June 15, 2013
There are several possible excursions to do from Savusavu, but one that’s pretty much cruiser mandatory is the 3-hour bus ride to Labasa, the Indian city on the north side of Vanua Levu. It’s not so much a mainstream tourist thing to do as an interesting, “authentic” travel experience.
We met up with some friends and boarded the early morning bus, the most rustic bus in the fleet. It was crowded and cooled only by open windows, but it seemed well-enough maintained and had good brakes. This was important because the road to Labasa goes up over Vanua Levu’s lush mountainous interior. There’s nothing like steep, narrow, winding mountain roads to make you suddenly appreciate that your life lies in the hands of the bus driver and whoever who maintains the bus.
It was a long ride, with Bollywood music playing the entire way, but the gorgeous tropical mountain scenery outside made the ride go by quickly, and I found I really like Bollywood music. It was interesting to see the change in the vegetation as we neared the drier north side of the island. There’s a lot more grassland, and a lot of sugar cane. (Click to enlarge and scroll)
We arrived in the bustling town of Labasa, and the first thing we discovered is it’s a lot hotter than Savusavu. We went to check out the wares in the large open marketplace, much bigger than Savusavu’s but with the same sort of stuff: ginger, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, chilies, bok choy, melons, cassava, papaya, limes, pineapple, bananas, coconut, taro root, greens of all kinds, and more rice than you can imagine, fill the market. After looking at all this food, it was time for lunch.
We decided to head over to the Oriental Bar and Restaurant, considered the best restaurant in town and most importantly, air conditioned! We immediately ordered a round of icy cold Fiji Bitter beer, too hot and thirsty to care that it was not yet noon. The menu consisted of that classic Fijian combination: Chinese, Indian and Fijian foods. We ordered our curries and sizzling Chinese dishes and enjoyed drinking our beer. The meals were, no surprise, really good.
After lunch our group of six split up, four of us deciding to take yet another bus to a place called the Naag Mandir Temple, aka the Snake Temple, about 7 miles from Labasa. This Indian temple contains a huge rock shaped like a cobra, which is supposedly constantly growing. We hopped on the bus and had no worries of missing our stop because all the very kind passengers made sure we didn’t miss it.
The bus dropped us off, and there it was, a big yellow and pink painted temple. We found the cobra rock inside, covered with garlands of flowers and tinsel, offerings of all kinds left at its base. It’s said to cure the sick and infertile. I will admit it was a very imposing rock, towering about 12 feet high or more and looking like a cobra about to strike. I actually felt a little afraid of it and would feel more inclined to stay out of its way than ask it for anything. (Click to enlarge and scroll)
After visiting the rock and wandering around the temple, we were ready to go back. The problem: we were in the middle of nowhere. Luckily a cab happened by, which I don’t think occurs very often. We headed back to town, wandering around the shops on the street and happening on a parade put on by the Fijian fire fighters, a fun surprise.
The words that I would use to describe Labasa are hustle, bustle, throngs, noise, and heat. Bollywood music spills out from the shops, adding to the ever-present din. It felt for a moment like we’d gone to India–in our entire cruise this was as far from home as I’ve ever felt. It was neat to experience it, but I was glad when our group decided to go find the Grand Eastern Hotel, away from the noisy main street, quiet and calm. We could sit at their poolside bar, have a drink and relax until it was time to take the evening bus back to Savusavu.
The evening bus was much more luxurious, with plush seats, air conditioning, and a movie playing overhead. It wasn’t really any faster, though, as there were a lot of stops on the way. I actually liked the rustic bus the best–it was more fun. –Cyndi
