Jaflong is one of the most attractive tourist spots in the Sylhet division. It’s about 60km far from Sylhet town and takes two hours drive to reach there. Jaflong is a hill station and tourist destination and located in Gowainghat Upazila of Sylhet District. It is situated at the border between Bangladesh and the Indian state of Meghalaya. Jaflong is known for the stone collection. It is located near the tea gardens and hills. It is situated beside the river Mari in the lap of Khashia hill.
People came to Jaflong mainly on a day tour from Sylhet, which is the nearest big city. The main attraction to the local tourists is the beautiful hills of the Meghalaya state of India. People look toward the stunning view of the mountains of Meghalaya while standing on the land of Bangladesh. Many waterfalls on the hills of Meghalaya create a beautiful river called Plain, which flows directly to Bangladesh. A lot of stones come from the mountains to Bangladesh with the river. Hundreds of people in Bangladesh collect these stones from river Piain every day and make it full of activities. These stones are taken to the crushers and later supplied to all over Bangladesh as a construction material.
There are some attractions of Jaflong hill station, which are-
Stone crushing
The land grabbers grab government Khas land reserved forest land and extracted stone by cutting small hills of Jaflong. They also established crushing mills on the forestland without
permission from the government.
Zero-point
Zero points are the no-mans-land in the India-Bangladesh border from where you can have the best view of the Meghalaya hills, where the river piain arrives in Bangladesh is the most stunning.
You can access this place on foot, where the water level is low. But during monsoon, when the water level is high, you need to take a boat from Bolla Ghat to access this place.
Piain River in Jaflong
Piain river comes from the hills of Meghalaya from its numerous waterfalls. And few straight to Bangladesh, bringing lots of stones along with the flows. You can spot a fantastic view of the hills of Meghalaya from this river.
Sengram Punji Waterfalls
Sengram Punji Waterfalls is a waterfall on the hills of Meghalaya, about 700 meters west of the Zero point. You can cross the river on a boat and walk to the waterfall during the dry season. When the water level is high, you need to take a boat to reach this place. However, this place is located in India, Bangladeshi tourists can climb this waterfall. During
monsoon, there will be more water and very beautiful at the falls.
Sengram Punji Khashia village
Sengram Punji Khashia village is a beautiful village home of only for Khashia tribal people. Their primary profession is growing betel leaves, which is called locally “paan pata” and betel nuts.
The houses they live in are also of a unique design. It is located on the opposite side of the waterfall, accessible on foot during the dry season and by boat during monsoon.
Jaflong Bridge
On the Piain river, the newly constructed bridge is the most reliable infrastructure in Jaflong. You can have a stunning view of river piain and hills of Meghalaya surrounding the whole Jaflong from this bridge.
Collection of rolling stone
The collection of rolling stone is a large business in Jaflong. Most of the people in Jaflong are somehow related to the stone collection activities. Some people collect rocks from the river,
some people bye from them and sell to the crushing companies, and these crushing companies crush these stones on small pieces for construction works. They send these stones to all over
Bangladesh by trucks. Lots of vehicles are involved in carrying these stones. Crushing machines are continuously making these stones into pieces. Trucks are loading and unloading. All these stages
create a lot of jobs and employ many people. While entering Jaflong, you’ll see these stone crushing yards spread through several miles. People are carrying stones on their heads and taking into crushing machines. All the yards are full of activities.
Restaurants in Jaflong
‘Sengram Punji cafe’ run by Nazimgarh resorts, located on Sengram Punji(Khashia village), is the best restaurant in Jaflong. You can find many restaurants on Ballaghat which serves ok quality food on a local standard.
Tourism
First, you need to come to Sylhet from anywhere in the country, to reach Jaflong. You will get a direct bus to Jaflong from Sobhani Ghat bus station, which is leaving every hour. The best time to visit during monsoon(July-September). If you want to see the stone collection activities, you need to visit during winter(October-May). During monsoon, there will be no stone collection activities.