Labasa, Vanua Levu, Fiji

We took a three hour bus ride over a very lush mountainous tropical terrain to Labasa.  Labasa is a sweltering, dusty town of about 25,000 residents and is almost tourist free.  This town has been the center for the sugar industry since the colonial days.  Labasa’s population is predominantly Indo-Fijian, many of whom are descendants of ‘girmitiyas’ (indentured laborers brought from India by the British in the mid to late 1800’s to work on the plantations).  The town’s main street is bustling.  Bollywood music blasts out of stores selling trinkets, bangles and saris, while store owners and shop assistants stand chatting at the doorways.  The town doesn’t really have much in the way of tourist attractions, but it was a nice place to have a great Indian curry meal and to mosey around the farmers market.