text:
Basin

Basin is a city in Northwest Wyoming, in the United States of America.

Understand
Basin is the largest city in Big Horn County and is the county seat. It has a population of about 1,300 (2019) and is at an elevation of 3,878 ft (1,182 m). It is in the Mountain Time Zone and observes daylight saving time.

Go next

 * Yellowstone National Park - a 200-mile, 4-hour drive west of Basin.
 * Devils Tower National Monument - a 160-mile, 3-hour drive east of Basin.

title: Basin


text:
Basingstoke

Basingstoke is a market town in Hampshire. It has been around since the Domesday Book, but was developed as a 'new town', one of several constructed in the 1950s to accommodate overspill population from London. Throughout the 1970s and 80s it was often considered a joke 'dull' town with nothing to offer and had very little to entertain any visitors unless they were into trainspotting or roundabouts. Itis alleged that Basingstoke has the highest number of roundabouts per head population of any UK town, but it's probably no longer true!

21st-century redevelopment of the town centre has seen the growth of a huge shopping area, lots of restaurants and new cinemas and theatre. Basingstoke, it seems, has grown up!

Local information

 * Basingstoke Council website

By train

Train times can be found on the National Rail Planner or by calling 0845-748-4950 from anywhere in the UK.

By car
Alternatively the town is conveniently situated for the M3 motorway (US English: freeway) also from London to Southampton and is about one hours drive from both. The A33 links the town with Reading and the M4. The A303 (which terminates at Junction 8 of the M3) links Basingstoke with the West Country.

By foot
Basingstoke has a decently-sized town centre including a shopping centre, cinema and variety of pubs and restaurants all walking distance from the train or bus station. Furthermore, there is a leisure park on the western side of town including an ice rink and cinema that's also walking distance, albeit crossing a few busy main roads.

By bus
Basingstoke is well served by buses. The central bus station is situated in the town center and most buses stop at the station. The buses are regular and serve most outlying areas of the town. Indeed the buses are efficient and the bus stops clearly marked

By car
Basingstoke is easy to drive around and the town center does not suffer from much congestion (except for at peak times). There is ample parking in both 'Top of Town' and Festival Place and the town's ring road (called 'Ringway') makes it easy to access any part of Basingstoke without much trouble.

The Park and Ride facility is served by three Centre Shuttle buses, see National Park and Ride Directory

Eat
The Basingstoke area has many restaurants of different types and costs and it clearly isn't possible to list them all here.

Connect
Basingstoke's area code (for landline numbers) is 01256 when dialed from within the UK or +44 1256 from outside the UK.

Go next

 * Farnborough, birthplace of flying in the United Kingdom.
 * Winchester, a nearby ancient cathedral city with lots to see.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Basingstoke


text:
Baska Voda

Baska Voda is in Croatia, between Split and Makarska.

See

 * Museums
 * Churches

title: Baska Voda


text:
Basque Country

The Basque Country (Basque: Euskadi, Spanish: País Vasco) is a region in Northern Spain. The name can also refer to all the land of the Basques (Basque: Euskal Herria) from a historical, cultural, linguistic and identity standpoint.

The Basques are the group of people who have inhabited this land for several thousand years.

The Basque Country is one of the world's top culinary destinations, with key gourmet centres in San Sebastian, Hondarribia and Bilbao. It also is popular for its beaches and verdant scenery.

Cities

 * — the capital of the autonomous community
 * (Basque: Bilbo) — largest city of the region, with all the amenities and experiences of a big city
 * – small town nestled in the mountains, an excellent base for exploring the wilderness
 * — top-notch fresh seafood at this fishing harbour
 * (Gernika) — a thriving commercial town with great historical and cultural significance for the Basque people. In 1937 it was devastated by the German air force under the command of the fascists. Bombing was an experiment for WWII.
 * (Donostia) — a provincial capital curved around a dramatic moon-shaped beach hedged in by cliffs
 * (Hondarribia) – a fishing town with a walled old town

Other destinations

 * — the most important fishing port in the Basque Country
 * — suburb of Bilbao with a beautiful old town and port
 * — abundance of prehistoric remains
 * (Zumaia) and Zarauz (Zarautz) — glorious sandy beaches, not far from San Sebastian

History
The oldest remains discovered in the Basque Country are made of stone, dating from the Paleotlithic period (150,000 before Christ). The Neolithic period (4,500 to 2,500 BC) brought about a major change in people's lifestyle: the inhabitants built settlements and began to farm the land and raise livestock. In ancient times, today's Euskal Herria and adjacent areas were inhabited by ancestors of Basques who the Greek historian Strabon considered savages and warriors.

The land of Vascones became a kingdom in the ninth century when the nobles chose Iñigo (824-852) from the Aritza dynasty as king. The kingdom underwent many changes over the next few centuries under Castilian King Ferninand the Catholic invaded and subdued by arms peninsular Navarre Kingdom in 1512.

From the 12th to the 15th centuries villas (towns) and cities emerged, also with their own local fueros or charters and rights granted by kings. It was during this period that the so-called "foral territories" were created and agreements reached with the king, by which he would have authority over the land in exchange for respecting the territorial self-governments or fueros and rights.

The 19th century is characterised by a gradual loss of rights for the Basque people. The Kingdom of Navarre was incorporated as another province in Spain and the other three provinces of the south refused to become a single province, and therefore retained provisional status.

In the late 19th century new ideologies and political movements came into existence, such as socialism but especially Basque nationalism for the restoration of the rights and privileges of the Basque people, as did labour unions.

The first 3 decades of the 20th century came a flurry of political activity, followed by the military uprising led by Franco and a long civil war (1936–1939). In 1936 the Spanish Congress (Cortes españolas) passed the Basque Statute of Autonomy and Euskadi reestablished its self-government that had been demanding since the abolition of the rights and fueros. The entire Basque Country fell to Franco's troops in July 1937.

The Franco dictatorship (1939–1975) was a dark chapter. As the Basque country had been among the centres of anti-Franco activity and the Basque language was seen as a threat for Franco's vision of Spain, Basque cultural expressions, including the language, were banned. In part as a reaction to that, ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna; "Basque country and freedom") formed to violently oppose first the Franco regime and then its democratic successors and fight for an independent Basque country. With the death of Franco and transitioning to democracy, the Basque language was legalised once more, and gained co-official status with Spanish within the region. ETA declared a ceasefire in 2010, and declared its dissolution in 2018, but open wounds still remain, especially since even the democratic governments of the 1980s used some extra-legal measures in fighting ETA.

Geography
The Basque area (Basque: Euskal Herria) is divided into three different legal and political entities, of which the first is what this article is about:

 * Euskadi, the Autonomous Community of Euskadi comprises the territories or provinces of Alava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. The capital cities are Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián in the same order.
 * Nafarroa, the Autonomous Community of Navarre. The capital is Pamplona-Iruña.
 * Iparralde ("the northern part") or continental Euskal Herria, the French Basque Country in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, includes the territories of Lapurdi (French: Labourd), Zuberoa (French: Soule) and Behenafarroa (Lower Navarre; French: Basse Navarre). The capital cities are Baiona, Maule and Donibane Garazi (French: Bayonne, Maule, and Saint Jean Pied de Port, respectively).

Two of these administrative regions (A.C. of Euskadi and the A.C. of Navarre) are in Hegoalde (literally, the southern part in the Basque language) or peninsular Euskal Herria. The southern and northern Basque Country are divided into two states: Spain and France.

Euskal Herria is therefore the combination of seven historical territories divided into these three administrative regions.

Although today the term Euskal Herria defines a historical and cultural entity rather than a unified political or administrative region, it does share a significant amount of common heritage, culture, language, history and identity.

Often the term Basque Country is used to refer only to the autonomous zone (Euskadi), but mostly it refers to all the Basque region (Euskal Herria), including Navarre and the Basque territories in France.

Talk
The official languages of this Spanish region are Basque (Euskara) and Spanish. Spanish is the most widely spoken language, but there are Basque speakers as well. Practically everyone speaks fluent Spanish and Spanish is the language of choice in the larger cities like Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, or San Sebastian, while Basque is more spoken in the countryside and again, most are bilingual in Basque and Spanish. 700,000 out of the Basque country's population of 2,100,000 speak Basque. From the region's location, you might expect this language to be a blend of Spanish and French, but Basque is unrelated to either of them and in fact, seems to be unrelated to any other known language.

Basque's large collection of grammatical cases, agglutinative morphology, and extensive use of suffixes to construct simple sentences make it a notoriously difficult language to master. Although the average traveller can get by with Spanish, any attempts to speak Basque or learn a few phrases will go a long way. The Basques are well aware of the fact that their language is difficult for foreigners and they don't expect you to be fluent in it.

In terms of foreign languages, the Basque Country is a bit of an anomaly in Spain. While the rest of the country is not known for its fluency in languages other than Spanish, Basques are more likely to be polyglots. English is not widely spoken, but staff members in major hotels and tourist areas will definitely know a few essential sentences, and most young people can carry a decent conversation. This also applies to German and French, the latter being widely spoken and understood in the areas bordering France.

By plane

 * Bilbao-Bilbo: Airport is the largest in Basque Country, with a stunning terminal building designed by Santiago Calatrava. It has cheap flights with Easyjet from London and with Vueling from Barcelona and Malaga. There are many connections from other European cities with other companies as Iberia, Lufthansa, Bruxelles Airlines.
 * San Sebastian: Regular flights from Madrid, Barcelona, and London-City.
 * Vitoria-Gasteiz: The smallest of the three Basque airports, served by a few Ryanair routes
 * Biarritz: has flights with Ryanair, easyJet, and several major airlines.

By train
Daily connections to main cities from Paris Barcelona. Check RENFE (Spain) and SNCF (France) websites.

By bus
Daily connections with Madrid and Barcelona from Bilbo/Bilbao, Donostia/San Sebastian, Gasteiz/Vitoria and Iruña/Pamplona.

By car
The motorway between Paris and Madrid goes through Baiona/Bayonne, Donostia/San Sebastian and Vitoria/Gasteiz. The tolls between Baiona and Donostia are pretty expensive. Another motorway links Iruña/Pamplona with Barcelona There are motorways between all the main cities: Bilbo-Gasteiz, Bilbo-Donostia, Donostia-Iruña, Gasteiz-Iruña.

By thumb
Sooner or later people usually stop. It's better to hitchhike at the exits of the towns where the traffic is calmer than on the motorways. So many long-distance truck routes cross the Basque Country it should be quite easy to find someone to take you directly from Madrid.

By train
There is an extensive bus and train network

By car
The roads are well signposted, but watch out for occasional monolingual signs in Basque.

See

 * Visit the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves in Basque Country
 * Urdaibai
 * Urdaibai

Alava
Alava, along with its neighbor La Rioja, on the other bank of the Ebro River, produces world-class wines and is especially famous for its robust reds.

Situated in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains, Alava offers an easy rolling landscape, mild climate and vineyards everywhere. It is an ideal place for wineries to multiply, spread, consolidate and, in the process, amass large quantities of money for their owners. As these fortunes grow, new brands need to be created and fresh images must be marketed. One way some wineries achieve this is by using avant-garde architecture for the construction of their buildings.

In the little town of Elciego, the Marques de Riscal winery has one of these futuristic buildings designed by world-famous architect Frank Gehry (he also designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, a hundred miles or so to the north). This time, however, he "pushed the envelope" (so to speak) of the Guggenheim style. He made the Guggenheim convoluted shapes flow more freely as if a storm were blowing on the outer surfaces and making them flap like flags in the wind. The result is absolutely astonishing. The sole purpose for the edifice is to be a temple to Bacchus, the god of wine!

A few miles away, just outside Laguardia, Santiago Calatrava, another famous architect, has created the Isios winery. (His work includes the modern Olympic stadium in Athens, Greece, and the ultra-modern City of Arts and Sciences/Performing Arts Centre, in Valencia, Spain.) Although not as much "out-on-the-edge" as the Marques de Riscal winery, its soaring, wavy roof set against the backdrop of the blue sky and the green mountain range is a sight to see.

The industrialist Solomon R. Guggenheim was inspired by Baroness Hilla Rebay von Ehrenwiesen's love for modern art. Rebay laid more emphasis on art that is non-objective. Guggenheim is known for his debates on abstract art with Robert Delaunay, Albert Gleizes, and Wassily Kandinsky. Kandinsky's Composition 8 was purchased by Guggenheim, which made the entire collection famous

Do

 * Come in mid-August for Bilbao's annual week-long festival.
 * Sun, sea, sand and surf at numerous beaches along the coast from France towards Bilbao.
 * Hiking, there a lots of possibilities all over the country.

Eat

 * Pintxos

Drink
Txakoli: white wine from the regions of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, also now produced in a part of Araba/Alava.

Rioja wines: produced in La Rioja, south of Araba/Alava and southwest of Nafarroa/Navarra.

Cider (Sagardoa in basque): is not like British or Nordic cider, it doesn't have gas and is more similar to the wine. Is mostly produced in Gipuzkoa around Donostia/San Sebastian but also in some parts of Nafarroa/Navarra and Bizkaia. In winter between January and March the cider cellars are open as restaurants where you can have dinner and you drink all the cider you want.

Kalimotxo: low quality wine with coke. Typical drink of teenagers and for parties.

Patxaran: sloe liquor. Typical after dinner. Tastes a bit like the cough medicine 'Night Nurse'.

Beer: if you want a tap beer (normally cheaper) you can ask caña or half caña called zurito. Normally the glass is not filled to the top and depending on the place, the barman or your face it could be a big or small measure.

Stay safe
With a rate of only 33.4 crimes per 1000 inhabitants, the Basque Country has one of the lowest crime rates in Europe. Even in big cities, only a few areas (San Francisco in Bilbao, for example) are best avoided. Although violent crime is extremely rare, the usual precautions still apply; avoid being alone at night in side streets, keep an eye on pickpockets, and you should do just fine.

The ETA, which regarded itself the Basque national liberation army, declared a permanent ceasefire and cessation of armed activity in 2011, and surrendered its weapons to the French authorities in 2017. It never targeted visitors.

Although they have also become rarer, there is a chance of seeing acts of vandalism related to radical pro-independence movements, specially if you visit the Basque Country during a big pro-independence-demonstration day or politically relevant dates (the Gudari Eguna, the Aberri Eguna and some city festivals). Don't be alarmed, if you find yourself in the middle of a fight between the police and violent demonstrators: do what the Basques do, and go to the next street. In 30 minutes, everything will be probably finished.

It is advisable not to wear any Spanish symbols (Spain's national football (soccer) team T-shirts, Spanish flags or Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid club paraphernalia). Although no assaults on people wearing them have been recorded, some people may find them offensive or disrespectful, especially those who are supporters of Basque independence.

Respect
Basque politics are noted for being very complex, as the Basques are divided into several opposing camps – some who desire full independence from Spain, some who desire more autonomy, and some who are happy with the area's current status in Spain. Tread on political discussions carefully – Know the position that being a visitor puts you in.

Go next
The charms of southwest France, in particular the beach resorts and town of Biarritz, are a short hop across the border. Or travel due east to explore the rugged Pyrenees. To the west, Spain offers the mountains and coastline of Asturias and Galicia, the terminus of the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela. Head south to Burgos and central Spain.

Other towns in the French Basque Country include Bayonne (Baiona), Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Donibane Garazi) and Mauléon-Licharre (Maule) – today bucolic places that combine the purest Basque tradition with French finesse. For centuries were sites of battles.

Pamplona (Iruña) is the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Navarre, where kings reigned all Basques. Today famous for the holidays and San Fermin festival that Ernest Miller Hemingway helped spread worldwide.

title: Basque Country


text:
Basque phrasebook

Basque (euskara) is a language spoken in the Basque Country (Gipuzkoa, Araba, Bizkaia) and Navarra (all of them in Spain) as well as in the French Basque Country (Labourd, Soule and Basse-Navarre). As a language isolate, it is something of a linguistic curiosity; it has no relatives among any other living languages, in Europe or anywhere else, and is probably related to other languages spoken in Spain before the arrival of the Romans. The language was long suppressed by national governments in France and Spain, but in the 20th century, it reemerged as a living language, partly as a political statement for Basque independence.

Learning Basque is generally not necessary for communication, as essentially all Basque speakers on the Spanish side of the border are able to speak Spanish as well, while those on the French side of the border are also able to speak French. Nevertheless, locals are proud of their language, so learning at least some basic phrases and greetings will help to endear you to them.

Pronunciation Guide
Basque pronunciation is quite similar to Spanish pronunciation.

The main differences are:
 * x like sh in shop
 * z like s in "see"
 * s sort of like s in "see," but pronounced with the tongue further back, on the tip of the ridge behind your teeth

and the groups:
 * in before a vowel, like Spanish ñ: baina (pronounced like baiña), or like ny in "canyon"
 * il before a vowel, like li in "million" (an "ly" sound): mutila (pronounced like mutilya)

 * tx like ch in "church"
 * tz like ts in "pets"
 * ts in between ts in "pets" and ch in "church"—pronounced with your tongue on the tip of the ridge behind your teeth

It's also possible to use tt and dd but these are not very common.

Basics

 * Hello. : Kaixo.
 * Hello. (informal) : Epa! or Iepa! or Aupa!!.
 * How are you? : Zer moduz?
 * Fine, thank you. : Ondo, eskerrik asko.
 * Who are you? : Nor zara zu?
 * I am ______ . : Ni ______ naiz.
 * What is your name? : Nola duzu izena?: Zein da zure izena?
 * My name is _____. : Nire izena ____ da.
 * Nice to meet you. : Pozten naiz zu ezagutzeaz.
 * Please. : Mesedez.
 * Thank you. : Eskerrik asko.
 * Welcome. : Ongi etorri.
 * Yes. : Bai.
 * No. : Ez.
 * Excuse me. (getting attention) : Aizu!
 * Excuse me. (begging pardon) : Barkatu
 * I'm sorry. : Barkatu
 * Goodbye : Agur
 * Goodbye (informal) : Aio
 * I can't speak Basque [well]. : Ez dakit euskaraz [ondo] hitz egiten.
 * Do you speak English? : Ingelesez hitz egiten al duzu?
 * Is there someone here who speaks English? : Inork ba al daki ingelesez?
 * Help! : Lagundu!
 * Good morning. : Egunon.
 * Good afternoon. : Arratsaldeon.
 * Good evening. : Gabon.
 * Good night (to sleep) :Bihar arte ("until tomorrow").
 * I don't understand. : Ez dut ulertzen.
 * Where is the toilet? : Non dago komuna?
 * Where is __________? : Non dago ______?

Problems

 * Leave me alone. : Utzi pakean. (...)
 * Don't touch me/it!; : Ez ikutu! (...)
 * I'll call the police. : Polizia deituko dut. (...)
 * Stop! Thief! : Geldi! Lapurra! (...)
 * I need your help. : Zure laguntza behar dut. (...)
 * It's an emergency. : Larrialdia da. (...)
 * I'm lost. : Galdurik nago. (...)
 * I've lost my bag. : Nire poltsa galdu dut. (...)
 * I've lost my wallet. : Nire diru zorroa galdu dut. (...)
 * I'm sick. : Gaixorik nago. (...)
 * I've been injured. : Min hartu dut. (...)
 * I need a doctor. : Mediku bat behar dut. (...)
 * Can I use your phone? : Zure telefonoa erabil dezaket? (...)

Numbers

 * 1 :bat (...)
 * 2 :bi (...)
 * 3 :hiru (...)
 * 4 :lau (...)
 * 5 :bost (...)
 * 6 :sei (...)
 * 7 :zazpi (...)
 * 8 :zortzi (...)
 * 9 :bederatzi (...)
 * 10 :hamar (...)
 * 11 : hamaika(...)
 * 12 :hamabi (...)
 * 13 :hamahiru (...)
 * 14 :hamalau (...)
 * 15 :hamabost (...)
 * 16 :hamasei (...)
 * 17 :hamazazpi (...)
 * 18 :hemezortzi (...)
 * 19 :hemeretzi (...)
 * 20 :hogei (...)
 * 21 : hogeita bat (...)
 * 22 : hogeita bi (...)
 * 23 : hogeita hiru (...)
 * 30 : hogeita hamar (20+10)
 * 31 : hogeita hamaika (20+11)
 * 40 : berrogei (2*20)
 * 50 : berrogeita hamar (2*20+10)
 * 60 : hirurogeita (3*20)
 * 70 : hirurogeita hamar (3*20+10)
 * 80 : larogei (...)
 * 90 : larogeita hamar (...)
 * 100 : ehun (...)
 * 200 : berrehun (...)
 * 300 : hirurehun (...)
 * 1000 : mila (...)
 * 2000 : bimila (...)
 * 1,000,000 : milioi bat (...)
 * number _____ (train, bus, etc.) :_____ zenbakia (...)
 * half : erdia(...)
 * less :gutxiago (...)
 * more :gehiago (...)

Time

 * now :orain (...)
 * later :gero (...)
 * before :lehen (...)
 * morning : goiz (...)
 * afternoon : arratsalde (...)
 * night : gaua (...)
 * midday: eguerdia
 * midnight: gauerdia

Clock time

 * one o'clock AM : goizeko ordu bata (...)
 * two o'clock AM : goizeko ordu biak (...)
 * noon : eguerdia (...)
 * one o'clock PM : eguerdiko ordu bata (...)
 * two o'clock PM : arratsaldeko ordu biak (...)
 * midnight : gauerdi(...)

Duration

 * _____ minute(s) : _____ minutu (...)
 * _____ hour(s) : _____ ordu (...)
 * _____ day(s) : _____ egun (...)
 * _____ week(s) : _____ aste (...)
 * _____ month(s) : _____ hilabete (...)
 * _____ year(s) : _____ urte (...)

Days

 * today : gaur (...)
 * yesterday : atzo (...)
 * tomorrow : bihar (...)
 * this week : aste honetan (...)
 * last week : joan den astean (...)
 * next week : hurrengo astean (...)

 * Sunday : igandea (...)
 * Monday : astelehena (...)
 * Tuesday : asteartea (...)
 * Wednesday : asteazkena (...)
 * Thursday : osteguna (...)
 * Friday : ostirala (...)
 * Saturday : larunbata (...)

Months

 * January : urtarrila (...)
 * February : otsaila (...)
 * March : martxoa (...)
 * April : apirila (...)
 * May : maiatza (...)
 * June : ekaina (...)
 * July : uztaila (...)
 * August : abuztua (...)
 * September : iraila (...)
 * October : urria (...)
 * November : azaroa (...)
 * December : abendua (...)

Writing Time and Date

 * One o'clock : ordu bata da.
 * Five past two: ordu biak eta bost
 * Quarter past four: laurak eta laurden
 * Half past six: sei t'erdiak
 * Twenty to eight: zortziak hogei gutxi
 * Quarter to ten: Hamarrak laurden gutxi
 * Five to eleven: Hamaikak bost gutxi

 * 10th July, 2008: 2008ko uztailaren 10a
 * 25th December, 1995: 1995eko abenduaren 25a
 * Gasteiz, 10th April, 1987: Gasteizen, 1987ko apirilaren 10ean.

Colours

 * black : beltz (...)
 * white : zuri (...)
 * gray : gris (...)
 * red : gorri (...)
 * blue : urdin (...)
 * yellow : hori (...)
 * green : berde (...)
 * orange : laranja (...)
 * brown : marroi (...)

Bus and Train

 * How much is a ticket to _____? : zenbat da txartel bat _____ra? (...)
 * One ticket to _____, please. : txartel bat _____ra, mesedez. (...)
 * Where does this train/bus go? : nora doa tren/bus hau?
 * Where is the train/bus to _____? : non dago _____ra doan trena/busa? (...)
 * Does this train/bus stop in _____? : tren/bus hau _____n gelditzen da? (...)
 * When does the train/bus for _____ leave? : Noiz irteten da _____ra doan trena/busa?
 * When will this train/bus arrive in _____? : tren/bus hau noiz helduko da _____ra?

Directions

 * How do I get to _____ ? : nola joaten da _____ra ? (...)
 * ...the train station? : ...tren geltokira? (...)
 * ...the bus station? : ...bus geltokira? (...)
 * ...the airport? : ...aireportura? (...)
 * ...downtown? : ...hiri erdira? (...)
 * ...the youth hostel? : ...gazte albergera? (...)
 * ...the _____ hotel? : ... _____ hotelera? (...)
 * ...the American/Canadian/Australian/British consulate? : ...Amerikar/Kanadiar/Australiar/Britaniar kontsulatura? (...)
 * Where are there a lot of ___ : Non dago ___ asko? (...)
 * ...hotels? : ...hotel (...)
 * ...restaurants? : ...jatetxe (...)
 * ...bars? : ...taberna (...)
 * ...sites to see? : ...ikusteko leku (...)
 * Can you show me on the map? : Mapan erakutsiko al didazu?
 * street : kale(...)
 * Turn left. : Ezkerretara. (...)
 * Turn right. : Eskumatara. (...)
 * left : ezkerra (...)
 * right : eskuina, eskuma (...)
 * straight ahead : zuzen (...)
 * towards the _____ : _____raino (...)
 * past the _____ : _____ eta gero (...)
 * before the _____ : _____ baino lehen(...)
 * Watch for the _____. : Bilatu _____. (...)
 * intersection : gurutze (...)
 * north : ipar (...)
 * south : hego (...)
 * east : ekialde (...)
 * west : mendebalde (...)
 * uphill : igo (...)
 * downhill : jeitsi (...)

Taxi

 * Taxi! : Taxi! (...)
 * Take me to _____, please. : Eraman _____ra, mesedez. (...)
 * How much does it cost to get to _____? : Zenbat balio du _____ra joateak? (...)
 * Take me there, please. : Utz nazazu han, mesedez. (...)

Lodging

 * Do you have any rooms available? : Badaukazu logelik? (...)
 * How much is a room for one person/two people? : Zenbat balio du pertsona batentzako/ bi pertsonentzako logela batek?
 * Does the room come with... : Logelak badauka... (...)
 * ...bedsheets? : ...izararik? (...)
 * ...a bathroom? : ...komunik? (...)
 * ...a telephone? : ...telefonorik? (...)
 * ...a TV? : ...telebistarik? (...)
 * May I see the room first? : logela ikus dezaket lehendabizi?
 * Do you have anything quieter? : Zerbait lasaiagoa badaukazue?
 * ...bigger? : handiagoa?
 * ...cleaner? : txukunagoa?
 * ...cheaper? : merkeagoa?
 * OK, I'll take it. : Ongi, hartuko dut
 * I will stay for _____ night(s). : ____ gau egongo naiz.
 * Can you suggest another hotel? : Gomendatuko zenidake beste hotelen bat?
 * Do you have a safe? : Dirukutxarik baduzue? (...)
 * ...lockers? : ...takilarik? (...)
 * Is breakfast/supper included? : Gosaria/afaria barne al dago?
 * What time is breakfast/supper? : gosaria/afaria zein ordutan da?
 * Please clean my room. : nire gela garbitu, mesedez
 * Can you wake me at _____? : esnatuko al nauzu _____n? (...)
 * I want to check out. : Joan nahi dut. (...)

Money

 * Do you accept American/Australian/Canadian dollars? : Hartzen al dituzue Amerikako/Australiako/Kanadiako dolarrak?
 * Do you accept British pounds? : Hartzen al dituzue Britaniako librak?
 * Do you accept credit cards? : Hartzen al duzue kreditu txartelik?
 * Can you change money for me? : Nire dirua trukatuko al didazu?
 * Where can I get money changed? : Non trukatzen da dirua?
 * Can you change a traveler's check for me? : Aldatuko al didazu nire bidai txekea?
 * Where can I get a traveler's check changed? : Non aldatzen dira bidai txekeak?
 * What is the exchange rate? : Zenbatean dago trukatze tarifa?
 * Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)? : Non dago kutxazain automatikoa? (...)

Eating

 * A table for one person/two people, please. : mahai bat pertsona batentzako/bi personentzako, mesedez
 * Can I look at the menu, please? : Menua erakutsiko didazu, mesedez?
 * Can I look in the kitchen? : Sukaldea ikusi dezaket?
 * Is there a house specialty? : Badago etxeko berezitasunik?
 * Is there a local specialty? : Badago inguru honetako/herri honetako berezitasunik?
 * I'm a vegetarian. : Barazkijalea naiz.
 * I don't eat pork. : Ez dut zerrikirik jaten.
 * I only eat kosher food. : Kosher janaria jaten dut soilik.
 * Can you make it "lite", please? (less oil/butter/lard) : Can you make it "lite", please? (...)
 * fixed-price meal : menu
 * à la carte : karta
 * breakfast : gosaria
 * lunch : bazkaria
 * supper : afaria
 * I want _____. : _____ nahi dut.
 * I want a dish containing _____. : _____rekin plater bat nahi dut. (...)
 * chicken : oilasko.
 * beef : beef (...)
 * fish : arrain
 * ham : urdaiazpiko
 * sausage : saltxitxa
 * cheese : gazta
 * eggs : arrautzak
 * salad : entsalada
 * (fresh) vegetables : barazkiak
 * (fresh) fruit : fruita
 * bread : ogia
 * toast : tostada
 * noodles : noodles (...)
 * rice : arroza
 * beans : babak
 * May I have a glass of _____? : Emango al didazu edontzi bat ___? (...)
 * May I have a cup of _____? : Emango al didazu kopa bat ____? (...)
 * May I have a bottle of _____? : Emango al didazu botila bat ____? (...)
 * coffee : kafea
 * tea (drink) : tea
 * juice : zukua
 * (bubbly) water : burbuiladun ura
 * water : ura
 * beer : garagardo
 * red/white wine : ardo beltz/zuri
 * May I have some _____? : Emango al didazu _____? (...)
 * salt : gatza
 * black pepper : piperbeltza
 * Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server): aizu tabernari!
 * I'm finished. : Bukatu dut.
 * It was delicious. : Primerakoa zegoen.
 * Please clear the plates. : Mesedez, eskatu platerrak
 * The check, please. : Kontua, mesedez.

Bars

 * Do you serve alcohol? : Alkohola zerbitzatzen duzue?
 * Is there table service? : Mahai zerbitzua al dago?
 * A beer/two beers, please. : Garagardo bat/ Bi garagardo, mesedez.
 * A glass of red/white wine, please. : edalontzi bat ardo gorria/zuria, mesedez.
 * A pint, please. : pinta bat, mesedez. (It's not very usual to see pints in bars, unless it's an Irish pub or something like that, so you'll have to order a jar (jarra bat) 0.5 l)
 * A bottle, please. : Botila bat, mesedez
 * _____ (hard liquor) and _____ (mixer), please. : _____(likore bizi bat) eta _____(konbinatu bat), mesedez. (...)
 * whiskey : whiskey (...)
 * vodka : vodka (...)
 * rum : ron (...)
 * water : ura (...)
 * club soda : club soda (...)
 * tonic water : tonika
 * orange juice : laranja zuku
 * Coke (soda) : Koka Kola (soda)
 * Do you have any bar snacks? : Pintxorik badaukazue?
 * One more, please. : Beste bat, mesedez.
 * Another round, please. : Beste ronda bat, mesedez.
 * When is closing time? : Zer ordutan ixten da?

Shopping

 * Do you have this in my size? : Nire tailakorik baduzue?
 * How much is this? : Zenbat da?
 * That's too expensive. : Garestiegia da.
 * Would you take _____? : _____ hartuko al duzu? (...)
 * expensive : garesti
 * cheap : merke
 * I can't afford it. : Ezin dut horrenbeste ordaindu.
 * I don't want it. : Ez dut nahi hori.
 * You're cheating me. : You're cheating me. (...)
 * I'm not interested. : Ez zait interesatzen.
 * OK, I'll take it. : Ongi, hartuko dut.
 * Can I have a bag? : Poltsa bat emango al didazu?
 * Do you ship (overseas)? : Kanpora bidal zenezakete?
 * I need ____ : ___ behar dut.
 * ...toothpaste. : hortzetako orea/pasta
 * ...a toothbrush. : hortzetako eskuila
 * ...tampons. : tanpoiak. (...)
 * ...soap. : xaboia
 * ...shampoo. : txanpua
 * ...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen) : mina kentzeko botika
 * ...cold medicine. : ...katarrorako sendagaiak. (...)
 * ...stomach medicine. : ...tripako minarako sendagaiak. (...)
 * ...a razor. : ...bizarra kentzekoa. (...)
 * ...an umbrella. : aterkia. (...)
 * ...sunblock lotion. : ...Eguzkitako krema. (...)
 * ...a postcard. : ...postala(...)
 * ...a letter. : ...gutuna(...)
 * ...postage stamps. : ...seiluak. (...)
 * ...batteries. : ...pilak. (...)
 * ...writing paper. : ...idazteko papera. (...)
 * ...a pen. : ...Boligrafoa. (...)
 * ...a pencil : ...Arkatza. (...)
 * ...English-language books. : ...Ingelesezko liburuak. (...)
 * ...English-language magazines. : ...Ingelesezko aldizkariak. (...)
 * ...an English-language newspaper. : ...Ingelesezko egunkaria. (...)
 * ...an English-English dictionary. : ...Ingelesezko hiztegia. (...)

Driving

 * I want to rent a car. : Auto bat alkilatu nahiko nuke. (...)
 * Can I get insurance? : Aseguru bat lortu al dezaket? (...)
 * stop (on a street sign) : Gelditu (...)
 * one way : Bide bakarra(...)
 * yield : bidea eman (...)
 * no parking : ez aparkatu(...)
 * speed limit : muga - abiadura (...)
 * gas (petrol) station : Gasolindegia (...)
 * petrol : Gasolina (...)
 * diesel : diesela (...)

Authority

 * I haven't done anything wrong. : Ez dut ezer txarrik egin. (...)
 * It was a misunderstanding. : Gaizki ulertu bat izan da. (...)
 * Where are you taking me? : Nora eramaten ari nauzu? (...)
 * Am I under arrest? : Atxiloturik al nago? (...)
 * I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen. : Estatu Batuetako/Australiako/Britania Handiko/Kanadako hiritar bat naiz. (...)
 * I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate. : Estatu Batuetako/Australiako/Britania Handiko/Kanadako enbaxadarekin/kontsulatuarekin hitzegin nahi dut. (...)
 * I want to talk to a lawyer. : Abokatu batekin hitz egin nahi dut. (...)
 * Can I just pay a fine now? : Isuna orain ordaindu dezaket? (...)

title: Basque phrasebook


text:
Basra

Basra (Arabic: البصرة Al Baṣrah) is a port city in Southern Iraq, close to the border with Kuwait and Iran. It is Iraq's third largest city with a population of 2,150,000 (2017).

Understand

Situated along the Shatt al-Arab river, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris, the city's many canals and creeks once gave rise to the epithet Venice of the East. The fields along the river are very fertile with agriculture being a major source of income for the region, the region is known for having the world's largest forest of date palms. Basra is a majority Shia Islam city, with small minorities of Christians, Assyrians and pre-Islamic Mandaeans. In addition to the Arabs, there is also a community of Afro-Iraqi peoples, known as Zanj. The Zanj are an African Muslim ethnic group, a mix of African peoples taken from the coast of the area of modern-day Kenya as slaves during the Medieval period.

Founded at the beginning of the Islamic era in 636, Basra became a flourishing commercial and cultural center from around 1200 AD and has remained so onwards. Basra was under the protection of the Portuguese empire from 1523 until captured by the Ottomans in 1668; it remained part of the Ottoman Empire until the end of First World War.

The last few decades have, however, been rough for Basra as it was the closest major city to the front lines of the Iran-Iraq War during the 1980s, with parts of the city destroyed by artillery fire. A few years later a rebellion against the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein was brutally crushed. While the city has largely physically recovered from these events, much of its cultural heritage has been lost. Basra is also on the front lines of climate change with summer temperatures nearing unbearable extremes. Desertification and salinization of the rivers is causing major issues. Combined with decades of neglect and social unrest, Basra is generally off-limits for tourists. Most foreigners finding themselves in the city are here because of nearby oil and natural gas facilities. However, there are still speckles of former glory left for the intrepid traveller to explore.

Climate
Basra is among the hottest cities on Earth, with temperatures exceeding 50 C during July and August. While the air has a relatively low humidity, extreme temperatures can easily lead to dehydration and fatigue. Temperatures during the rest of the year are more pleasant, during winter months daily highs are around 20 C while temperatures during spring and late fall hovers around 25-30 C.

Get in
Basra is close to Kuwait. The Safwan border crossing is a safe exit point into Kuwait from Iraq, but it is highly inadvisable for foreigners to enter Iraq from Kuwait. The Iraqi immigration entry point is watched by insurgents and there is a small chance that they will try to kidnap Western-looking individuals on the road once they have crossed into Iraq. Entry from Iran is also very unsafe and is not advised.

By plane
There are daily international connections from Dubai, Istanbul, Beirut and Amman and a few other hubs in the Middle East. Domestic flights are available from Erbil and Baghdad.

By road
The main road between Baghdad and Basra is Freeway 1, which is generally in good condition.

By train
There are two overnight trains from Baghdad every day, a slower one taking 12 hours and one express train with a journey time of 6-7 hours. However, delays are quite common. Both trains carry a restaurant car and have both seats and couchettes. There are also occasional trains from the holy city of Karbala, operated mainly around religious festivals.

A rail link with Iran is expected to open in 2025, with cross-border passenger service. Until then it's possible to travel by train to nearby Khorramshahr, the closest city across the border in Iran, which sees daily overnight trains from Tehran.

By boat
A river ferry is available from nearby Khorramshahr, across the border in Iran, taking just 45 minutes to complete the journey. The ferry is run by Valfajar Shipping Company and there are multiple sailings each week.

Get around
A public transport system is available, but it's chaotic and provides little to no information in English. Walking is difficult as there are few footpaths. Taxis and ride-hailing services are however both plentiful and cheap and is generally the best way of travelling longer distances within the city.

See

This list also features some sites located in nearby the nearby city of Az Zubayr.

Churches
As the Christian community in Basra has been smaller then to those of Baghdad or Mosul, church buildings has generally been built less grand. While not all churches hs services, there's usually a custodian which can offer a tour.

Old Basra

Only a few blocks remain of the old Basra, once described as the Venice of the East with colonial and Ottoman mansions lining the city's canals. Many houses feature the iconic shanasheel balconies, built in wood to protect interior of houses from the heat of the day as well as providing an overlook onto the street. A UNESCO-funded project took of in 2018, aiming at restoring some of the derelict houses in the old quarters.

Eat

Most restaurants are located along the corniche, many with excellent views over the river.

Sleep
Apart from the more luxurious hotels there are several low- and mid-range options, which have limited online presence.

Stay safe
Tap water is not safe to drink, with many people getting sick due to drinking contaminated water.

Go next

 * Umm Qasr
 * Karbala
 * Baghdad
 * Najaf
 * Ctesiphon
 * Babylon

title: Basra


text:
Bas-Saint-Laurent

Bas-Saint-Laurent or Lower St. Lawrence is a region of eastern Quebec.

Cities

 * — one of the most beautiful villages of Quebec, known for its stunning sunsets
 * — home to the Musée François-Pilote, a museum of Quebec ethnology
 * — the biggest city of Bas-Saint-Laurent, known for its student community
 * — home of the Musee du Bas Saint-Laurent, which has a huge collection of photographs
 * — the little village with the funny name
 * — the landing point for the ferry from Les-Escoumins

Other destinations

 * (Parc national du Bic) — a more than 33.2-km² (8,200-acre) national park of Quebec of which about half is a coastal marine environment. Ready-to-camp sites are available from Mid-May to mid-October $94 for 4 people, $109 for six people (2020)). Chalets and yurts are available for 2-4 people ($105-158 in 2019). All access to the park is from Route 132 between the municipalities of Saint-Fabien and Rimouski (Bic District).

Understand

The territory was occupied since the Pleistocene Era by First Nations until European colonization started near the end of the 17th century. The development of the region was slow until European settlers started exploiting its mixed forests.

The economy of Bas-Saint-Laurent has long been dominated by two industries: agriculture and forestry, with smaller fishing and tourism industries.

Nearly all residents of Bas-Saint-Laurent speak French as their mother tongue, and the share of people reporting they can speak both French and English is only 16% in Bas-Saint-Laurent, compared to 41% in all of Quebec (2006).

Climate
The influence of the ocean mitigates the cold of the winters, and cools the summers. The average temperature in July in Rimouski is 4 degrees less than in Quebec City. The prevailing northwest wind adds humidity and cold.

Rainfall is abundant and consistent throughout the year. The region receives annually 800 to 1,200 mm (31 to 47 in) of rainfall, of which between 250 to 360 cm (98 to 142 in) is snow. The oceanic influence is less present inland, where slightly warmer temperatures in the summer and slightly colder in the winter are recorded.

By car
Autoroute 20 will bring you into the region from Montreal or Quebec City and goes through Rivière-du-Loup to Trois-Pistoles. Route 132 continues up the river to Rimouski, and into the Gaspesie and to Campbellton, New Brunswick.

Autoroute 85 will bring you from Edmunston, New Brunswick, to Rivière-du-Loup.

By boat
There are ferries across the St. Lawrence River from Saint-Siméon to Rivière-du-Loup, Forestville to Rimouski, and from Baie-Comeau/Godbout to Matane.

By plane

 * Aéroport régional de Mont-Joli is the closest airport with scheduled flights, 35 km to the east of Rimouski. It has flights from Baie-Comeau, Montréal, Quebec City, Sept-Îles and Bonaventure/Îles de la Madeleine.

By train
Via Rail's Ocean service between Montreal and Halifax stops three times a week in Rimouski, La Pocatière, Trois-Pistoles and Rivière-du-Loup.

By bus
Orléans Express has many daily runs to Rivière-du-Loup from Quebec City and Montreal with onward connections to Rimouski. Connections from the Maritimes can be made at Pointe-à-la-Croix, a 2 km taxi ride from Campbellton. See Maritime Bus.

Get around
Route 132 runs along the shore of the St. Lawrence River the length of the region. The faster and less scenic Autoroute 20 follows a parallel route through Rivière-du-Loup as far as Trois-Pistoles.

See
The Site historique maritime at Point-au-Père, a small town near Rimouski, has the second-tallest lighthouse in Canada, and a marine museum with extensive coverage of the Empress of Ireland ocean liner collision and sinking, and the Onondaga, a Canadian Navy submarine.

The Musee du Bas Saint-Laurent, in Rivière-du-Loup, has nearly 250,000 photographic images mainly covering the first half of the 20th century.

The Aster scientific station, in Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, has an interactive exhibition and a telescope of 356 mm.

Do
Ile aux Lievres, 8 km off Rivière-du-Loup (accessible by passenger boat), has 45 km of hiking trails.

The 144-km Bas-Saint-Laurent National Trail stretches from Trois-Pistoles to Degelis crossing 10 municipalities. Hikers will move from a seascape to a more forested landscape along the Trois-Pistoles River.

title: Bas-Saint-Laurent


text:
Basseterre

Basseterre on the west coast of the island of Saint Kitts is the capital city of the two-island nation, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

From the US
Daily flights are available from San Juan, PR with Seaborne Airlines. American has daily flights from Miami (3 flights during low tourist season), with seasonal flights from Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, and New York-JFK (two times weekly). Delta Air Lines has seasonal non-stop from Atlanta on Saturdays. Delta also operates from New York-JFK seasonally. United also operates seasonal flights from Newark as well.

From Britain
British Airways to commence flying direct between London Gatwick and St. Kitts in January 2009. Flights are once weekly, every Saturday.

From Canada
Air Canada flies seasonal non-stop flights from Toronto.

Throughout the Caribbean
Air Sunshine and Trans Anguilla Airways operates flights throughout the Caribbean. Sky High Aviation services operates to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and British Airways operates flights to Antigua.

By cruise ship
As depicted in the photo on the right, a large pier supports visiting cruise ships. Their passengers can walk directly through the "duty free" shopping area (noted in "Buy" below), and onward to the central downtown area.

By ferry
It is very easy to get to Basseterre from Charlestown, the capital of Nevis, which is the sister island of St. Kitts. A number of different ferry boat make the scenic round trip between the two islands several times a day, especially in the early mornings and late afternoons.

By bus
Local buses all ultimately terminate (and start) in Basseterre and they are a very good, fast, inexpensive way to get around the island. A bus will drop you off or pick you up anywhere at all on the main road. Buses have a green license plate that starts with the letter "H" or "HA".

By taxi
Taxis have a yellow license plate which starts with the letter "T" or TA". Taxis are not inexpensive, but they are reliable, and being vans they can carry a whole family or a group of people plus a lot of luggage. There is a taxi stand at the Bradshaw airport; any taxi driver will be happy to take you into Basseterre, which is only a short distance away.

Get around
There are many ways to get around Basseterre Public Buses have green license plates with the registration identifier starting with the letter H. The 5 main bus routes on St. Kitts Are:
 * Bus
 * Basseterre to Sandy Point travelling West, starting at the Ferry Terminal
 * Basseterre to Capesterre travelling West, starting at the Ferry Terminal
 * Basseterre to St. Peter's travelling North, starting at College Street Ghaut
 * Basseterre to Molyneux travelling East, starting at Baker's Corner
 * Basseterre to Saddler's travelling East, starting at Baker's Corner

When a cruise ship visits, dozens of taxis and cars-for-hire can be seen flanking the duty-free mall near the cruise terminals...many with "brokers" in the mall ready to greet you and negotiate costs. Others serve the airport and key resorts, or can be called by phone.

See
Worthwhile places to see in Basseterre include:

Do

 * Cricket:
 * Cricket:

Buy
The city has a decent selection of small stores on its several primary streets. They offer restaurants, souvenirs, jewelers and local crafts, plus nearly everything needed for daily life by its citizens and visitors.

Among other crafts, the island produces and offers very high-quality batik, in the form of cloth, clothing, and numerous kinds of home decorations and accessories. The batik is made at Caribelle Batik, which is about 11 miles outside Basseterre, situated in a historical sugar plantation, Romney Manor, which has a lovely tropical garden around it.

In the past several years, the waterfront in Basseterre has been filled in to create a sizeable, duty-free, open-air shopping mall catering primarily to visitors. As of Fall 2009, most of the many storefronts were occupied by a good range of merchants, with more being built, but not rapidly. Many prices seen (Spring 2011) were competitive with many other island cruise ports. Virtually all merchants accept U.S. currency. Before giving you duty-free rates, merchants often ask for something that shows you are not a resident, such as a cruise card, foreign driver's licence, or a passport.
 * Splash Boutique, TDC Mall, Basseterre, St. Kitts.
 * Splash Boutique, TDC Mall, Basseterre, St. Kitts.
 * Splash Boutique, TDC Mall, Basseterre, St. Kitts.

Sleep
The main tourist hotel near Basseterre is the Marriot.

Go next
The main resort area is in Frigate Bay.

title: Basseterre


text:
Bass Strait Islands

The Bass Strait Islands are a group of islands between the states of Victoria and Tasmania in Australia.

Cities

 * — the largest town on King Island
 * — the largest town on Flinders Island

Other destinations

 * – a desolate national park that's a haven for sealions.

title: Bass Strait Islands


text:
Bastardo

No, this is not a hoax. Bastardo is the real name of this industrial town in southern Umbria, Italy. And it is a not inappropriate name. It has few redeeming features and is almost certainly the least attractive town in Umbria although, to be fair, there are an awful lot of stunning towns in Umbria, so the competition is rather tough.

Understand
Bastardo is a food processing centre (the area produces a lot of wheat and olive oil). It probably owes its name to an inn established by an outsider in the 17th century. Because of his outsider status locals came to call the inn the “Osteria del Bastardo", or "The Bastard's Inn." But he must have been a good innkeeper because the name stuck.

Get in
From Rome it is about two hours to Bastardo. Take the A1 Autostrada north. At Orte join the E45, direction Perugia. Leave this road at the SS316. Going north Bastardo is signposted. It is an alternative route to the SS3 via Spoleto to reach some of the main attractions of Umbria, such as Assisi, Bevagna, Trevi and Montefalco.

See
Ponte del Diavolo (Devil's Bridge). This is a small Roman tunnel through which a stream flows, to be found in the suburb of Gualdo Cattaneo.

Do
Bastardo could be a convenient base for trekking, cycling or other country pursuits. The surrounding scenery is wonderful.

Sleep

 * Agriturismo Rustichino. A few miles out of town in the direction of Spoleto. Loc. Rustichino, 10, Giano dell'Umbria (PG), . Two apartments and a room in a restored country house attached to a working farm. €45-65 per person.
 * Agriturismo Rustichino. A few miles out of town in the direction of Spoleto. Loc. Rustichino, 10, Giano dell'Umbria (PG), . Two apartments and a room in a restored country house attached to a working farm. €45-65 per person.

Go next
Bastardo could be considered a fairly inexpensive base for trips to a whole range of Umbrian towns. In addition to those mentioned above, interesting towns within an hour's drive include Perugia, Todi, Spello, Foligno, Deruta, and Torgiano.

title: Bastardo


text:
Bastia

Bastia is a city on the French island of Corsica. The small fortifications and pleasant harbour-side areas make for a nice stroll. It is a small city and good for pedestrians.

Understand
Bastia is the second largest city by population in Corsica with almost 49,000 inhabitants (2019). Tourism has not brought much prosperity to the city, and unemployment remains high by French standards.

Bastia received its name from a Genoese construction of a "bastiglia" in the 1300s. Both Bastia and bastiglia are cognates of the English "bastion". Bastia was the principal capital of Genoese Corsica, and it became French only in the late 1760s.

The afternoon siesta is a serious daily event in Bastia, and one should be careful to respect shop hours (e.g. supermarket) in order to be able to buy necessities at normal prices.

By boat
The main ferry routes to Bastia are from Marseille, Toulon, and Nice in France, which take about 12 hours, and there are sleeper cabins available. They also sail from Genoa, Savona, Livorno and Piombino in mainland Italy the latter via Portoferraio on Elba. There are no ferries from Sardinia: they sail to Bonifacio on the south tip of Corsica.

The ferries are of uneven quality, even within the same company. They get very busy during the summer, so book early, even if you're just a foot passenger without vehicle or cabin.

A clutch of car rental offices can be seen on the streets facing the turnstile exit. They're open M-Sa 08:00-20:00, none are open Sunday.

By train
A narrow gauge train service links Bastia with Ajaccio, Corte, Calvi, L'Île-Rousse. The train takes passengers through beautiful valleys and over spectacular passes. However, the fare all the way to Ajaccio is pricey at €22 one-way, and the ride's comfort level is reminiscent of a horse-drawn carriage on a dirt road. As noted in the Corsica page, the locals call it "the shivering one" (U Trinighellu) for good reason.

By bus
There are bus services to/from Calvi, L'Île-Rousse, Saint-Florent on the northwestern part of the island, Solenzara, Porto-Vecchio on the southeast, occasional services to the Cap Corse on the North.

Get around
Explore the town on foot. Much is pedestrianised, and the vehicle routes get very congested.

The city bus network is operated by Société des Autobus Bastiais.

A tramway runs from Bastia railway station, for some south along the coast to Casamozza, where it connects with the mainline train between Bastia and Ajaccio. The tram passes within 2 km of Bastia airport, the nearest stop being Lucciana, but there's no connecting link so it hardly works as a means of "Getting in". It is possible but not pleasant to walk between the two along route D107, while route D507 must be avoided.

As of October 2023, there is no ride-hailing service in Bastia. Taxi service is limited, although they do meet the ferries when the arrive at the terminal. Be sure to book in advance if you have an early morning flight.

See
The sights of Bastia are grouped around the - the Old Port. The quayside is shabby chic, with tall, faded buildings (many housing restaurants) surrounding a marina with posh yachts. It's particularly charming at dusk and early evening. The twin towers of the stand prominently here. The area just north is the historic neighbourhood of Terra Vecchia: notable churches are the Oratoire de l'Imaculee Conception and the Confrerie St-Roch.

To the south dominating the harbour is the citadel, built by the Genoese in the 15th-17th centuries. Climb up to it by the street or by the Romieu gardens, to enter via the imposing gateway. Within is the square of Place du Donjon, and the entrance to the Palais de Gouverneurs, which now houses the city museum. Deeper within the warren of alleyways are the former cathedral and the Ortoire Baroque Ste-Croix.

Do
Explore Cap Corse, the rugged peninsula stretching north of Bastia. A very twisty road, the D80, makes for a scenic but occasionally nerve-wracking circular drive. Allow about four hours for this, have at least half a tank of fuel aboard before you start, and do not rush. Going anti-clockwise, follow the main coast road north from Bastia port. This section along the east coast, though twisty, is mostly broad enough for traffic to pass with comfort, and the prospect below is not too vertiginous. It passes through Erbalunga and Pietracorbara to Santa Servera, where the road forks: one branch crossing the mountains via Luri to the west coast, the other continuing along the coast to Macinaggio. Buses from Bastia ply the road this far. Then this road also climbs inland, a cul-de-sac road branches off to the north cape at Barcaggio, and the going gets serious. The route back south along the west coast is narrow, twisting and turning high above the restless sea with no barriers between you and a very long drop. Villages along the way, clinging to the mountainside with scenic but precarious harbours, are Centuri, Pino, Canari and Nonza. Finally the road descends to Patrimonio where you'll be relieved to join the main highway D81 for the last hill-climb back over to Bastia. A short detour the other direction (towards Ile Rousse & Calvi) takes in the village of Saint-Florent.

There is an argument for driving the Cap Corse route clockwise, so you'd be on the landward side of the road away from the cliff-edge. But the scariest parts are effectively single-track, with oncoming traffic and a mad white van on your tail.

Football: SC Bastia play soccer in Ligue 2, the second tier. Their home ground Stade Armand-Cesari (capacity 16,000) is in Furiani 10 km south.

Eat
The Vieux Port restaurants major on seafood, but there's Tex-Mex and mainstream Italian.

Connect
As of June 2022, Bastia has 5G from all French carriers.

Go next
Bastia is a good starting point for a tour of Corsica, but you need your own car - or to be a very fit cyclist - to get around this rugged island.

Public transport options are much more limited, but a daily bus runs to Calvi and all other major Corsican cities, and trains run daily to Corte and Ajaccio.

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Bastimentos

Bastimentos is an island in Bocas del Toro province in the Caribbean West of Panama.

Understand
For everyone who feels a bit overwhelmed by the party scene in Bocas town, this is the place to go. In Bastimentos you are going to find the relaxing atmosphere the loud taxis and bars on the main island can't offer.

Get in
You can take a taxi boat for $5 (one way) from the Bocas Town of Isla Colon. There is a specific ferry dock from where the boats go to Bastimentos. It is about 200-300 m further south from the main ferry terminals and has an obvious sign. Otherwise, from the main terminals (for Almirante), there also enough boat man waiting to take you for $5 per person.

Get around
The only village on the island is called Old Bank, consisting of a walking path lined with rustic buildings. There are no cars or roads on this island, so walking and water taxis are the ways of transportation.

See
There are several beautiful beaches in walking distance from town. One is "Wizard Beach" (1.2 km or 20 min from town).

The other one is "Red Frog Beach" (~1 hr walking from Old Bank town). The path is extremely difficult to negotiate, especially during rain. But you might get around paying the $10 park entrance.

Stay safe
There have been regular reports of robberies with machetes on the path between the town of Old Bank and Wizard Beach since 2006. Leave your valuable in your ho(s)tel, ask local sources and always use common sense. Also, you might be better off taking the path across the Cerro Bastimentos hill. This side of town feels far less threatening than the southeastern one.

Do

 * There is a PADI dive centre on Bastimentos called The Dutch Pirate (PADI Store no S 21308) which has cheap prices for Open Water/Advanced certifications, Discover Scuba Diving experience and fun dives.
 * Walk up to the coffee shop Up in the Hill and have a great coffee, tea, etc. while reading/changing a book and enjoying the calm environment and the nice views. Get some brownies and truffles. There is a book store here too.
 * Red Frog beach is popular for its jungle with the famous red frogs aka demonic poison frog aka demonic poison-arrow frog. However, these nice little photo bomb frogs can be found all around the Up in the Hill café, and you might save the $10 charged for the park and beach at Red Frog Beach. Just follow the zirping.
 * Check-out the numerous hanging woven nest of the Crested Oropendola (black feathers, yellow tail) right before the trail to Wizard Beach leaves the jungle.
 * Polo beach is a beach named after its inhabitant - an elderly man who's lived in a shack off the beach for 50 years. You can hike or get a boat there from Red Frog Beach. If you take a tour he will also cook for you. Make sure you try one of his avocados!
 * Take a night tour to see bioluminesence. Tours run when the moon is at its darkest.
 * Nvidia cave - see bats and wade into the depths of this cave.

Buy
The supermarket right next at the docks is the most expensive one. There are two more walking the path along the water down the village.

Eat
There are several restaurants in Old Bank. Roots and Alvin are safe bets for good food at a very reasonable price.

Drink
Not so much for going out here. It is more to calm down from Bocas del Toro experiences. But if you are lucky and have an accommodation on the water, where hanging out is a treat.

Also, Old Bank has a different vibe than gringofied Bocas town - more real but not always in a nice way. Poverty is much more apparent, and after dark the settlement can feel a bit intimidating at times.

Connect
For a totally unique experience, try La Loma Jungle Lodge and Chocolate Farm. It's located in a quiet bay midway down the island and has 4 'handmade' cabins perched on the hillside. The food is incredible with many products grown in the organic gardens. Unsurprisingly, chocolate features prominently.

Cope
A bunch of local kids will try to sell you weed along the towns main walkway. Try to be nice.

Drinking publicly is apparently not allowed and if the paroling officer see you with alcohol, you will have to drop it in the bin.

Go next

 * Bocas town – Many boats take of during the day, just ask your accommodation where to wait best.
 * Isla Solarte
 * Isla Cristóbal

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Bastogne

Bastogne is in the province of Luxembourg, part of the Wallonia region of Belgium. The town is known for its war heritage and is a popular site for remembrance. It is best known for its siege during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 at the end of World War II.

Understand
Curial town in the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive of WWII on the western front. The American forces of the 101 Airborne held this critical crossroad which held up the Germans. The 101 did this against overwhelming odds. Famous phase "Nuts" was the American reply to the Germans when asked to surrender.

Bastogne today marks the end of the Liberty Road (French: La voie de la Liberté) that marks the path of liberating Allied forces. The road starts in Normandy.

By bus
Bus transportation into Bastogne is from the nearby town of Libramont. There is no train station in Bastogne. It is possible to take a train to nearby Libramont and take bus number #6 to Bastogne. Bus transport in Bastogne, just as in the other parts of Wallonia, is operated by TEC.

By car
The town is located near to the E25 highway that links Liège and Arlon. Exit 54 is the one of Bastogne.

Go next

 * Wiltz and Clervaux — two Luxembourgish towns on the other side of the border.
 * Arlon — the regional capital and one of the oldest cities in the country.

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Bastrop

Bastrop is the county seat of Bastrop County, Texas, and is located about east of Austin. Bastrop was settled by Europeans in 1804 and incorporated on December 18, 1837, with a 2020 population of 9688. It is known for its isolated belt of loblolly pines (the "Lost Pines") that exist miles to the west of the Piney Woods of East Texas and Louisiana; see Bastrop State Park below.

Understand

 * Bastrop Chamber of Commerce, 927 Main Street, +1 512 303-0558. M-F 8AM-5PM, Sa 10AM-3PM. Visit the Chamber and pick up a free visitor's guide. If the chamber is closed, guides may be found in the box by the front door.
 * The Bastrop Advertiser is the oldest semi-weekly newspaper in the state of Texas. It publishes twice a week and can be purchased at most area convenience stores for $0.50.
 * Bastrop does not have a smoking ordinance so patrons may smoke inside restaurants, unless it is forbidden by the restaurant.

By plane
Austin Bergstrom International Airport is 30 miles (48 km) west of the city center. The most practical means of travel from the airport is by rental car but taxis are available. A one-way trip by taxi is about $40 (credit cards accepted).

By car
The main highway through Bastrop is Texas State Highway 71 which can be picked up off Interstate Highway 35 in Austin or off Interstate Highway 10 about 75 miles west of Houston.

Get around
Loop 150 off 71 takes you through the heart of historical downtown Bastrop. Once downtown, parking is plentiful and free. Bastrop is small enough that it is practical to park and walk to boutique shops, restaurants, the new river walk and the many historic houses located in the city.

Drink

Go next
Bastrop is 30 minutes (off rush hour) from Austin. The drive in to Austin on Hwy 71 is lined with antiques, gift shops, a flea market, a fossil and bonsai store, and many more central Texas cultural venues. Or you can go to Smithville to shop antiques and country kitsch. Or go to San Marcos for the outlet malls.

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Bataan

Bataan is a province at the Central Luzon region of Luzon. A peninsula surrounded by Manila Bay to the east and the West Philippine Sea (or South China Sea) to the west, it is known in history as the last stronghold of the Americans in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded it during World War II.

Cities and municipalities

 * - Provincial capital and the only city
 * - the largest town with more than 100,000 residents, it is where the infamous Death March began.
 * - Has the Philippine-Japanese Friendship Tower and Las Casas de Acuzar.
 * - Border town at the boundary with Pampanga
 * Morong - Where the controversial Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which remains closed (as of 2018), is located.
 * - Known for Cayetano Arellano Memorial Shrine
 * - Houses the Shrine of Valor atop Mount Samat.

Understand
Bataan is one of the majority Tagalog provinces of Central Luzon, but it also has a Kapampangan minority, on the towns of Dinalupihan, Hermosa and Abucay. The Mariveleño people or the Ayta Magbeken, a subgroup of the Aeta (Negritos), were the indigenous inhabitants of the area; they were displaced by the Tagalogs from Cavite by the 16th century. Descendants of Ilocano settlers live in southeastern areas of the province, on the towns of Orion, Limay, and Mariveles.

Bataan is a mostly mountainous province, occupying the entirety of the namesake Bataan Peninsula. Much of the population is concentrated on the east coast facing Manila Bay, much of which being plains; this includes most of the province's municipalities and the capital Balanga. The western coast facing the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) is mostly sparsely populated; this includes the rural municipalities of Morong and Bagac.

History
Bataan was founded as province in 1757; it included some towns of Pampanga, and the military district of Mariveles, which included also Maragondon in Cavite.

After Japan invaded the Philippines in December 1941, the combined US and Filipino forces were being gradually overrun and General Douglas MacArthur moved his troops to the Bataan Peninsula in an attempt to hold out until a relief force could be sent from the U.S. Japanese forces started a siege of the peninsula on January 7, 1942, and launched an all-out assault on April 3, a few months after the Battle of the Points. The majority of the American and Filipino forces surrendered on April 9 and were forced to march more than from Bataan to Tarlac, which became known as the Bataan Death March.

By car
Bataan is over two hours away from Metro Manila by car. From Manila, you can take the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and exit at San Fernando, and from there, follow the Olongapo-Gapan Road/Jose Abad Santos Avenue straight to Bataan. A longer alternative is to exit at Angeles, connect with the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and exit at Dinalupihan.

A bridge is being proposed to link Bataan from Cavite, but this fixed link is still on the planning stages. An expressway from Metro Manila via the coastline of Bulacan is also being planned.

By bus
Getting to Bataan by bus takes around three hours. There are bus lines, specifically Genesis and Bataan Transit, in Cubao, Pasay and Manila that offers daily trips to Balanga City and Mariveles, Bataan. The fare going to Balanga costs as of April 2016 from Avenida, Manila terminal. Victory Liner have buses to/from Olongapo City (2 hours, ).

By ferry
As of May 2018, the ferry boat going from Manila to Bataan is operational through the FAB Town Terminal in Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB), Mariveles, Bataan, which has a direct ferry service from FAB to Esplanade Seaside Terminal at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City, Metro Manila. The Port of Capinpin in Orion, Bataan is another ferry terminal in the province, having a route from Orion to Manila.

Get around
Driving is the best way to explore Bataan, but roads are generally narrow and winding especially on the west. There is one major highway traversing the province, the Roman Superhighway (Rte 301), which serves the eastern coast, with a route that mostly bypasses the old town centers. Rte 302 (the Gov. J.J. Linao National Rd), connects the western coastal towns of Bagac and Morong; it also serves Mt. Samal.

Buses connect the major towns on the east coast. There is limited bus service to the western coast from Balanga.

See

 * First Abucay Catholic Church
 * Mount Samat – Hosts the Mount Samal National Shrine, containing the cross-shaped Dambana ng Kagitingan (Shrine of Valor) built to honor Filipinos and Americans who died during their last stand at Bataan daring World War II.
 * Bataan Death March Marker – Kilometer posts are found along the route of this infamous march across Bataan.
 * Bataan National Park
 * Zero Kilometer Death March Marker – The Bataan Death March began in Mariveles and stretched for.
 * Mariveles Volcano
 * Bataan Death March Marker
 * Mt. Natib
 * Dunsulan Falls
 * Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac. It is a living museum housing a collection of Spanish-era buildings, which are either reconstructions or replicas.
 * Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong – The Philippines first and only nuclear power plant, which never operated (though plans to reactivate it remain). Can be visited by guided tour.

Sleep

 * D'Samat Hotel. Camacho Street. phone +63 47 2373869. AC single/double rooms with own bathroom from.
 * Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar. Las Casas Road, Bagac. +639178729361. the most Upscale accommodation in all of Bataan

Stay healthy

 * Bataan General Hospital. Balanga City. +63 47-237-1274. (DOH Hospital)

Go next

 * Subic
 * Olongapo
 * Zambales

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Batad

Batad is a village in the Cordillera Administrative Region of the island of Luzon in the Philippines.

Understand
Batad is a village of fewer than 1500 inhabitants, situated among the Ifugao rice terraces. It is perhaps the best place to view this UNESCO World Heritage site.

The village has two principal parts. The main village down in the valley, and the upper portion where the lodges are.

There are no roads or vehicles in Batad; everything that goes in or out of the village is carried by the people who live there. There are some concrete stairs, but apart from that, the roads of Batad are the walls of the rice terraces, many of which can be walked on.

Get in
No road leads all the way to the village.

A jeepney from Banaue ( for tourists, updated May 2024) will bring you across the Saddle and down on the road to Batad. The road is not completed yet, so you have to walk the final bit (20 minutes). Some transportation might also stop at the Saddle (30 minute or more walk downhill to Batad) or at the Junction ( for locals, 30 minute walk uphill to the Saddle). There are two jeepneys in the morning and one at about 3PM from Banaue.

If you can't get a public jeepney get a tricycle from Banaue to the end of the road to Batad (past the Saddle). You will be quoted up to. Try not to settle for this fare but ask around. There are often tricycles headed to the junction to pick up returning travellers, especially after 10AM when there are no more jeepneys out from Batad. They may agree to fares as low as, although to  is more likely. Make sure to agree on where you'll be dropped off. They might say Batad, but then drop you off at the side of the road at the Junction which is up to an hour hike uphill to the Saddle and then downhill to Batad.

Alternatively, you can also book a tricycle from the Municipal Tourism Office in central Banaue to Batad. As of January 2020, the fare is one-way from Banaue to Batad and  for both ways with the tricycle driver waiting for you after your day trek around Batad is over.

You can also hike into Batad. There is a long hike that starts north of Banaue and passes through Cempola, or you can hike in from Bangaan. The trails are mapped on openstreetmap.org but it is probably still a good idea to hire a local guide in Banaue.

Get around
Since no road leads to Batad, there are no motorized vehicles to be found anywhere in the village. This means, of course, that one must get around on foot. (It also means that one can enjoy a delightful respite from the ubiquitous din of tricycles and jeepneys.)

It is not always obvious how to find your way through the rice terraces and it might even require some very mild climbing at times. Locals will be happy to point you in the right direction; they might also be wanting to guide through the various interesting places for.

See
Visitors will pay a environmental and heritage fee at a booth on the path leading to the village.

Buy
There are no real stores to be found within the village proper, but overlooking the village is a cluster of lodges. Here you can buy indigenous souvenirs such as wood carvings, coffee, and rice wine.

Eat
The various lodges offer "foreigner food" (pizza, western breakfast, etc.) in addition to basic Filipino meals. Expect to pay at least.

Drink
Expect to pay a premium for bottled beverages. A small bottle of San Miguel or a litre bottle of water may well cost. It is also possible to buy locally made rice wine.

Sleep
There are lodges overlooking the village proper, providing basic rooms with shared bathroom for around per person.

Go next
Make sure to be back at the end of the road by 9AM to catch the only jeepney back to Banaue. You can also walk all the way up to the Saddle and downhill to the junction to catch a bus to Solano via Banaue that passes at about 10:30AM.

You may also continue on to the village of Cambulo, a difficult 90-minute trek away.

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Batalha

Batalha is a town near Leiria. It is famous for its 14th century monastery, a.

Understand

Batalha (buh-TAH-lyuh, /bɐ.ˈta.ʎɐ/) municipality has 15,553 residents (2021 preliminary).

In 1385, the Aljubarrota battle would end the ongoing war for Portugal's crown in favour of Portuguese born Mestre de Avis, soon to be D. João I. In appreciation to the Virgin Mary having answered his prayers, the winner had a monastery erected near the location of the battle. The settlement that was created to support the building of the monastery developed into the current town of Batalha.

By car
Batalha is served by the A19 motorway (Variante da Batalha) which connects it to A8 (Autoestrada do Oeste) and IC9, as well as with minor roads.

Batalha is along the EN1 road (Estrada Lisboa-Porto), now also designated as IC2.

By bus
Batalha is connected to larger cities by Rede Expressos. The nearest cities, Leiria and Fátima, are connected through Rodoviária do Lis.

Buy
The farmers market takes place every Monday morning, 07:00 to 13:00, near the swimming pool.

Go next

 * Fátima (Sanctuary of Our Lady) – Place of the worldwide famous Marian apparitions.
 * Alcobaça (Monastery)
 * Tomar (Castle and the Convent of Christ)
 * Nazaré (Beach of the Guinness Book Records big waves surfed)

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Batam

Batam is a small but busy island in the Riau Islands in Indonesia that is 45 km by 25 km, and has nearly a million people, hundreds of factories owned by multinationals, towns, shopping centres. Only 30 minutes by ferry from Singapore, it is a gateway to the other Riau Islands.

Towns and districts

 * Batam Island
 * — governmental center of Batam
 * — also known as Lubuk Baja, this is Batam's busiest business and commercial area
 * — The majority of Batam's resorts are here
 * — Resort area
 * — Batam's main domestic port is located here
 * Barelang Islands — an acronym of Batam, Rempang, and Galang Islands, this is a group of islands which are administrated as part of the city of Batam. For the purposes of this guide the Barelang Islands article only covers the rest of the islands other than Batam.
 * - rural island dotted with coastal villages on stilts
 * - location of former Vietnamese refugee camp

Understand
Located only 20 km from Singapore and 25 km from Johor in Malaysia, Batam is Indonesia's equivalent to China's SEZs (Special Economic Zones) - a place where the nation's economic planners test new economic policies and ideas. The island is an industrial hub with electronics factories, a large and growing ship repair industry and an even larger oil service sector. Quite a few expats head there for work, and pubs and golf courses have sprung up to serve them.

Most tourists, on the other hand, come from nearby Singapore. While there is a smattering of family resorts, Bintan is more popular for this; instead, the main lure on Batam is the naughty nightlife. However, the new governor of the province has shut down the casinos and taken steps to curb prostitution, and the goings-on aren't quite as in your face as they used to be.

Talk
Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is modeled on the version of Malay which originates from Riau on the Sumatra mainland and the Riau Islands. In fact, Riau Malay is regarded as quite similar to the Malay language and visitors from Malaysia will find the Indonesian spoken here very similar to the historical Bahasa Malaysia, which is the version of Malay spoken back home.

Batam also has a large population of ethnic Chinese Indonesians, who also can speak Hokkien (Fujian), Teochew and Mandarin. There are also many migrants from various parts of Indonesia who speak many different Indonesian languages.

Get in
All Batam ports, namely Harbour Bay (Jodoh), Batam Centre, Nongsapura, Sekupang and Waterfront City (Teluk Senimba) are visa-free and visa-on-arrival ports of entry. For detailed information on visas, please refer to the Indonesia page.

By plane

As often in Indonesia there is a first security check for entering the terminal, which implies some queuing. Batam airport has only toilets, ATM, money exchange and a few overpriced souvenir shops.

For most foreign visitors though, the most practical way of getting to Batam will be to fly into Singapore and catch a ferry from there. There is a shuttle service connecting Changi Airport with Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, taking about 20 minutes. If you want to catch flights from Singapore's Changi Airport, you must be on a ferry to Singapore's Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal at least three hours before departure time. Batam is one hour behind Singapore, so keep that in mind when planning your schedule. See "By boat" section below for details.

By boat
The main ports on Batam are Harbour Bay, Batam Center, Sekupang, Waterfront City, Nongsapura and Telaga Punggur. The main city of Nagoya is now served by Harbour Bay (Jodoh), replacing the old Batu Ampar ferry terminal.

Harbour Bay terminal has the fastest voyage time, 45 minutes away from Singapore HarbourFront Centre and Nagoya City Center is 10 minutes drive away. It also serves domestic ferry service to Riau island and Stulang Laut and Puteri Harbour Malaysia Johor.

Batam Centre Ferry Terminal has ferry connections from Singapore and Johor Bahru. Sekupang, with ferries from Singapore is best used for those catching domestic connections to the Sumatra mainland and the Karimun Islands. Waterfront City and Nongsapura mostly serve adjacent resorts while Telaga Punggur is the main ferry terminal for boats to and from Bintan.

 * From Singapore: Ferries departing from the Harbourfront Ferry Terminal go to Harbour Bay Terminal, Sekupang, Batam Centre and Waterfront City (Teluk Senimba) while ferries from the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal serve Batam Centre and Nongsapura. Batam's time zone is one hour behind Singapore's, so be sure to factor that in when looking at schedules, particularly if you need to connect to a flight out of Singapore. While Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal is located very close to Changi Airport, HarbourFront is some distance away; give yourself at least 30 min (1 hour in peak hour traffic) to make any transfers by taxi.
 * From Harbourfront: Ferry operators include:
 * Horizon Fast Ferry ( in HarbourFront Centre, in Harbour Bay Terminal) to Harbour Bay Terminal.
 * Batam Fast ( in Batam Centre; in Sekupang;  in Harbour Bay Terminal;  in Harbourfront). Also hourly ferries to Batam Centre, fewer ferries to Sekupang and Harbour Bay Terminal.
 * Sindo Ferry ( in Harbourfront; in Batam Centre;  in Sekupang;  in Waterfront City) to Batam Centre, Sekupang and Waterfront City.
 * Majestic Fast Ferry (/ in Batam Centre; / in Sekupang; in HarbourFront Centre) to Batam Centre and Sekupang.
 * From Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal: Ferries operated by:
 * Batam Fast ( in Nongsapura; in Tanah Merah FT). Several ferries daily to Nongsapura.
 * Sindo Ferry ( in Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal; in Batam Centre).  Several ferries daily to Batam Centre.
 * Majestic Fast Ferry (/ in Batam Centre; in Tanah Merah FT). Several daily ferries to Batam Centre.
 * To/From Malaysia: Ferries link Johor Bahru with Harbour Bay Terminal and Batam Centre. There are virtually hourly departures between 07:50 and 18:40 from JB to Batam, and between 07:50 and 1:720 from Batam to JB.
 * From Bintan:
 * The main port for ferries between the capital city of Riau Islands Tanjung Pinang at the island Bintan and Batam is Telaga Punggur at the southeastern end of Batam:
 * Baruna ( in Telaga Punggur; in Tanjung Pinang) and Sentosa operate speedboats between Telaga Punggur and Bintan's main town Tanjung Pinang virtually every 15 minutes during daylight hours. Tickets cost Rp25,000 - 40,000 excluding port taxes (Rp5,000).
 * Frequent speedboats also run between Telaga Punggur and Tanjung Uban on the western part of Bintan.
 * Getting there/away: Official taxis from Batam Centre to Telaga Punggur cost Rp65,000. On the reverse way, it's Rp60,000. You can try and bargain for a lower rate with taxis outside the port area (Batam centre to Telaga Punggur may cost Rp50,000). Passenger vans or mikrolet (known as Metro Trans by the locals) run between Telaga Punggur and Jodoh/Nagoya. They will go back & forth to wait until their van is full before they really depart.
 * Boats from Tanjung Pinang also call at Sekupang at the northeastern part of Batam when going to or coming from the Sumatra mainland such as to Dumai and Pekanbaru, as well as Karimun Island. These are however not as frequent as those leaving from Telaga Punggur. To get to Sekupang, please see following section.
 * From Sumatra mainland, other Riau Islands: Batam's main domestic port is Sekupang, where you can ferries to/from the Sumatra mainland and other Riau Islands west of Batam. You can also use Sekupang for ferries from Bintan but the bulk of ferries to that island leave from Telaga Punggur (see "From Bintan" section above). Getting there/away: Numerous taxis make the run between Sekupang and Nagoya. There is also a public minibus service between Sekupang and Batam Center as well as Nagoya.
 * From Karimun Island: Regular ferries operate between Tanjung Balai on Karimun and Sekupang. Some of the ferries originate from the Sumatra mainland or Kundur Island. Boats also stop at Tanjung Balai when going from Sekupang to Sumatra or Kundur.
 * From Dumai: Several companies, including Dumai Express operates several ferries daily to/from Sekupang. Most of these ferries originate from Tanjung Pinang, the main town on Bintan, and also make a stop at Tanjung Balai on Karimun Island after making a stop at Sekupang.
 * From Kundur Island: Several ferry companies run daily between Sekupang and Tanjung Batu on Kundur. These ferries also make a stop at Tanjung Balai on Karimun en route.
 * Other ferry destinations include Pekanbaru, Selat Panjang, Bengkalis and Tanjung Buton in Riau, and Kuala Tungkal in Jambi province.
 * From other parts of Indonesia: Pelni ships which serve various ports throughout Indonesia call at Sekupang.

By taxi

There are plenty of taxis in Batam, but there are no standard color schemes: however, licensed taxis have yellow license plates, while unlicensed ones do not (and are best avoided). As there are no meters, you will need to bargain with the drivers; the first price quoted is often silly, but if there are other taxis around, you can easily bargain them down. Sample fares for reference:

 * Telaga Punggur to Batam Centre (Rp112,000, 25 min). As of July 2015, this was a fixed fare. No haggling was undertaken
 * Nagoya to Harbour Bay ferry terminal at Batu Ampar (Rp30,000 fixed price, 8 min)
 * Sekupang to Batam Centre (Rp50,000)
 * Hang Nadim airport to Nagoya/Jodoh (Rp75,000 - fixed price)
 * Batam Centre ferry terminal to Hang Nadim airport: Rp90,000 (fixed price as of 2017)
 * Full-day hire of a taxi Rp500,000 (around S$70)

If you feel more comfortable with metered taxis, there are a few of these taxis attached with it, but please ensure that you asked the driver to operate the meter before getting into the taxi, otherwise they will not operate it and may charge you more than the amount that you are supposed to pay.

By minibus (Metro Trans)
Fixed route plies between Jodoh and Telaga Punggur (Rp3,000-4,000). Sample fares for other destinations are as follows:

 * Jodoh to Sembulang via Sukajadi Rp9,500
 * Jodoh to Galang Baru via Sukajadi Rp12,000
 * Dapur 12 to Mukakuning Rp3,000
 * Dapur 12 to Jodoh via Sukajadi Rp4,000

By bus
The Batam local government (known as pemerintah) operates a bus service known as "Bus Pilot Project". The blue colour bus plies between Batam Center and Batu Aji for Rp4,000 and Batam Center to Sekupang Rp4,000. Buy your ticket from the personnel before boarding.

Most hotels run shuttle buses during the day to the ferry ports and to the main shopping mall. It seems that none run a shuttle to airport.

You can hop into a free shuttle bus (yellow in colour) from Megamall Batam Center to the major hotels in Nagoya or Jodoh.

By car
The Kijang, which is generally everywhere in Indonesia, is strangely absent in Batam. Your hotel may be able to arrange a car and driver for you, but be prepared to pay Rp100,000 or more, which is almost double the rate in Jakarta.

Do
The Waterfront City area of Batam is on the western side of the island. There are several attractions & activities available in this area, such as water & sea sports activities, a fishing pond, go-kart racing track, a football field, as well as a beach for swimming or playing with the kids. There is also a cable ski park, Jet Ski, para sailing and banana boats for the adventurous.

Down at the Barelang Islands, connected to Batam by a series of 6 bridges, there are many good beaches, as well as an old Vietnamese refugee camp, that was occupied for 20 years by Vietnamese boat people, and has now been restored as a tourist attraction. The site is quite overgrown in places by the jungle and takes around 1hour to drive to from Batam Centre. However, on entering the site there are several colonies of macaque monkeys by the road side. This is also a favourite route for cyclists.

Mega Wisata Ocarina Batam is a newly developed theme park in Batam Centre. The large ferris wheel and other carnival attractions are fun, there is a water park and 3D movie theater inside, along with several food-court style restaurants. This whole complex has an unfinished air to it and is a work in progress.

Batam is not generally considered to be good for snorkeling, due to its position in the murky waters of the world's busiest shipping channel, but the small island of Abang to the south gets good reviews - you may need a tour to get there.

Buy
The Indonesian rupiah may be legal tender, but the Singapore dollar (S$) is Batam's unofficial second currency. Tourist-oriented hotels, restaurants and shops usually quote prices in S$, and they will be accepted by nearly anybody in a pinch. However, if you decide to pay by credit card, by law your bill must be converted to rupiah first—and the exchange rate is unlikely to be in your favor.

There are many malls in Batam offering a variety of stores and restaurants. Nagoya Hill Mall, in Nagoya, has a Matahari department store, Hypermart supermarket, ACE Hardware, and a Cinema 21. Restaurants include J.Co, KFC, A&W, BFC, Pizza Hut, Ayam Goreng Fatmawati, Solaria, Grandduck Chinese restaurant & newtown coffee at the top of the mall.

BCS Mall in Baloi has a Golden Truly department store, a Gramedia and a bowling alley.

If you would like to bring Indonesian delicacy back for your family, opt for the layer cake (kek lapis), which is available in most of the shopping malls and ferry terminals. They are handmade and have become the iconic takeaway delicacy from Batam.

Eat
Batam has plenty of eating out choices, including great Chinese seafood in the outdoor food courts, such as the Windsor and Nagoya Food Courts and A1 Pujasera.

Local best valued Indonesian food are Daun Pisang Resto, where travellers can taste mixed of archipelagos food. Another option is Nasi Padang Sederhana; both are widely loved by local and international travellers.

 * Batam Harbour Bay seafood.jpg Harbour Bay Terminal area, there is a stretch of seafood restaurants overlooking the ocean.
 * For seafood over the water, try Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant in Bengkong. They are famous for their seafood. This large restaurant which resembles several open air marquees is cheap and cheerful in the furnishings. The chairs and the plates are plastic but the staff are warm and welcoming.
 * Grand Duck Restaurant in Nagoya Hill Mall is a must try.
 * In the Nagoya area behind Harmoni Hotel, there are dozens of bars that serve Western pub food; try the pizza at Wallabie's, about Rp. 80,000 for a large.
 * For authentic Balinese roasted pork, visit Warung Bali in Batam Center. They have fresh babi guling every Saturday after 11:00.
 * All of the major hotels have restaurants, some better than others. If you come during Ramadan (In August–September), you have your choice of all-you-can-eat buffets of traditional Indonesian fare from every major hotel; prices range from about Rp45,000-75,000.

Drink
City authorities claim that Batam's tap water is drinkable, but the rusty color puts some people off. It is wise to stick with bottled water anyway, about Rp10,000 for a 5-gallon jug.

Carlsberg and Guinness are produced locally, as well as Bintang and Tiger beer. Most places have Heineken on tap. Imported beers, such as Corona are available, but prices are high. A normal draft beer should be no more than Rp25,000.

Wine and liquor is available from the duty-free stores in nearly all of the larger malls, most bars and hotels.

Batam Fresh Beer is the only microbrewery on the island, headquartered in Batam Center near the large mosque (behind Pondok Gurih restaurant). Price is Rp15,000 a glass for any of their beers (dark and light at 5 or 7% alc or green at 5%).

Sleep
Much of Batam's accommodation is in Nagoya. There are several resorts in Nongsa.

Upon arrival in the ferry terminal (Harbour Bay or Batam Centre) you can go to the Hotel Reservation Counter, they will have numerous options for the 3+ star hotels in on the island. These may give you a slightly better value than booking directly with the hotel, so it is not a scam. In addition, however, there are budget options available such as family apartments.

Stay safe
Batam is generally safe during the daytime hours, but at night if you are in the entertainment areas of Nagoya you should exercise caution. Do not walk alone at night, if you want to leave somewhere and it is late, find someone else who is leaving or about to leave, or stay until it closes and then all go together. If you really have to get back to your hotel call the hotel and have them send a car to pick you up. As the taxis are not regulated or owned by a central group (like Bluebird in Jakarta) you may not be safe hiring a taxi off the street either. Walking in groups or two or three is probably okay but do not get into discussions with the locals as you may be asking to have your wallet or purse taken from you. If this happens, don't chase, just walk back to where you were or to the hotel and report to the police later.

Traveling safe is another matter. The roads around Batam are OK, but not maintained to the highest standard. The taxi drivers in particular delight in driving as fast as they can and they really like to overtake on a curve or bend. If you feel at all uncomfortable ask the driver to slow down, tell him you are not in a hurry, usually they are OK, although you might have to yell at them in Indonesian a few times to get them to drive safely.

If you have to drink it is always better to do it in your own hotel or a family restaurant-cum-bar. If you go to an ordinary bar, there have been instances where drugs were put in one's bag unknowingly and then locals threaten to call the police unless you pay them.

Consulates

 * 🇸🇬 Singapore

Connect

 * The country code for Indonesia is 62. The area code for Batam is 778. To call Singapore from Wartel phone shop, please dial 007-65 follow by the phone no.
 * The General Post office (known as kantor pos in Bahasa Indonesia) is at Batam Center, not far from the ferry terminal

Go next
Batam, with its good ferry connections, is an excellent springboard to the other Riau Islands such as the Tanjung Uban and Kijang Bintan Island and the Sumatra mainland. Good air connections also make Batam a good place to get cheap air tickets to Jakarta and other parts of Indonesia.

title: Batam


text:
Batam Centre

Batam Centre is a town in Batam developed by the government to become the centre to business and commerce, but up till now it consists mainly of government and office buildings. Most of the business and commerce is located in Nagoya.

By taxi
You can take taxi from Airport to Batam Centre. Official taxi costs about Rp80,000, but if you go out of airport you can get taxi for only Rp30,000. Just haggle & agree on price before go on board.

Get around
By walking

Buy
There is only one big shopping mall: Mega Mall - Batam.

Eat
Many great coffee shops in Mega Mall with free WIFI and good speeds.

JC Donuts and Bread talk outlets for a western snack fix.

Go next

 * Nagoya
 * Singapore

title: Batam Centre