The price you are quoted is the price you pay.
Rates are per booking, not per person. Everything is agreed in writing before you fly, in US dollars, and you pay after the tour has started — never before.
Guide fee
Four ways to book me.
By the hour
Minimum 3 hours · Dhaka only
$40per hour, per booking
- For a free afternoon between meetings
- Interpreting and negotiation included
- Drops to $30/hour across 3 consecutive days
Full day
Up to 10 hours on the ground
$400per day, per booking
- Pickup and drop at airport or hotel
- Route planned around traffic and prayer times
- Restaurant vetting and food guidance
- Photo and video support all day
Half day
Up to 5 hours
$200per half day, per booking
- Morning or afternoon block
- One area, done properly
- Extend to a full day on the day, for the difference
| Booking | What it covers | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Airport welcome | Meet at arrivals with a name sign, SIM card, currency exchange, pre-booked car and hotel check-inFlight tracked; delays cost nothing extra | $120 |
| Hourly | Guide, interpreter and negotiator in Dhaka, 3-hour minimum$30/hour when booked across 3 consecutive days | $40per hour |
| Half day | Up to 5 hours, morning or afternoon | $200 |
| Full day | Up to 10 hours, anywhere in and around Dhaka | $400 |
| Outside Dhaka | Multi-day trips anywhere in Bangladesh, guide fee per dayMy transport and accommodation added at cost | from $350per day |
| Filming & press fixer | Crowd control, access negotiation, permissions, sources and live interpretingQuoted per project once I know the shoot | from $450per day |
| Business escort | Meeting schedule, transport, factory visits and consecutive interpreting | $400per day |
| Remote planning | A written itinerary, bookings and advice without a guide on the ground | $60one-off |
No surprises
Exactly what the fee does and does not cover.
The single biggest complaint travellers have about guides anywhere in South Asia is the bill at the end. So here is the whole thing, before you decide.
Included in the fee
- My time and planning for the booked hours
- Interpreting in English, Bengali and Hindi
- All negotiation, so you pay local prices
- My own meals, transport and phone costs
- Route planning and restaurant vetting
- Problem solving on the day, whatever it is
- Unlimited plan revisions before you travel
Billed separately, at cost
- Car, driver and fuel — about $35–70 a day in Dhaka
- Entry tickets, museum fees, boat hire
- Your meals, hotels and drinks
- Domestic flights, trains and launch tickets
- Outside Dhaka: my travel and accommodation
- Anything you buy for yourself
Each of these appears as a real figure on your quote before you travel. I add nothing to them and take no commission from anyone.
A realistic total, so you can budget
A typical full day in Dhaka for two people — guide, private car with driver and fuel, two site entries and lunch — lands at roughly $470 to $500 in total. A half day with a car is around $255 to $275. I would rather you saw that number now than at the end of the day.
Paying
How money actually works here.
You pay after we start
For single-day bookings in Dhaka there is no deposit and no advance payment of any kind. Money changes hands once the day has begun and I am standing in front of you.
Deposits, only when someone else needs paying
Multi-day trips outside Dhaka need hotels, boats and domestic flights booked in advance in your name. The deposit covers those bookings only — never my fee — and you get the confirmations directly from the supplier.
Cash, in whatever you are carrying
US dollars, euros, pounds or Bangladeshi taka, at the day’s bank rate. bKash works if you have a local number by then. For longer trips a bank transfer can be arranged before you arrive.
Cancellation
Cancel more than 48 hours ahead and there is nothing to pay. Inside 48 hours, nothing to pay either unless I have already booked hotels or transport in your name, in which case you cover only what the supplier charges me. Flight cancellations and illness are never charged.
Tips
Not expected and never built into a quote. Guests sometimes insist at the end of a good day and I will not argue, but nobody should feel a price is incomplete.
Honest comparison
Am I expensive? Yes, compared to some. Here is why.
You can hire a guide in Bangladesh for 300 to 400 taka an hour — roughly three or four US dollars. Those guides are real, they are often good, and for a straightforward walk around a single site they may be all you need. I will happily say so if that is your situation.
What you are paying more for at my rate is a different job: fluent English rather than functional English, a person who plans your trip before you land and answers messages while you are still at home, full responsibility for your safety and your money for the whole day, and someone who works with one booking at a time rather than passing you to whoever is free.
If your budget is tighter than this, tell me. I would rather point you towards an honest cheaper option than have you arrive with nobody.