Microbus (11 Seats)

In Bangladesh, microbus almost always means a Toyota Hiace or a vehicle of that class. It is the default group vehicle: eleven seats, air conditioning, and enough luggage space behind the last row for a family arriving from abroad with a full set of cases.

If you have been told to book a microbus by relatives in Bangladesh, this is the class they mean.

On the highway a microbus is excellent — stable, roomy and comfortable over long distances.

Inside old Dhaka or narrow Sylhet town lanes it is less convenient, and some residential lanes will not take it at all. If your itinerary mixes both, tell us and we will advise where a smaller vehicle serves you better.

Eleven seats and eleven large cases do not coexist in this vehicle. That is not a criticism of it — it is true of every eleven-seat van — but it catches out a lot of families arriving from abroad.

In practice the choice is made by folding or removing the rear row. Nine passengers with a full set of international luggage is comfortable. Eleven passengers with hand luggage is comfortable. Eleven passengers with eleven cases is not, and no amount of loading skill changes it.

So send both numbers when you enquire — how many people, and how many large cases. We would rather recommend the 13-seat Grand Cabin or a second vehicle at the point of booking than have a driver discover the problem at the arrivals kerb.

One practical detail that decides a lot of summer bookings: air conditioning in this class runs from the front, and the rear rows of a fully loaded microbus are always the warmest seats in it. Well-maintained examples manage the whole cabin properly and poorly-maintained ones do not. It is one of the specific things we check before a vehicle goes out on a long summer run.