aboard a Hularhat-bound launch. Every day from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., 3-4
launches leave for Hularhat. Board any one of them. Tk. 100-180 will be taken
as rent for deck (depending on crowd). Rent of single cabin is Tk. 900 whereas
double cabin costs Tk. 1,800. Next day at 6 O’clock in the morning, you will
reach Banaripara. Get down there so that you enjoy the view of the river as
well.
Soon after getting down at Banaripara,
hire a big trawler. Fix the rent between Tk. 1,500 and Tk. 2,000. Tell them to install
a roof. If you tell the trawler driver, he will directly take you to Vimruli
because it is the biggest floating guava market in this region. It will take
one and half hour. Going to Vimruli, roam around the place for an hour and
experience the guava trade. Leave the place at 1 p.m. Then tell the boat driver
to take the boat to the boat market near Atghar school. Going there, stop the
boat and take shower.
Afterwards, go to Kuriana
bazaar. Eat lunch there and get into the boat. Now, tell the boat driver to drop
you down at Banaripara/Nesarabad. You will get Barishal-bound bus in both
places. Get into a bus and get down at Guthia. Take a look at the Guthia
mosque. Then, take an auto to go to Durga Sagar Lake. After that, go to Barishal
by bus. From Barishal, take a Dhaka-bound launch leaving at 8:30 p.m. The last
launch leaves just before 9 p.m.
Those who want to go by bus
From Gabtoli in Dhaka, Sakura
Paribahan also offers AC bus service to Jhalokati. Rent is Tk. 800 per person.
Apart from this, ‘Druti’, ‘Eagle’, ‘Surovi’, along with ‘Sakura Paribahan’,
provide non AC bus service with fare in between Tk. 350 and Tk. 450. Besides,
to go to Jhalokati from Saidabad, Dhaka, there is a bus service from Sugandha
Paribahan. It takes around half an hour to go to the market from Jhalokati
district sadar by bus. And it takes an hour to go by an engine-run boat which
can be rented from Jhalokati launch ghat or Kathpatti. Rent of a boat suitable
for carrying 10 people for a whole day trip is Tk. 1,500-2,000. For this
journey, engine-boat is much better than motor bike.
From Barishal
From Rupatoli bus stand in
Barisal, get into Khulna-bound Dhanshiri transport. Ask the bus conductor to
drop you down at the Kirtipasha intersection, having crossed Jhalokati. Tk. 60
will be taken as fare. From there, you can go to Vimruli by shared auto, which
will cost you Tk. 20-30.
Where do you eat?
Go to Kuriana bazaar after
visiting Vimruli. There is a restaurant named Sokal Sondha, which is locally
known as Boudi’s Hotel (বৌদির হোটেল). Its food is very tasty. There is no need to inform earlier if you are 5
to 7 persons in your group. But for a larger group, you must inform the
restaurant beforehand. Eat rice with fresh fish sitting at the restaurant.
Where do you stay?
After traveling whole day,
you can return to Jhalokati. If you want to stay then ordinary hotels in the
city are your only hope. Some hotels of this city are ‘Dhansiri Rest house’ in
Kalibari Road, ‘Arafat Boarding’ in Batasa Patti, ‘Halima Boarding’ in Sadar
road etc. Rent is Tk. 100-250.
Besides, you can also stay in
Hotel Ifty at Miar Hat in Swarupkathi. Staying in this ordinary hotel built
along the banks of the river will be an experience. But if you want to stay in
good quality hotel, you will have to go to Barishal sadar (city), which is 20
kilometers from Jhalokati.
When do you go?
July, August and September
are the months of guava season. After the end of guava season comes the season
of hog plum. In this region, the cultivation of hog plum is also ubiquitous.
And finally comes Areca nut.
Sources-
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