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La Alpujarra

La Alpujarra is an enchanting and remarkable part of Andalucia. Treasured by the Moors as a 'paradise' location, this mountainous area lies between the summits of the Sierra Nevada and the Mediterranean coast of the Costa del Sol. As a holiday destination it is ideal for walking, cycling, riding, photography, painting and the appreciation of flowers and wildlife; but most of all for just unwinding and taking time out.

Understand

The southern-facing slopes that ascend to the peaks of the Sierra Nevada are gentle in their incline but are cut by deep valleys and gorges, such as the Rio Poqueira, the Rio Trevelez or the Rio Grande. The hillsides are covered in ancient terraces that are still used to cultivate olives, the fruit of every sort, wheat and vegetables. The legacy of the Moors is the extensive irrigation system, the 'acequias', that divert water out of the deep valleys and onto the broad terraces. This ancient system of watering has been responsible for the characteristic look of the area and for the fact that forests of broad-leafed trees such as the emblematic Chestnut can survive as the water is spread and filtered across the landscape. Along with the cultivation of crops the land is still grazed by sheep and goats, many of which migrate to the pastures of the high Sierra Nevada in the summer months.

The climate is generally mild with temperatures seldom going above during the summer in the higher mountain villages. In the winter when the skies are clear, it is often warm enough for just a t-shirt during the day, but at nighttime, the temperatures frequently fall below zero at locations above. The area is divided between the eastern Alpujarra in the province of Almeria and the western Alpujarra in Granada. There is also a significant distinction between the villages of the high and low Alpujarra in terms of access and general living conditions associated with climate. The western Alpujarra — notably Orgiva, the Poqueira Gorge (Capileira, Bubión & Pampaneira) and the 7 villages of La Taha — is within easy striking distance of the historical city of Granada with its fabulous Alhambra Palace, yet is close enough to the coast to enjoy a day lounging on the beach. During the winter and spring, you can even go skiing on the high slopes of the Sierra Nevada - less than two hours by car.

Get in

You can also get to La Alpujarra by bus from Granada, although there are only 3 buses a day (every day) between Granada and High Alpujarra.

See

While winter skiing is available on the colder, northern side of Sierra Nevada, the southern face of the gently sloping range receives the Andalucian sunshine and is home to a variety of endemic plants, herds of ibex and eagles, as well as the human population in the little white villages dotted here and there.

It's a magnet for walkers and horse riders, offering high altitude terrain, trails through pine forest and spectacular views, while restaurants and comfortable lodging and holiday homes are available in the villages and mountain countryside locations.

A visit to La Alpujarra isn't complete without driving or walking up to Sierra Nevada National Park, best reached from Capileira and Trevelez villages.

Hiking
The Alpujarras is a fabulous area for walking, whether you are interested in high-altitude treks in the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, many of which are over or casual meandering around the fascinating villages of the high Alpujarra. The GR7 path (Gran Recorrido, a long-distance footpath from Athens to Algeciras) passes through the area and there is an extensive network of other tracks to choose from. The paths are well sign-posted and are often old mule tracks - so the steepness is no more than a loaded mule can manage! The area is never crowded with walkers and you can often be out in the mountains all day and encounter no more than a shepherd with his flock.

If you choose your walks carefully and are prepared to make the most of the day then walking is possible here at all times of year. For example, in August, when the lower valleys are possibly too hot for vigorous activities, temperatures in the accessible high mountains may not go much above.

Mulhacen, in the Sierra Nevada, is the highest peak on mainland Spain. Whilst in the winter it is difficult to access this peak and only the most experienced of walkers should attempt it, in the summer there is a service that runs from the Alpujarran village of Capileira taking walkers by bus up into the National Park area of the Sierra Nevada in order to start an ascent on this summit.

Yoga
This is a great area to go on a retreat. Near Orgiva there is a dedicated yoga and wellbeing centre called Kaliyoga,. It offers weekly retreats throughout the year with friendly staff and a home-away-from-home approach, offering an experience of peace and inner wisdom that can have a positive impact on your daily life. It has been featured in magazines and many health & lifestyle publications.

Eat
La Alpujarra offers cuisine indicative of its history as a very poor region of Spain: heavy on substance but don't expect subtlety. You won't go hungry and it won't cost you much, but don't expect the gastronomic marvels of northern Spain or Mediterranean delicacies. If you enjoy meat be sure to try the mountain-cured serrano ham, available everywhere. Also morcilla, a type of black pudding, is a speciality along with the heavily meat-laden Plato Alpujarreño, a cholesterol feast not unlike an English breakfast.

Vegetarians should be aware that the pig is the mainstay of Alpujarra dishes. Spanish omelettes or more the exciting 'Revueltas' are good choices for vegetarians. 'Revueltos' are scrambled eggs mixed with other ingredients, so specify 'no meat' ('sin carne'). A common ingredient to mix with the eggs to make this dish is 'Acelgas' or chard. Mixed salads tend to be large enough to feed two people, but often include tuna and sometimes ham.

Drink
For a local wine ask for 'Vino Costa'. This is a pinky brown wine with a strong taste and stronger kick. The pinker it is the younger it is - it should be drunk reasonably young. If you order this in a bar the chances are it will have been made by the family who run the bar from their own grapes.

Coffee is almost always excellent and strong.

For a non-alcoholic beverage ask for Mosto, unfermented grape juice.

Many places will still give you free 'tapas' (small plates of food to nibble) if you have a wine or a beer. This is a great Spanish tradition that has disappeared from many other areas.

Sleep
Accommodation is generally reasonably priced. Hotels tend to be functional, with a few notable exceptions, such as the delightfully rustic if somewhat remote Alquería de Morayma at Cádiar in the low Alpujarra. A more interesting experience may be had by staying in self-catering cottages and village houses, which often offer good value and are likely to exhibit elements of the curious Berber-style architecture inherited from the Moors.

Stay safe
It's hard to imagine anyone having any concerns regarding safety in this region, except for the weather. Sensible precautions should be taken from the sun and heat in the summer to avoid sunburn and heat stroke. Winter in the higher villages is similar to Northern Europe and not what you expect from a region so near to the Mediterranean. Even in summer bad weather on the peaks which rise to, could be life-threatening.

Go next
The nearest city to the Alpujarra is Granada.

In the high Alpujarras consider:
 * Pitres
 * Portugos

title: La Alpujarra


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La Amistad International Park

The La Amistad International Park, or in Spanish Parque Internacional La Amistad, formerly the La Amistad National Park, is a transboundary protected area in Latin America, management of which is shared between Costa Rica and Panama

Understand
The park area is equally split between Costa Rica and Panama, as part of the former La Amistad Reserves of the Talamanca mountain range. It covers 401,000 ha of tropical forest and is the largest nature reserve in Central America and together with a 15 km buffer zone it represents a major biodiversity resource at a regional (ca 20% of the regions species diversity) and global level. This is recognized in its strategic position in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and its designation as a. Its cross-frontier position gives it unique potential to improve bioregional planning.

History
The only substantial scientific explorations deep into the park were led by the Natural History Museum London, INBio and the University of Panama in 2003-2008. In 2006 the UK's Darwin Initiative funded a three-year collaborative project led by the Natural History Museum, London, INBio (Costa Rica) and ANAM (Panama). The aim of which was to generate baseline biodiversity information for the park and a map of the biodiversity. This involved a series of seven multi-disciplinary and international expeditions to remote parts of La Amistad during which over 7,500 plant, 17,000 beetle and 380 herpetological collections were made and deposited in the national collections of Costa Rica and Panama. These expeditions also lead to the discovery of 12 plant species, one dung beetle species, fifteen amphibian and three reptile species new to science.

Landscape
The park’s buffer zone includes coffee and beef producers and indigenous subsistence farmers. A consequence of the difficulty of the terrain, the park is relatively unexplored.

Flora and fauna
You can find different animals in this park like the quetzal. This forest is a cloudforest. Which means most of the year it is covered in mist.

By car

 * Biolley Sector: From Pérez Zeledón take the road at Paso Real (Kilometer 221 of Route 2), then 15 km towards San Vito de Coto Brus to Las Tablas de Potrero Grande, and then 20 km to the park.
 * : It is possible to drive from San Vito de Coto Brus to the La Amistad ranger station, by taking Route 135.

By bus
There is no direct bus to Las Nubes. But there are buses from David to Cerro Punta (price from David is around $4.30, from Volcán around $1.30) and then you can use taxi to Las Nubes for $3. Some buses are driving around crossroad Cerro Punta - Las Nubes - Guadalupe and from there you can walk 6 km to park entrance.

Fees and permits
Price for adults is $5.

Stay safe
Trails can be muddy even during dry season. If possible, walk with somebody else, because some trails are in poor condition and mostly without cell phone signal to call help.

After returning to hotel, check yourself for ticks.

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

title: La Amistad International Park


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La Antilla

La Antilla is in Huelva province in the autonomous region of Andalusia. Frequented mainly by Spanish vacationers, it is known for its clean waters and peaceful atmosphere. If you want a couple of relaxed days by the beach away from tourist traps like Marbella, this is the place to come.

Understand
La Antilla caters mainly for Spanish tourists, especially from Seville. Its beaches are part of the Costa de la Luz, which comprises the coasts of the provinces of Huelva and Cádiz.

La Antilla's beaches enjoy very good weather conditions. With mild temperatures during winter, summers not as hot as in the interior of the Peninsula, as well as more than three thousand hours of sunshine a year. La Antilla beach has great infrastructure for the enjoyment of the beach, as well as all the services within the municipality of La Antilla that the visitor may need.

La Antilla has a stable population of 1,500 inhabitants (2011) in winter and reaches 40,000 in summer. La Antilla used to be a fishermen's village, and you can enjoy its traditional atmosphere. La Antilla beach is less than 5 km from the municipality of Lepe, and stretches for almost 4 km of coastline, made up of fine golden sands.

La Antilla beach has a lot of leisure services, hotels on La Antilla beach, restaurants and ideal accommodation to enjoy a holiday in Huelva with children.

Do
La Antilla has a 24-hole golf course.

Drink
La Cerveceria Small but popular bar on the main strip. Cheap beer and a limited menu of tapas.

Sleep
There are a few hostels along the strip ranging in price. Weekends can become very busy, especially during summer.

 * Sol y Mar  Avda.de la Antilla, 43. Cheap, quiet and friendly hostel 50 m from the beach and restaurants. The owner doesn't speak English. Rooms with ensuite bathroom and aircon from €30/double room. Free Wifi.

title: La Antilla


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Laax

The town of Laax is a rural municipality of 1,900 people (2018) composed of several villages in the Surselva valley of Graubunden in Switzerland. Its principal attractions are skiing in the winter, and hiking and mountain biking in the summer. Outside of the villages, the land is split between forest and farms.

Understand
Laax is somewhat of a sprawling place. Villages are dotted about in meadows and roads wind, hidden by pine trees, snow dumped prettily all over the place. Warm chalets give off wood smoke from their chimneys. The majestic Swiss Alps frown down upon the place. Laax is a different place altogether in the summer, the villages dotted about in white meadows change to green and the lakes fill with glacier melt. Lag da Cauma is the largest natural lake in the area. As always it is approached by a long winding track lined with pines, but at a wooden fence a spectacular view awaits. At the bottom of the bowl lies a lake, which is every shade of blue from aquamarine to navy. Glacial flour gives the lake it’s brilliant blue. A scruffy island floats in the middle whilst pedalos and rowing boats whiz around it stopping at pontoons to deposit swimmers. A little ‘rack and pinion’ railway drops hoards of bathers at lunch and hauls them back at tea. Making a stop at the café on the terrace before plunging in. It is best not to come here on a hot day, as it is busy and it does not make a difference to water temperature. It is a glacial lake for a reason.

Laax is a distinct village, which speaks mainly Romansch and German. Laax is made up of several different villages, including Laax Cons,Salums, Murschetg, Staderas, Uletsch and Vitg. Murschetg is where ski lifts run up the mountain, the main station being Crap Sogn Gion (meaning St. John's Rock, although rather comic in English). It is linked via these lifts to Flims and Falera, the three together form 'Die Alpenarena' or 'Weiße Arena', this refers to the ski resort, yet all the villages retain separate identities. Flims is more of a family place with more gentle runs for beginners, it is more skiing orientated. Laax however is somewhat of a snowboarding mecca in Switzerland. The world's largest half-pipe is situated at the Crap Sogn Gion. Laax is much trendier than Flims or Falera, with the Riders Palace holding regular concerts. Laax Vitg is much more traditional, here is the Laax museum, and the older buildings.

By public transport
Laax can most conveniently be accessed by postal bus from Chur. The trip takes between 40 minutes and 1 hour, depending on whether it is a direct bus or not. There are 1-3 trips an hour depending on the season and the time of the day. The bus goes via Flims. There is also an hourly bus from Illanz which takes around 20 minutes.

By car
The main road through the Surselva goes leads through Laax, so either from Illanz or Chur just follow the main road to Flims. If coming from the A13 express way take the exit Reichenau and follow the signs in direction of Disentis. Coming from the south of the Alps you can approach over the San Bernadino pass (A13) in winter and Oberalp, Lukmanier and Albula passes in summer.

Get around
There is a shuttle bus that runs from Falera all the way to Fidaz (an outer 'suburb' of Flims). This runs only in the winter and is free. Other buses run different routes, mainly connecting districts of Laax or Flims. The Post Bus also runs long some of the route, yet does not connect to Fidaz or Falera.

In winter

 * Swimming the indoor pool in Laax
 * Ice-skating on the frozen Laaxersee.Bring your own skates.
 * Ice-skating on the frozen Laaxersee.Bring your own skates.

In summer

 * Hiking
 * Mountain biking
 * Rafting
 * Swimming - There are several gorgeous if cold lakes, Laaxersee and Lag la Cauma.

Buy

 * Outdoor gear: being such a sporting place it is only reasonable that there are lots of outdoors sport shops, selling everything from anoraks to skiis. Here is a list of some of the shops:

Eat

 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg
 * Mulania (in Hotel Signina), Laax Muschetg

Go next

 * There is the rest of the Surselva to explore as well as Graubunden. South of the Alps can be reached by the Lukmanier pass, or the nearby San Bernadino.

Flims Laax Falera

title: Laax


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Labadee

Labadee is a cruise ship port in Northern Haiti. It is a private resort leased by Royal Caribbean International (RCI) for use by its Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Celebrity Cruise line cruise ships. Royal Caribbean International has contributed the largest proportion of tourist revenue to Haiti since 1986. The resort is completely tourist-oriented and safe as there is a personal security force. A controlled group of Haitian merchants are given sole rights to sell their merchandise and establish their businesses in the resort. The site is fenced off from the surrounding area. The cruise ships anchor either at the pier or offshore and passengers walk from the pier to dry land or are ferried to the resort when ships have to anchor offshore.

The village of Labadie, after which the resort is named, is not normally accessible from the resort and is not for the casual tourist, as it is a fairly nondescript, impoverished community.

Get in

As a virtually private resort for the cruiselines owned by RCI, the primary but not only entry for visitors is by cruise ship. The cruise ships moor to the pier at Labadee capable of servicing the Oasis class ships, which was completed in late 2009.

Other visitors can come by land to the resort's security gate or may use small water taxis from a nearby town. Guards are reportedly very "firm" with anyone (especially Haitians that do not work there) who attempts to breach the security perimeter.

Except for some workers and security people, virtually no one stays beyond twilight.

Get around
The resort is on a peninsula about 300-400 m long, so is small enough to reach all areas by foot from the landing dock. Open air shuttles also run between all areas.

The resort does offer wave-runners and kayaks to explore elsewhere along the sheltered shoreline.

See
There are several ruins in Labadee, dating back to its time as a small colonial port. You really have to look hard to find them in most cases but a few are out in the open.

Do

 * The beaches are quite pretty, though the ones closest to the dock can become crowded if the cruise ship is carrying many families. Consider taking a shuttle to one of the areas to the left from where you tender in. A few lifeguards watch the designated swimming areas. Some snorkeling can be enjoyed around rock ledges on the protected side, but the resort insists that snorkelers rent/use buoyancy vests, making diving problematic. Swimming on the Atlantic side can be tricky (due to undertows and sharp rocks/coral) if there is a brisk wind (often). Padded beach chairs are available at no charge.
 * Cruise line activity staff usually organize a volleyball game at the volleyball court.

For a fee:

 * Children (of all ages) may also enjoy a modest waterpark with floating waterslides.
 * Adults can ride the Dragon's Breath zip line, a long (but fast) cable slide starting from high atop a nearby hill and ending in the resort. Riders are first trained on a small line (Jan 2020 fee: $99).
 * Jetskis and other water toys are available for rental.
 * The cruise lines run snorkeling, kayaking and sightseeing excursions.

Buy
The resort offers a large but sometimes repetitive group of stalls (inside and outside an open-air building) offering Haitian arts, crafts, souvenirs and Haitian rum. Prices are typical for what is found at most cruise ports. Vendors are highly aggressive and will haggle. If you decide to go into the building, be wary of entering stalls that have a dead end as vendors have been known to block the exit by standing in the doorway to attempt to prevent those who have not purchased anything from leaving.

Eat
Most of the food and beverage offerings (hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ, salads, fruit, soft drinks, juice drinks) are catered by each cruise ship at three "cafés". Passengers receive a buffet lunch and tea, lemonade, punch for free but must pay for soda and alcoholic beverages just as on the ship.

Drink
There are seven bars scattered across the peninsula, including a nice bar overlooking the beach near the main café building. Waiters constantly offer frozen drinks, usually the labadoozie (or sometimes spelled labaduzie) along the beaches and will also retrieve well drinks or beer on request--all at cruise ship prices and paid by cruise ship room key/account card. The labadoozie consists of a number of mixed fruit juices. It may either be non-alcoholic or have rum in it, depending on what the customer wants. Also, bottled water is available at the bars.

Sleep
There are no such facilities in the resort, and security guards will remove any visitor trying to remain overnight.

Go next
The rest of Haiti, including the town of Labadie, which the resort of Labadee is named after, is not normally accessible from Labadee resort. Your logical next destination is wherever your cruise ship takes you.

title: Labadee


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Labahe Nature Reserve

Labahe Nature Reserve is in the Ganzi Prefecture of Sichuan, west of Ya'an.

Landscape
Labehe Nature Reserve is a river gorge on the Laba River (or Laba He) in Erlangshan National Park.

Flora and fauna
Subtropical forests include extensive bamboo groves.

Climate
Subtropical climate, with a high chance of rain and fog in spring and summer.

Get in
The park was closed due to the danger of falling rocks in June 2010. Authorities expected it to open again in 2010.

Fees and permits
There is an entry fee to the park.

Do
The main activity in the park is hiking.

Sleep
There are hotels in the park.

Camping
Camping is not permitted in the park.

Backcountry
Backcountry hikes are not permitted.

Go next
It is best to talk to your hotel to arrange transport to Luding or Ya'an.

title: Labahe Nature Reserve


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La Bastide-Clairence

La Bastide-Clairence is a city in Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

See

 * La Bastide-Clairence is a typical basque village, with its white houses and red shutters. Founded in 1312.
 * The church Notre-Dame (porch from the 14th century)
 * The Jewish cemetery (a few old tombs)

title: La Bastide-Clairence


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La Baule

La Baule, or La Baule-Escoublac, is a city in the département of Loire-Atlantique, in the region of Pays de la Loire, in France. It is one of the most popular and longest beaches on the French Atlantic coast, and it prides itself of being "one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe". It is bordered by the two smaller beach-towns of Le Pouliguen (which has given the name to the "Baie du Pouliguen") and Pornichet.

By plane
La Baule-Escoublac have a small airport great for private pilots, but with no scheduled flights. The largest commercial airport in the area is Nantes Atlantique Airport.

By car
La Baule is about one hour drive from Nantes.

By train
La Baule-Escoublac train station is accessible directly by high-speed train from Paris (Montparnasse station) in three hours. You can also reach it directly from the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in about four hours. From Nantes, traveling with the regional train (TER) is slightly longer but cheaper, and no reservation is needed. As of 2018, trips from Nantes takes 1 hour and €15.30 by TER; or 52 min for around €20 by TGV. La Baule is 3 hours from Paris-Montparnasse for €35-60 by TGV. Except for Paris TGV, visitors coming from other cities will have to change in Nantes.

See
The beach is 8 km long, and has fine, white sand, and very little waves. The best time to go there is July and August, when the water temperature gets to 20 °C or more. The rest of the year, it is much colder.

Do
When you want to go swimming near "plage Benoit" (west of the casino), you should check the tide schedule because when it is low, you can walk for half an hour and only get knee-deep in the water. Towards the centre and eastern side of the bay the beach is steeper, allowing swimming at low tide but producing more shore break.

Buy
The main shopping street, in the middle of La Baule, is the Avenue du Général de Gaulle.

Eat
Crêpes restaurant (crêperies) are numerous and cheap. Seafood is also a good choice: mussels, prawns, crab...

title: La Baule


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Labé

Labé is a city in Moyenne Guinee region of Guinea.

Understand
Labé, home of about 59,000 people, is the regional capital of Moyenne Guinee, also known as Fouta Djallon. As well as being the largest city of its region, it is the second most populated one in the entire country, after Conakry, the national capital.

Labé lies close to the geographic centre of the country.

Get in

 * Labé lies some 450 km northeast of Conakry.
 * The street from Koundara to Labé is paved, except for a roughly 30km section starting after Komba, which is between Gaoual and Labé. A shared taxi costs 150,000 FG per person and takes 4-5 hours. (2023)

Do
Fouta Trekking offers all inclusive trekking through Fouta Djallon.

Sleep

 * Hotel Provincial, quite good and clean if noisy because of a night club next door, has double rooms for 130'000 GFr.

Go next

 * Koundara
 * Dalaba
 * Kindia
 * Mali (in northern Guinea)

title: Labé


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Labhpur

Labhpur is a town in the Birbhum district of West Bengal. It is home to Fullaratala, one of the 51 Shakti Pithas and Dhatridebata, the birthplace of Bengali novelist Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay.

By car
Labhpur is about 30 km from Santiniketan, 15 km from Nanoor via Kirnahar by road.

Get around
You can walk or take a rickshaw, which can be a cycle rickshaw, an auto-rickshaw (auto) or an electric rickshaw (toto). Sometimes, if you want to really explore you can just hop on to a cycle van rickshaw. Friendly people might not even charge you for this.

Eat and drink
There are small eateries at Labhpur Bus Stand and the Fullara Temple.

Go next

 * Santiniketan
 * Nanoor
 * Kendubillo
 * Sainthia

title: Labhpur


text:
Labrador

Labrador is the mostly remote and sparsely settled mainland portion of Newfoundland and Labrador. Named for 15th-century Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador, it's “the big land”: vast wilderness areas with abundant wildlife, whales and icebergs, some of the highest peaks east of the Canadian Rockies, and — almost as an afterthought — some widely scattered pockets of human habitation.

This great outdoors is one of Labrador’s prime attractions. Sport fishing and wildlife viewing are popular activities, along with taking in the starkly beautiful scenery. The towns, villages and outports have merit, too. Not just refuelling stops, many have sites or museums that provide glimpses into the culture and history of the region, and the Inuit, First Nation and European influences that shape it. But when moving on, you’ll be quickly reminded it’s a big land. Away from towns and villages, there are hundreds of kilometres of vast, open space where the large caribou herds and other wildlife can roam free — even along the one “beaten path”, the paved Trans-Labrador Highway.

Towns and villages
Within Labrador, there are hardly cities in the usual sense. Communities range from small towns to tiny outport fishing villages to remote Innu communities. Here's a list of the important ones:

 * Labrador City—Wabush — Mining town and largest population centre in Labrador, with a modest range of dining, accommodation and shopping options. There are a handful of cultural attractions and a variety of summer and winter outdoor activities.
 * Churchill Falls — Site of the Churchill Falls hydroelectric station and a small company town. The power station, the third largest in North America by power output, can be toured with advance reservation. There are also sport fishing and wildlife viewing opportunities in the area.
 * Happy Valley-Goose Bay — A mostly functional town (pop 7,750) with some dining and accommodation options. It is the departure point for ferries heading north to Nunatsiavut. North West River, 40 km northeast of town, was founded in the 1700s as a French fur trade post and has a small number of attractions, walking trails and outdoor activities.
 * Nain, Hopedale and the native villages of Nunatsiavut — The vast and remote Inuit land of northern Labrador with a handful of communities on the coast. Nain is the largest and has a cultural centre. There are a few national historic sites in the small villages and ghost towns.
 * Cartwright — Small fishing village with limited tourist amenities. Provides boat access to Eagle River, a destination that has a number of lodges catering to fishing holidays.
 * Port Hope Simpson — Small fishing community on the southeastern coast with some outdoor recreation opportunities.
 * Forteau (and region) — The southern entry point to Labrador when arriving by ferry from Newfoundland. A number of fishing villages with some cultural attractions, the highest lighthouse in the province and some dining and accommodation options.

Other destinations

 * covers a huge area of wilderness in Nunatsiavut that extends to Québec's Ungava Peninsula. You'll find caribou herds, polar bears, and the highest peaks east of the Rockies — including Mount Caubvick, which stands 1,652 metres (just over a mile) high.
 * , once a bustling fishing station on an island near Mary's Harbour, is now the site of preserved and restored buildings from three centuries.
 * , the remains of a 16th-century Basque whaling outpost 65 km northeast of Forteau; it's now UNESCO-listed and a National Historic Site of Canada.

Understand
Labrador is part of the Canadian mainland while Newfoundland is an island in the Atlantic Ocean. The Trans-Canada Highway to St. John's on the island is beaten-path while Labrador is remote and isolated, a collection of wide-open spaces, small native communities, abundant wildlife and the occasional incursion of small-town commerce to support remote mining, hydroelectric and resource exploration. In some places, you can travel by road and see nothing but open space, moose, caribou and hundreds of kilometres of highway stretching far beyond the horizon - no villages, no fuel or other services, nothing but wilderness. In others, there is no road at all and the connection to the outside world is a seasonal coastal ferry.

Labrador is a vast and distant land, a place of huge open spaces, towering mountains and rugged Atlantic coastline where wildlife runs free across seemingly-limitless open spaces in harsh, unforgiving sub-Arctic conditions. Central Labrador's largely unpopulated interior lands are considered by some to be the last unspoiled land in North America, while Inuit-governed Nunatsiavut's five remote native coastal villages are spread across more than 72,000 km² from Rigolet to Nain and from the Arctic to a portion of the Atlantic coast. The southern coastal areas have long been the home of tiny subsistence fishery villages or "outports"; a historic Basque whaling station remains as an archaeological site at Red Bay and other nations (including the Portuguese) had established a fisheries presence centuries ago.

While Labrador is believed to be the Markland visited by the Norseman Leif Ericson in the 11th century and remains a site of first contact between peoples; getting there is not easy. One can take Quebec Route 389, hundreds of kilometres of gravel highway (and the occasional one-lane bridge), from the Manic 5 hydroelectric site in the remote Manicouagan region of Quebec, crossing from the tiny mining village of Fermont into Labrador City. You can take a weekly coastal ferry from Sept-Îles and Anticosti; this stops in every tiny settlement on 450 km of Québec "north coast" with no roads before finally reaching the Québec-Labrador border at Blanc-Sablon. One can travel between settlements by air in a tiny bush plane, or arrive by sea on a coastal ferry. The shortest of these crossings runs from Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula across the Strait of Belle Isle to Blanc-Sablon, from which one picks up the Trans-Labrador Highway through Forteau.

Much of Labrador (from Labrador City to Churchill Falls, Goose Bay, Cartwright and north to Nunatsiavut) is in the Atlantic time zone (GMT-4, DST: GMT-3), half an hour behind Newfoundland time. Black Tickle (a declining-population fishery outport on the Island of Ponds) and all points southward (Port Hope Simpson to Forteau) use Newfoundland's time zone.

Talk
While the languages of Native peoples are still widely spoken (as first languages) for much of the Native population, English is the main language of most people and a majority can speak it to some degree.

By plane
Flying to Labrador requires a good deal of change and an affinity for small aircraft. Outside Goose Bay and Labrador West, informal is the best way to describe Labrador airports.

You can get to Labrador from any Atlantic province or Quebec. Major airports with direct flights to Labrador include Montreal, Halifax and St. John's. You will likely be dealing with Air Canada or PAL Airlines from out-of-province or to the Island of Newfoundland. Air Labrador does short-run flights in Labrador, the Quebec North Shore and St. Anthony. These flights are expensive. Unless booked well in advance, a flight is upwards of $700, one way.

For the private aviator, Labrador is home to stunning geography and clear blue sky.

By car
The only overland through road from Quebec to Labrador, Quebec Route 389, is a very long and difficult highway heading north from Baie-Comeau. Beyond the Manic 5 dam, the road is only partially paved; on a long stretch leading to the border at Fermont/Labrador City, there is only one stop for services. Gagnon, Québec is a ghost town, dismantled in 1985. Winding gravel roads with single-lane bridges are common in this largely unpopulated sector.

Highway 500 and Highway 510 make up the Trans-Labrador Highway. Highway 500, the road from Labrador City-Wabush to Goose Bay was completely paved by mid-2015. The highway continues as Route 510, which initially follows the coast southward. The segment between Goose Bay and Cartwright Junction (no services, no populated place) is over 300 km, plus another 100 km to the next fuel station in either Cartwright or Port Hope Simpson. (That's a 410-km gap between fuel stations.) The road continues through Red Bay and Forteau to Blanc-Sablon, where ferries cross to Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula. Beyond Blanc-Sablon, the road soon reaches an impasse (or dead end) at Vieux-Fort.

The last of the 1,100-km Trans-Labrador Highway mainline was paved by 2022; the Cartwright Access Road remains gravel, as does much of Quebec Route 389 between Manic 5 and Fermont.

It is not possible to continue overland to Sept-Îles as there is no road simply from Vieux-Fort to Kegashka (450 km westward). The few villages in that section are supplied by outport ferry or small aircraft.

By ferry
From the south travel to Labrador is by ferry from St. Barbe, Newfoundland to Blanc-Sablon, Quebec. It is then approx 5 km east to the Labrador border. The winter ferry service takes a longer path, weather permitting, Blanc-Sablon to Corner Brook, instead of landing in St. Barbe on Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula.

By train
An old American folk song (first recorded 1929) tells of a fictional "Wabash Cannonball"; as countless musicians followed the same refrain, this train's tale got taller with every retelling. "From the great Atlantic Ocean to the wide Pacific Shore, From sunny California to icebound Labrador..." began one version, which has the train call at a long list of cities from New York and Chicago to the California shore, "travelling through the jungle" and as far as Mexico.

Indeed, since the narrow-gauge "Newfie Bullet" line was removed in the 1980s, Labrador is the only point in the province with any rail service.

The line ends at a seaport in Sept-Îles with no connection to the rest of the North American rail network. (Onward freight is carried more than 200 km by railcar ferry to Matane on the St. Lawrence south shore; the closest mainline passenger station is in Rimouski.) Service is limited. The passenger train no longer stops in Labrador City, although freight trains still carry iron ore from Wabush. Instead, they flag stop at a place they call Emeril Junction which is in the middle of nowhere: on the Trans-Labrador Highway, but a 45-minute drive from the city. There is no cell phone signal, no populated place at this location and no services. Unless someone is waiting for you, it is completely useless.

The native train still runs because, quite simply, there is no other way in or out of Schefferville overland. There is no road.

Get around
Options are limited. The only major road for anything other than local traffic is the Trans-Labrador Highway through Labrador City (food, fuel and repairs, lodging, shopping mall, airport) and Churchill Falls (company town with food, fuel, lodging, no repairs) to Goose Bay (food, fuel and repairs, lodging, air and sea ports); the road then continues south to Port Hope Simpson (fuel and repairs, lodging) with a 90-km branch leading to Cartwright (food, fuel, campground, no bank, no roadside assistance). The main road follows the coast through Red Bay (national historic site, small inn with restaurant, no fuel or grocer) to Forteau (food, fuel, lodging) and Blanc-Sablon (ferry to Newfoundland island).

The other options are ships (coastal ferries) and small bush planes. Many coastal communities, including all of Nunatsiavut, have no road. Their supplies arrive by a seasonal coastal ferry from Goose Bay or Lewisporte, the Nunatsiavut Marine "Northern Ranger", to be stockpiled for the long, bitterly-cold sub-Arctic Labrador winter.

Harbours are often blocked by ice until late spring or even the first few days of summer, leaving very tiny, very loud Twin Otters as the only year-round way into many isolated Labrador communities. Provincial Airlines or Air Labrador operate scheduled services up and down the coast, which are not inexpensive and often just as costly as the initial flight into the province from some distant region.

Local taxis and airport hire cars are only likely to be available in the largest towns, Labrador City-Wabush and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Within the smallest villages (such as Cartwright or Port Hope Simpson) it is possible to reach most locations on foot.

On the open road? Expect hundreds of kilometres of uninhabited territory, wilderness and open space along the Trans-Labrador Highway with no towns and no services. Keep a full tank of fuel, a full-size spare tire and tools and enough supplies to survive for several hours or more if stranded in sub-Arctic conditions. It's often hundreds of kilometres to the next town and the only way to call for roadside assistance may well be by satellite telephone.

See
Labrador City-Wabush is a mining community and tours may be reserved in advance; in Churchill Falls, visitors may see one of the largest hydroelectric dams in Canada. Muskrat Falls was an impressive sight west of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, but development of a major hydroelectric plant has taken over the area; work crews (and the occasional group of protesters) are an obstacle to any visitors expecting access by the normal route off the Trans-Labrador Highway.

Goose Bay (5 Wing, RCAF) used to be a busy USAF and NATO fighter training facility; much of that infrastructure still stands and a hundred troops remain on-post. North West River, commonly referred to as 'Striver, and the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation are 35 km (on paved road!) north of Goose Bay.

Battle Harbour National Historic District, on an island opposite Mary's Harbour, is a historic ghost town but not easy to get to and impractical to visit as a same-day trip.

A former Basque whaling camp at Red Bay is an archaeological site, museum and UNESCO heritage site. Old villages, shipwrecks and lighthouses may be seen in some coastal locations in southern Labrador, along with one of North America's oldest burial sites.

Do
See the aurora borealis or "northern lights", fish for trout and Atlantic salmon on pristine and undisturbed rivers (fly fishing in summer, ice fishing in winter). See native crafts being made. Join a sightseeing tour by boat or even by aircraft to watch birds, icebergs, whales and wildlife.

Visit national parks, including the Mealy Mountains (near Cartwright) and Torngat Mountains National Park (in the northern wilderness of native Nunatsiavut). Gather wild berries. Take to the trails on skis, snowmobile and snowshoes in the winter; hike and swim in the summer. Engage in wildlife watching and nature photography. Try your hand at canoeing or kayaking... or even try outrunning the local blackflies before you are eaten alive.

Buy
Most mass-produced items are manufactured elsewhere and imported great distances, making them more expensive in Labrador than in destinations on the beaten path. In larger centres like Labrador City, there are malls and national chains just like any other town of comparable size. A small village is likely to only have one or a small handful of merchants.

There are a few locally-produced items which may be worth bringing home:
 * Jams, syrups and preserves from local berries (bakeapple, partridgeberry and blueberry).
 * Seafood can be shipped in frozen cargo to a few points relatively close to the region, such as Natashquan, Sept-Îles or Rimouski.
 * Native and local crafts are popular. Native artisans create stone and caribou antler carvings, handmade slippers, seal skins, woven baskets and bowls. Artistic items such as jewellery, carvings, pottery, quilts and patches, paintings, postcards and photos make good souvenirs.
 * Clothing, traditional cotton duck cossacks and outerwear are likely to be warm enough and sturdy enough to stand up to Labrador's sub-Arctic winters.

Eat
Labrador City, as the largest community in Labrador, has a mix of well-known regional and international chains, as well as a few independent or family-operated restaurants. There's a McDonald's, there's a shopping mall, much like other communities closer to the beaten path.

Churchill Falls is a company town with most services concentrated in the one main community centre building. The Midway Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as fast-food fare. There's also a well-stocked market.

Happy Valley-Goose Bay: KFC, Burger King, A&W, Mary Brown's, Pizza Delight, and standard bar/grill fare at the bar/grills. There is a co-op market as well as a second supermarket offering surprisingly fresh produce, great cuts of meat, and standard pre-prepared food. Compared to the rest of the country, they are both small and expensive but you will find most of what you are looking for.

Towns other than these have limited options, usually either a small grocer or general store, a modest restaurant attached to some other business (such as cabins or a country inn), a small takeaway or a tiny liquor store operated as a sideline in some other local business. Forteau has a grocer and bakery.

There are some local foods which are specific to the province or region; these may include wild game (such as caribou), local seafood, berries (such as "bakeapples" or cloudberries) and desserts or baked goods prepared with local ingredients. Native peoples will have their own traditions for local foodstuffs.

There is little or no agriculture in Labrador due to rocky soil and an impractically short growing season; this leaves many foodstuffs and supplies to be imported great distances from other regions, often leading to limited selection and inflated prices, a problem that only worsens as one heads further northward beyond the end of the road network and toward the Arctic.

Drink
In the few major towns, roadhouses with hard liquors, Molson or Labatt beer and plenty of country music are common. In smaller coastal outports, a free-standing bar or pub is rare; the bar usually operates as a sideline to a travel-oriented business such as a hotel or eatery.

Beer and spirits for takeaway are usually available, as the province will designate an existing local merchant as an "agency" to sell bottled spirits as a sideline (alongside other merchandise, from groceries to snowmobiles) where a village is too small to support a free-standing provincial liquor store.

As Nunatsiavut is a series of native communities, each village imposes its own restrictions. Nain has one bar (a hotel lounge). Beer (but not hard liquor) can be purchased for takeaway in Nain or Hopedale. Natuashish has voted to ban alcohol from the village entirely to curb substance abuse.

Sleep
There are hotels in Labrador City, Churchill Falls, Goose Bay, Port Hope Simpson and Forteau; most of these are small, local independents with no substantial presence from the major international chains. Each of the five active Nunatsiavut villages has a small inn, lodge or accommodation of some form, although space tends to be limited. A few small villages on the highway may have camping or RV/caravan facilities; these are highly seasonal in Labrador's harsh climate. The peak season runs from mid-June to the end of August.

One lone innkeeper with some token accommodation (such as five or six rooms) may often be the only option in the smallest villages, if there's anything. Be sure to have your lodging already planned and reserved before you leave, as it may be a long drive to the next town if the lodge is not open, or is full.

Outfitters or tour operators may bundle accommodations with various multi-day activities; a half-dozen outfitters camps offer fishing trips to off-the-grid locations on the Eagle River, west of Cartwright. These are usually fly-in (by float plane) or reachable by small watercraft.

Connect
As of January 2017, Labrador has Rogers coverage (and therefore GSM) only in Happy Valley Goose Bay and Labrador City. There is also a one remote Lynx Mobility site in Natuashish. Bell covers just a small local area within Goose Bay, Churchill Falls and Labrador City with 3G UMTS (WCDMA, HSPA). Anywhere else, including hundreds of kilometres of open road, there is nothing... not even mobile 1-1-2 or 9-1-1.

The provincial government does lend satellite phones with limited capability (enough to summon police if stranded on the Trans-Labrador Highway); out-of-province travellers will need a credit card as a deposit to borrow these.

Wi-Fi does occasionally turn up in lodging establishments in some very out-of-the-way places (such as tiny motels or even fishing outfitters' camps which are off the grid and miles from the nearest road). In the most isolated locations, these networks are fed from satellite-based connections.

Respect
Labrador is host to a diverse population of Euro-Canadians and native people (Inuit, Innu, Métis); in isolated or remote areas such as Nunatsiavut (under native self-government since 2005) the traditional native ways remain strong. As in any other place, it's best to respect the local culture.

Stay safe
Be sure to leave each village with a full tank of fuel (or even a spare can, as it is possible that distances may be too great for lower kmpl/mpg cars). Distances between filling stations can be as much as 410 km and the Trans-Labrador Highway in a sub-Arctic winter at -30⁰C is not a nice place to be stranded for several hours. Bring a first aid kit as the only hospital may be hundreds of kilometres away (Labrador City and Goose Bay have small hospitals; a few other villages have a clinic with a nurse or nurse practitioner). Bring tools, spare parts and duct tape for emergency repairs where no assistance is available. Marine epoxy can be essential to patch punctures in gas tanks and fuel lines from rocks, especially in lower riding cars. A full-size spare tire, jack and tools are a necessity as rough gravel roads routinely damage tires and vehicles. Roadside assistance and repairs might not be available outside Labrador City, Goose Bay, Port Hope Simpson and a few points in or around Forteau.

Route 500 (Labrador City to Goose Bay) is entirely paved, as of mid-2015; the same is not true of Route 510 through Cartwright Junction or Quebec Route 389 from the Manic 5 hydroelectric dam to Fermont/Labrador City. While some roads are newly-paved and highway speeds are possible, others are washboarded rocky roads that can shake a car apart or send it into a ditch. Always drive at a safe speed, even if the locals do not. As elsewhere in the province, collisions with moose can be deadly; hitting other fauna (from caribou to porcupines) can disable cars in varying ways. The 9-1-1 emergency number is available in major centres (such as Labrador City); in smaller communities, individual seven-digit local numbers are needed to reach individual emergency services.

Lastly, keep your distance from dangerous animals such as black bears; any cornered animals readily react in an unpredictable or hostile manner.

Go next

 * Great Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland
 * Sept-Îles and Baie-Comeau, Québec

title: Labrador


text:
Labrador City

Labrador City and Wabush are a pair of towns in Labrador West on the Quebec border. Dedicated primarily to iron ore mining, their burgeoning population of 9,350 people makes them the largest metropolitan area in otherwise sparsely-populated Labrador, rivalled only by Happy Valley-Goose Bay (with 7,750 people). The bulk of this population is in Labrador City, with Wabush (established 1955) as a de facto suburb of 1,860.

Understand
Established at the end of the 1950s as "Carol Lake", a mining community, Labrador City is the largest town and the primary overland point of entry into Labrador, a vast and largely-unpopulated territory. (It's also possible to enter Labrador from a ferry crossing which runs from Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula to Blanc Sablon, near Forteau; the road at that point dead-ends at Vieux-Fort, Quebec, instead of continuing westward toward Sept-Îles.)

The town's fortunes have largely risen or fallen in lock-step with global demand for iron ore; reaching a peak in the 1970s, declining in the 1980s (an era when Schefferville, Quebec, at one point ceased all mining activity) and staging a comeback in the 21st century as demand from Chinese industry pushed the world price of iron ore to US$190/tonne at its peak in 2011. As of April 2020, the ore sold for US$85/tonne and local jobs were once again in jeopardy.

An enclosed indoor mall houses Labrador's only Walmart; Labrador City is also home to Labrador's only McDonald's and one of Labrador's two hospitals (the other is in Goose Bay). The gravel road to Manic 5 and Baie-Comeau opened in 1986, with a road from Labrador City to Goose Bay in 1992. The Trans-Labrador Highway made overland travel from Labrador City to Forteau possible by 2009. The last section of Route 500 eastward from Labrador City to Goose Bay was paved in mid-2015.

Labrador City, Goose Bay and Cartwright use Atlantic time, the same time zone as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

By car
Labrador City is just across the Québec-Labrador border on Highway 500 (Trans-Labrador Highway). On the other side of the Québec-Labrador border is Fermont, Quebec, about 29 km drive heading northwest to Labrador City. Within Quebec, Highway 500 becomes Quebec Route 389. Labrador City can be reached by traveling north on Quebec Route 389 from its southern terminus in Baie-Comeau (582 km away), where the highway intersects with Quebec Route 138. Along the way there is only one intermediate point (Relais Gabriel) to stop for fuel or lodging. Quebec 389 is a gravel road from the Manic 5 hydroelectric dam to Fermont (RCM of Caniapiscau). The road improves on becoming Route 500 in Labrador, continuing as asphalt through Goose Bay, Port Hope Simpson and Red Bay to Forteau.

From the Québec-Labrador limit, the distance to be traveled on Route 500 is 243 km to Churchill Falls, which has a gas station, hotel and some services, and another 288 km beyond there to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, which is the next city with a hospital.

Airport
Wabush is across Little Wabush Lake from the rest of Labrador City. Rental cars are available at the airport.

Airlines
Canadian airlines operating to Wabush:

Get around
Taxis in Labrador City are metered; as of 2013, fares started at $5.50 plus $1.85/km or $0.48 per minute of waiting time:

Do

 * Walking trails: Jean Lake Walking Trail (Grenfell Drive, 5-km trail around Jean Lake), Menihek Interpretive Trail (Smokey Mountain Road, 5 km of Menihek Nordic Trails) and Tanya Lake Walking Trail (Badden Powell Road, 3-km trail around Tanya Lake).
 * Walking trails: Jean Lake Walking Trail (Grenfell Drive, 5-km trail around Jean Lake), Menihek Interpretive Trail (Smokey Mountain Road, 5 km of Menihek Nordic Trails) and Tanya Lake Walking Trail (Badden Powell Road, 3-km trail around Tanya Lake).
 * Walking trails: Jean Lake Walking Trail (Grenfell Drive, 5-km trail around Jean Lake), Menihek Interpretive Trail (Smokey Mountain Road, 5 km of Menihek Nordic Trails) and Tanya Lake Walking Trail (Badden Powell Road, 3-km trail around Tanya Lake).
 * Walking trails: Jean Lake Walking Trail (Grenfell Drive, 5-km trail around Jean Lake), Menihek Interpretive Trail (Smokey Mountain Road, 5 km of Menihek Nordic Trails) and Tanya Lake Walking Trail (Badden Powell Road, 3-km trail around Tanya Lake).
 * Walking trails: Jean Lake Walking Trail (Grenfell Drive, 5-km trail around Jean Lake), Menihek Interpretive Trail (Smokey Mountain Road, 5 km of Menihek Nordic Trails) and Tanya Lake Walking Trail (Badden Powell Road, 3-km trail around Tanya Lake).
 * Walking trails: Jean Lake Walking Trail (Grenfell Drive, 5-km trail around Jean Lake), Menihek Interpretive Trail (Smokey Mountain Road, 5 km of Menihek Nordic Trails) and Tanya Lake Walking Trail (Badden Powell Road, 3-km trail around Tanya Lake).
 * Walking trails: Jean Lake Walking Trail (Grenfell Drive, 5-km trail around Jean Lake), Menihek Interpretive Trail (Smokey Mountain Road, 5 km of Menihek Nordic Trails) and Tanya Lake Walking Trail (Badden Powell Road, 3-km trail around Tanya Lake).

Go next

 * Fermont and Baie-Comeau in Quebec via Quebec Route 389

title: Labrador City


text:
Labuan

Labuan is a federal territory of Malaysia. It comprises one large and six smaller islands in off the coast of Sabah in Malaysia.

Islands

 * Pulau Labuan - the main island
 * Pulau Daat
 * Pulau Burung
 * Pulau Kuraman
 * Pulau Papan
 * Pulau Rusukan Besar
 * Pulau Rusukan Kecil

Cities
Labuan is an island with an estimated population of 100,000 people. It's quite a close community where everyone knows everyone. The main town is known as Labuan Town (Bandar Labuan in Malay) but was known as Victoria during the colonial era. Labuan Town is among the cleanest towns in Malaysia and has been called "the Pearl of Borneo". Labuan was proclaimed a Federal Territory in 1984 and declared an International Offshore Financial Centre in 1990.

The major businesses on the island include international offshore banking, steel mills, a methanol plant, floor tiles production, flour mills, and offshore supplies. Because of these major businesses, Labuan has many non-Labuan natives that work here.

Geography
Federal Territory of Labuan is located off the northwest coast of Borneo, north of Brunei Bay, and faces the South China Sea. It comprises the main island of Pulau Labuan and six smaller islands: Pulau Kuraman, Pulau Daat, Pulau Rusukan Besar, Pulau Rusukan Kecil, Pulau Papan and Pulau Burong. It is located at 05 latitude North and 115 longitude East, and lies approximately 10 km southeast off the coast of the East Malaysian state of Sabah and 25 km north of Brunei. The Federal Territory of Labuan covers an area of 92 km2 and the main island of Labuan is 75 km2. The island is mainly flat and undulating and the highest point is only 85 m.

Economy
More than 70 percent of the island is still under vegetation. Due to the fact that land utility is geared more towards property and industrial use, there is less agricultural activity in the area. Most of the island's prime land, waterfront and suburbs are used for residential and tourism development. A sizeable area on the southwestern side of the island is used by shipbuilding, manufacturing and oil and gas industries.

Climate
Labuan has a tropical climate with two annual monsoon seasons - the South West monsoon from April to June and the North East monsoon from September to December. It is free from hurricanes and typhoons and enjoys good climate all year round. Daily temperatures average 28-32°C.

History
The island's name came from Brunei Malay word "labohan" which means anchorage. Labuan had a glorious history under the rule of various empires. After the demise of the Majapahit Empire in the 14th century, Labuan came under the rule of the Brunei Sultanate. On 24 December 1846, Captain G.R. Mundy, commanding H.M.S. Iris, took possession of Labuan, "In the Name of Her Majesty Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Ireland under the Direction of His Excellency Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, C.B., Commander-in-Chief".

The British had negotiated with the Sultanate of Brunei for Labuan among other things. By 1847 the British government concluded a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with the Sultan of Brunei, at the same time acquiring the island of Labuan. On 1 August 1848, Labuan was declared a free port and open to settlers. The Colonial Office took over Labuan in January 1906. In 1907 it became part of the Straits Settlements, a British colony comprising Singapore, Penang and Malacca.

During World War II, Labuan was occupied by the Japanese, along with other parts of what was then called British North Borneo (now Sabah). Thousands of Allied troops died in the fighting and eventual defeat of the Japanese in Labuan.

In 1963, Sabah joined the Federation of Malaysia, with Labuan included as a district of Sabah. In the 1984 Labuan Agreement, Sabah agreed to cede Labuan to the Federal Government of Malaysia. Labuan became a Federal Territory, with a status equivalent to that of the states of Malaysia.

Tourist information
There are at least two information offices on the island: one is at the international arrivals hall in Labuan ferry terminal, second - in front of Labuan Muzium.

Talk
English and Malay are widely spoken. Because of the influence of the Brunei Sultanate centuries ago, the majority of local Malays speak the Brunei-Kadayan Malay dialect, which is significantly different from standard Malay. This mixture of Brunei and Kadayan dialects is sometimes called Labuan Malay Dialect. However most of the population can speak standard Malay whenever necessary. Major Chinese dialects (especially Hakka) are spoken among the Chinese community.

By boat
You can arrive in Labuan by ferry from Brunei, Lawas, Limbang, Sipitang and Menumbok, where a vehicular ferry operates. Labuan is the usual port for changing boats for those getting from Kota Kinabalu to Brunei in a day by sea, see the Kota Kinabalu to Brunei by land page for details.
 * From Brunei: Two ferries daily run between Labuan and the Serasa Ferry Terminal in Muara, Brunei. The journey takes about two hours, RM38 (2016) or B$25 (2023).
 * From Kota Kinabalu: Since the COVID pandemic, there is no direct boat connection to or from Kota Kinabalu anymore (April 2023). Reach the mainland at Menumbok instead and take a bus there.
 * From Limbang: Two trips daily, departing Limbang at 7:30AM and 8AM and Labuan at 12:30PM and 2PM.
 * From Sipitang: Two ferries daily, departing Sipitang at 9AM and 10AM and Labuan at 9AM and 1PM.
 * From Menumbok: An alternative way to visit Labuan from Kota Kinabalu. Buses will leave at 6:40AM, 7:30AM, etc., from Kota Kinabalu (RM15) and reach Menumbok in 2-2½ hours. The bus stop and ferry jetty in Menumbok are on the same street. Speed boat will depart when it is full. It takes 20 minutes and costs RM15. There are at least two Menumbok Express trips daily to Labuan, which will take 40 min.

Get around
Labuan Town is small enough to be comfortably explored on foot. The town is one of the most pedestrian friendly towns in Malaysia. You should not encounter any problems as most of the drivers here drive their vehicle in "slow motion". Most of the drivers will give priority to pedestrians that want to cross the street, something generally unheard-of in the rest of Malaysia! However, daytime temperatures maybe slightly higher than other parts of Malaysia.

For further destinations, bus services are available; some are vans which the locals refer to as 'buses'. Bus services end at 7PM everyday. Below are some bus routes that may be of interest. One-way bus journeys will cost a minimum of RM1 and not more than RM3.

 * Bus No. 3 (Yellow) to Labuan Hospital, Sports Complex, Sungai Bedaun, Bebuloh, Kiamsam.
 * Bus No. 4 (Red) to Labuan Hospital, Layang-layangan Beach, Peace Park, Surrender Point, Sungai Labu Homestay, Sungai Lada, Sekolah Menengah Sains Labuan and Universiti Malaysia Sabah-Labuan International Campus.
 * Bus No. 5 (Pink) to Kerupang, Tanjung Aru and Labuan's most famous seafood restaurants of Anjung Ketam and Terumbu Warisan, and Bukit Kuda Homestay.
 * Bus No. 6 (Green) to Lajau, Labuan Matriculation College, The Chimney, Bird Park, Manikar Beach Resort, Batu Manikar Beach and Pancur Hitam Beach.

Taxis are also available mainly in the town center. However, usually you may need to go to the taxi station to catch one. Do agree on the fare first before you board, since no taxis in Labuan use meters. Taxi stations can be found at:

 * Ujana Kewangan (Financial Park)
 * Labuan International Ferry Terminal
 * Parking area in front of Labuan Supermarket
 * Labuan Airport

Otherwise, you may call Sri Ganti Taxi Service (24 hours) at 013-8838 882 or 019-8408 228.

There is another way of getting around - renting a scooter, cost is as low as RM38 per 24 hr, and you can find rental places at the ferry terminal. Renting a bicycle is another option, can be found also at the ferry terminal.

See

 * World War II sites - Pulau Labuan is a significant historical destination particularly from the time of World War II. The Labuan War Cemetery, Allied Landing Point and Japanese Surrender Park are three major World War II sites attracting foreign and local visitors. A "Remembrance Day" is held every November at the Labuan War Cemetery to honour the 3,900 recorded graves of Fallen Heroes of World War II. This event is attended by Malaysian and foreign war veterans and family members of the Allied soldiers killed in action during the war between 1942 and 1945.

Do

 * Sport fishing - Pulau Labuan is surrounded by six smaller islands namely Pulau Kuraman, Pulau Daat, Pulau Rusukan Besar, Pulau Rusukan Kecil, Pulau Papan and Pulau Burong. The blue clear water around these idyllic islands is home to one of the world's richest coral and fishing grounds which offers unlimited deep sea tackling and coastal table-fish catches.
 * Labuan also hosts the International Sea Challenge in May every year which comprises four events - the Underwater Treasure Hunt, Jet Sport Challenge, Cross Channel Swim Challenge and Big Game Fishing Tournament.
 * Wreck diving - Pulau Labuan has one of the best wreck diving sites in Asia. There are four wreck sites on the island's locally known as the Australian Wreck. The Australian Wreck provides a very atmospheric dive thanks to the combination of the less than 10m visibility, rich coral growth, the skeletal remains of the ship, her tragic end and a reputation to be haunted. The American Wreck has a rich and tragic history, having been capsized during the World War II era with the loss of 9 lives. This journey back in time is complete with the sightings of bullet clips, depth chargers, wire bottles and canon artifacts still intact. Cement Wreck. The shallowest wreck in Labuan with its super structure rising to 19 m and the way it sits makes it the easiest to pass through and great for wreck diving training for beginners. The Cement Wreck also offers rare whale shark sightings to lucky divers. Blue Water Wreck, also known as Mabini Padre, is a large Philippines fishing trawler, which caught fire and sank in 1981. The completely intact vessel with masts lies on its side and is enhanced by an abundance of marine life. However, there are no diving operators in Labuan, and one has to organize a trip from Brunei or Sabah.
 * Beaches - As the Pearl of South China Sea, it has beautiful stretches of beaches. The famous ones are Batu Manikar, Pancur Hitam and Layang-layangan beach where the locals hang out and have a BBQ picnic during the weekend. These beaches won the United Nation COBSEA Clean Beach Award 2008. The award is well deserved as every morning Labuan Corporation workers can be seen hard at work cleaning the beach from any rubbish and debris.

Buy
Duty-free shopping - Labuan's modern shopping centres carry a wide range of locally produced and imported goods. Most popular are spirits and tobacco, textiles and appliances. Every end of the year, the island hosts a month-long shopping carnival with attractive discounts. Cultural shows add to the excitement

International Offshore Financial Centre - Pulau Labuan is Asia's newest international offshore financial centre. The 65 foreign banks operating on the island offer sophisticated offshore banking services and numbered accounts facilities to the world's rich and famous.

Although it's a duty-free island, the things here are not that cheap. However, the followed items should be cheaper than other places:
 * Pearl & crystals - Made into jewelleries like brooch, bracelets, pendants, earrings, and baju Melayu buttons. Bazaar Labuan is a good place to shop for them.
 * Cars - Especially imported ones. But, they are subjected to taxes when transported out of the island.
 * Chocolate - Lots of choices too, that hard to be found in Peninsular.
 * Cigarette - The price is half of the Peninsula's, but the flavor is not that desirable to some smokers.
 * Alcohol
 * Batik sarongs (RM10 is reasonable and normal price in Malaysia, if more than that, you shouldn't buy it!)
 * Seafood - Wet Market near Bazaar Labuan is a recommended place. You can even ask the sellers to pack the items frozen-ready for flights. Recommended place to buy frozen ready seafood is SBS Seafood Sdn. Bhd in the center of Labuan town. Just ask a local or taxi driver, they can show you where is the shop. Recommended to buy - frozen fish coated with flour which is RM14 per bag, deep-fried it; very crunchy and boneless fish!

Things that are really exorbitant here:
 * Computer stuff - sometimes almost double the Peninsula's.
 * Electronics

Eat
All food, especially fresh seafood, is extremely well priced. But if you get the locals as a guide, they can show you some cheaper alternatives instead.
 * The most famous local dessert is "Coconut Pudding", which you wouldn't be able to find in anywhere else. Good coconut puddings can be found in Pulau Labuan Restaurant with RM6 each.
 * BBQ chicken wings are a Labuan delicacy. They are cooked on skewers over smoky charcoal and wood barbeques. 6 chicken wings for RM9. The one of the best are sold at Kampung Sungai Keling, opposite Taman Sintee. Just a roadside stall.
 * You may also want to try various local kuih - pastries or cakes - in the weekend market known locally as Pasar Tani (Saturday and Sunday) from morning till afternoon. Try kelupis and lamban (a food made from pulut rice and coconut milk that been wrapped by either coconut leaves for lamban or nyirik leaf for kelupis), jelurut (a sweet and creamy colored local kuih wrapped with nipah or coconut leaf) and batik cake.
 * Another common local food in Labuan is punjung. Made from rice flour, they are little cone-sized desserts with green jelly-like fillings wrapped in banana leaves. Don't forget to try pulut panggang, made from glutinous rice and dried shrimp. This pulut panggang then wrapped by banana leaves and grilled.
 * Mawilla Seafood Restaurant is one of the best restaurants in Labuan that serves seafood delicacies - fresh fish (which you can choose), prawn, lobster and squids. Try the Butter Milk Prawn and Nestum Prawn menu. Located at the sea shore of Labuan, near to Labuan International Sea Sport Complex and Labuan Waterfront Hotel. The price is reasonable. However, this famous restaurant can't fight the super famous Anjung Ketam in term of taste. Tel +60 87 422 125.
 * Island Tomyam. A Thai and Malay style restaurant. Located at Kampung Batu Arang. Not far from Labuan Airport. Reasonable price. A very basic dinner may cost you less than RM10 per person. 5PM-12:30AM daily.
 * Kedai Kopi Ceria behind Labuan Corporation Tower (Public Library) at the town center. Famous for its Soto Labuan. You may want to come there before or during lunch hour otherwise the extra-famous soto will be 'out of stock'.
 * Raff Restaurant. A nice Sarawak Malay restaurant located near to Chinese temple at Labuan Town.
 * Jalan Ujong Pasir. There are several Malay and Chinese restaurants in this area, and a fast food restaurant, Chicken King. Also known by local as Utama Jaya area.
 * Fratini's Restaurant. The one and only restaurant in the island that serves Italian cuisine. Located next to Tabung Haji building at the town centre. Famous for its pasta and pizza.
 * Raff Restaurant. A nice Sarawak Malay restaurant located near to Chinese temple at Labuan Town.
 * Jalan Ujong Pasir. There are several Malay and Chinese restaurants in this area, and a fast food restaurant, Chicken King. Also known by local as Utama Jaya area.
 * Fratini's Restaurant. The one and only restaurant in the island that serves Italian cuisine. Located next to Tabung Haji building at the town centre. Famous for its pasta and pizza.
 * Fratini's Restaurant. The one and only restaurant in the island that serves Italian cuisine. Located next to Tabung Haji building at the town centre. Famous for its pasta and pizza.
 * Fratini's Restaurant. The one and only restaurant in the island that serves Italian cuisine. Located next to Tabung Haji building at the town centre. Famous for its pasta and pizza.
 * Fratini's Restaurant. The one and only restaurant in the island that serves Italian cuisine. Located next to Tabung Haji building at the town centre. Famous for its pasta and pizza.

Drink
Labuan is well known for its duty-free especially alcohols. The main entertainment in Labuan is its night clubs and lounges. Although the majority of bars in Labuan are actually for prostitution, there a few that are not.

Some of the famous places where people go:
 * Some Place Else (SPE) at the Grand Dorsett Hotel
 * Kings KTV
 * Strawberry KTV
 * Crossroads
 * Beyond 2000 - one of the few bars in town that doesn't hire prostitutes
 * Blue Wave
 * Lido Cafe (Hotel Aifa)

Stay safe
Labuan is full of prostitutes. Additionally, sex slavery is a very real issue in Malaysia, particularly Labuan. Steer clear of the karaoke bars and pool halls, especially if you value your sexual health.

Labuan is a very safe town. It is a very peaceful place and the people are very nice and friendly. Except road blocks with JPJ (local Department Motor Vehicle), police presence is pretty hard to notice, possibly because of the calmness and peace of the town.

You can notice lots of people jogging around in the evenings, even in the secluded roads in the hills, without the fear of being mugged that they might have in other big cities.

Crime rate is very low, except once in a while, there used to be physical arguments between the immigrants, but only among themselves.

Roads are not busy, except occasionally in town. The driving attitude of people here is quite leisurely, so it's common to have a car cruising in front of you very, very slowly without any purpose. There are lots of jaywalkers, and pedestrians crossing the road don't practice much caution. Several attractions such as Peace Park and Anjung Ketam are located in village areas where children usually play near or at the road. Be careful if you're driving.

Go next
Sabah, Brunei, and Sarawak are logical places to go next (see above for information on ferry service).

title: Labuan


text:
Labuan Bajo

Once a small fishing village, Labuan Bajo (also spelled Labuhanbajo and Labuanbajo) in Flores is now bustling with tourists.

Understand
Labuan Bajo is the launching point for trips to Komodo Island and Rinca Island, home to the famous Komodo dragons. While Labuan Bajo draws plenty of tourists, it is nevertheless quite a small town that runs along one main road, making it easy to navigate.

During 2020 and 2021, the Indonesian government put a lot of resources into Labuan Bajo to make the city attractive to tourists. New pathways were built for walking and bicycle lanes. Soon the Komodo airport will also receive international flights.

Nearby Seraya Island provides a great opportunity to do some diving and snorkeling, and every evening at Kalong Island thousands of flying fox bats put on an amazing display.

By plane
Labuan Bajo is linked by air with Denpasar (Bali), Jakarta, Kupang, Surabaya, Bajawa, Ende, Makassar, Mataram and Maumere.

The upturn in tourism has meant that ojeks can only be taken if you walk outside the airport and taxi drivers charge set rates of Rp60,000 and up one way for this short journey. If all else fails, it's a 25-minute downhill walk into town.

By boat

 * Labuan Bajo Port Building and Jetty.jpg ferry from Sape (Rp91,000 as of July 2023) runs daily, and usually arrives around 17:00. You will need ADSP card (around 30 000, multiuse) to be able to pay or just borrow it from locals for some amount of money
 * A number of companies organise 4 days/3 nights boat trips from Lombok or Bali to Flores for around Rp1,550,000. You sleep on the deck on thin mattresses (less than 1 inch thick, but you get used to it). No matter where you book the trip from, you will be shuttled to the eastern coast of Lombok with bus/ferry transfers before getting on the boat.
 * The Perama tour is a well advertised trip running 4 days/3 nights from Lombok to Labuan Bajo, and 3 days/2 nights the other way. This sets itself apart from the others by having private (2 person) cabins. Prices are cabin/deck Rp2,600,000/2,000,000 Lombok-Labuanbajo and Rp1,800,000/1,300,000 the other way. Be aware of the safety records of these boats.
 * Pelni ships arrive from Makassar or Lombok. Pelni has two ships calling at Labuanbajo every 2 weeks. Tilongkbila departs for Bima, Lembar (Lombok, 24 hr) and Benoa (Bali) every other Thursday and returns the following Sunday to go to Makassar and other destinations in Sulawesi. Willis departs for Bima - Benoa - Surabaya every other Saturday and returns Saturday one week later to go east to Marapokot and Maumere.

All the tour boats have the same program of snorkelling, trekking and komodo dragon watching, stopping at the same stunning reefs, beaches and waterfalls along the way. For years there have been rumors of safety issues on these boats. However, so far all these rumors have been just that. There are, however, many who remark on the noise (on all boats), so bring earplugs and don't expect any deep, meaningful conversations while the engine is running.

By bus
Buses from Ruteng and Bajawa stop and depart in the centre of town near the school. Buses from Lombok; see Flores (Indonesia).

Get around
The town is quite small and can easily be traversed on foot (in 10-15 minutes). Ojeks (Rp3,000-5,000) and bemos pass every 5 minutes if you get tired of walking. You will find at least to local rental business on the main street where you can rent a scooter for Rp65,000 - 75,000/per day (as of December 2016), you can also ask your hotel as some of them also rent scooters.

See

 * Caves, such as Batu Cermin Cave and Rangko Cave
 * Surrounding beaches
 * Komodo Dragons
 * Kanawa Island, small island 10 km away from Labuan Bajo (about 1hr with a local boat or 10 min with speed boat) and located just at the borders of Komodo National Park. You will find a resort there.

Do
Komodo National Park encompasses a lot of water and islands west of Labuanbajo. If you want to go to Rinca or Komodo islands, or dive in the park you will have to buy a 1-day park pass for US$15 during the weekdays or $18 at weekends. Money from such user fees is collected by the local government and is supposed to go into conservation efforts.

Rinca Island  (Indonesian: Rinca Kecil or Pulau Rinca) is a more convenient place to see Komodo Dragons than Komodo island. Some dive operators might be convinced to combine a stop at the island with a days diving - otherwise charters can be arranged, or walk along the main street of Labuan Bajo and some tour agencies may be advertising places on an existing charter. There are big dragons that are often right in front of the pier when people arrive. On arrival a guide will escort you to the park office where you will be relieved of a range of fees, then you can choose a 1- or 2-hour hike. Presumably if you had a pass from Komodo, you would be exempt from at least some of those fees.

Tours: A one-day tour covering Padar island viewpoint, Pink beach, Komodo island, and Manta point on a shared boat costs around Rp375,000 with an additional Rp350,000 in entrance fees. The 2-day/1-night option in addition to the above includes Rinca island and Kanawa island and on a shared boat costs around Rp700,000 with an additional approximately Rp500,000 in entrance fees (Nov 2019).

The tour boats will collect the entrance fee money upfront to supposedly save you the hassle, but end up pocketing most of the money without it going to the parks as intended. Either insist that that give you the tickets, or just pay the entrance fees at each stop yourself.

Diving
The Komodo National Park offer dozens of pristine dive sites, with many migratory pelagics, vibrant reefs- making it one of the world's richest marine habitats. The Park is just offshore and easily reached by liveaboard operators, although daytrips may take two hours or more in each direction. Check that your dive operator is reputable, has safety equipment onboard and if possible is a member of the local dive association who have strict minimum safety requirements for their members.

There are many dive operators that offer dive courses, fun dives and 3-to-7 day live aboards. They have fixed pricing for fun dives at Rp1,200,000 per day including 2 dives, full equipment and lunch (Rp1,500,000 for three dives). Choose one of the Dive Association dive centers for the newest equipment, experienced guides and safety equipment on board. It is true the currents around Komodo can be quite strong and some sites are unsuitable for beginners, however if you dive with a reputable company, in a small group, with an experienced guide there is no reason even Open Water divers shouldn't be able to enjoy the diving!

Beware; dive operators now (July 2022) charge a very steep Rp2,500,000 for 3 dives. A small discount is possible, but still very overpriced. All dive centers have the same price list of the Labuan Bajo diving cartel. Think twice before coming here for your diving, as some argue that there is little unique about this area. However this region is exceptionally rich in marine life due to the strong currents formed by water moving between the islands. In addition, there is a great diversity of dive sites within a small area.

Snorkelling
Labuan Bajo is the most convenient point from which to go snorkelling in the Komodo National Park. The snorkeling within the park offers many opportunities to see pristine reefs with some of the greatest fish and coral diversity in the world. Any dive shop can organise a snorkelling-only trip, or a snorkeller can accompany a diving tour at a reduced rate. Just ask!

Other
Seraya Island  (Indonesian: Pulau Seraya) is little more than a small, arid island outside of the Komodo National Park with a few bamboo huts for tourist lodging, a restaurant, and some villagers who let their goats graze on vegetation. The island's cove is protected from the sea, providing calm and clear water for snorkelling. At low tide the coral is exposed and local fishermen walk on the reef in search of prey. Rowboats can be rented and taken to nearby islands for snorkelling and diving. Make sure to run up to the top of the hill behind the resorts and check out the sunset. The lodges on the island do have showers, but running water is only available a few hours a day.

One of the more spectacular displays of nature in the area is at Kalong Island (Indonesian: Pulau Kalong; also spelt Kalung), which literally means "Flying Fox Island." The name is quite appropriate as the island is home to thousands of Kalong, or giant flying fox bats. Boats to Kalong can be chartered from Labuanbajo for around Rp300,000 for a return ride, including a snorkelling stop at a nearby island before you reach Pulau Kalong. Your boat will be moored next to the mangrove island and at dusk literally tens of thousands of flying foxes emerge from the mangrove island and move over your boat towards Rinca Island. For the entire colony to emerge will take roughly 20 min of continuous waves of bats passing over your boat. The boat ride to/from Labuanbajo will take roughly one hour. This trip can also be packaged into a one-day tour together with (for example) a visit of Rinca Island and some snorkelling in the area.

Buy
There are three ATMs in town which belong to the BNI bank and can deliver up to Rp2,500,000 per transaction in Rp100,000 or Rp50,000 notes, but also a few other banks and one money changer. There is a bad rate, so better change enough money before coming here.

Shops selling tourist trinkets, local fabric, and Komodo Dragon carvings are located in the center of town. Western products of varying quality are available in the toko or kiosk alongside the roads.

Consider taking a trip to the market early in the morning to purchase local coffee, spices, or just to look over a wealth of local produce and goods.

Eat
Choose from a variety of Indonesian, Chinese, and Western restaurants on the main road. As a tourist place some cheating takes place: some restaurants add 10% "service tax" to the bill. Other restaurants refuse to give change less of than 1000 rupiah. Insist on exact change.

Drink
Beer (Rp30,000 as of Nov 2018) and Arak is available from the supermarkets and some of the shops around town. You can get the local moonshine (Arak), however, it resembles paint thinner, and it's not unlikely that you will go blind if it is contaminated with methyl alcohol.

 * Cafe In Hit. Nice cafe with excellent reading selections.
 * Cafe In Hit. Nice cafe with excellent reading selections.
 * Cafe In Hit. Nice cafe with excellent reading selections.
 * Cafe In Hit. Nice cafe with excellent reading selections.

Sleep
There is plenty of accommodation to choose from in Labuanbajo. And with tourism growing exponentially, new places are springing up constantly. The cheapest places are the local homestays (Penginapan) near the ferry port. However, practice your Indonesian first.

As of December 2016 there are 17 hotels, just one 4-star and 6 3-star hotels. The infrastructure of the town is growing rapidly. Listed from north to south, here are some of the hotels. All places include breakfast, but to some breakfast merely translates into a cup of coffee. Ask first to avoid disappointment.

The main issue in Labuan Bajo is the lack of fresh water. Some hotels tap spring water at the hill through a very long pipeline. Other hotels collect fresh water from this source using a mobile tank. It seems like the hotels in the central town take advantage of this setup.

Budget

 * Seraya Island Sunset Beach. Seraya Kecil Island (Rp250,000); a stay on the island can be booked at the front desk of Gardena Hotel (same owner).
 * Seraya Island Sunset Beach. Seraya Kecil Island (Rp250,000); a stay on the island can be booked at the front desk of Gardena Hotel (same owner).
 * Seraya Island Sunset Beach. Seraya Kecil Island (Rp250,000); a stay on the island can be booked at the front desk of Gardena Hotel (same owner).
 * Seraya Island Sunset Beach. Seraya Kecil Island (Rp250,000); a stay on the island can be booked at the front desk of Gardena Hotel (same owner).
 * Seraya Island Sunset Beach. Seraya Kecil Island (Rp250,000); a stay on the island can be booked at the front desk of Gardena Hotel (same owner).
 * Seraya Island Sunset Beach. Seraya Kecil Island (Rp250,000); a stay on the island can be booked at the front desk of Gardena Hotel (same owner).
 * Seraya Island Sunset Beach. Seraya Kecil Island (Rp250,000); a stay on the island can be booked at the front desk of Gardena Hotel (same owner).
 * Seraya Island Sunset Beach. Seraya Kecil Island (Rp250,000); a stay on the island can be booked at the front desk of Gardena Hotel (same owner).
 * Seraya Island Sunset Beach. Seraya Kecil Island (Rp250,000); a stay on the island can be booked at the front desk of Gardena Hotel (same owner).

Connect
Internet cafes along the main road are plentiful, and their connections are all generally the same at 1 Mbit/s which is fine for Skype and YouTube. The Warnet in the south has the newest hardware, and most places have headsets for Skype.

All restaurants mentioned above have free WiFi. Most accommodations have WiFi.

Stay safe
If you decide to go hiking, beware of venomous snakes.

Go next
"Travel" (shared car) or bus (e.g. Gunung Mas, Gemini) to Ruteng, Bajawa, Ende, Moni, Maumere, etc.) can be arranged through many of the tour offices on the main street - the price usually includes pick-up from your hotel.

 * Komodo National Park encompasses a lot of water and islands west of Labuanbajo. If you want to go to Rinca or Komodo islands, or dive in the park you must buy a 3-day park pass for US$15. Money from such user fees is collected by the local government and is supposed to go into conservation efforts. Rinca Island (Indonesian: Rinca Kecil or Pulau Rinca) is a more convenient place to see Komodo Dragons than Komodo island.  Some dive operators might be convinced to combine a stop at the island with a days diving.  There are big dragons that are often right in front of the pier when people arrive.
 * Kanawa Island (Pulau Kanawa) is surrounded by spectacular reefs with thousands of fish species, turtles, corals and reef sharks. Sometimes it is possible to see some stingrays and small sharks just around the arrival jetty. You can dive from the island with companies such as Wunderpus Diving (www.wunderpusliveaboard.com) who will collect you each morning and drop you off in the afternoon after diving, they will also offer course based from the island at times. Kanawa island is 10 km away from Labuan Bajo (about 1hr with a local boat or 10 min with speed boat) and located just at the borders of Komodo National Park. on Kanawa there is a small bungalow resort, designed for travelers, with a restaurant. It is possible to visit the national park directly from there with wooden boats. Reef around Kanawa is protected, so fishing is not allowed, but the restaurant provides fabulous fresh seafood coming form the nearby fisherman island. Turtles love to hatch on the beach just next to the restaurant.
 * Ruteng, the main area for Manggarai culture, the next big city by the main Flores road, 110 km away - approximately 3-4 hours by motorbike or car.

title: Labuan Bajo


text:
Labuhan Lombok

Labuhan Lombok is a town in eastern Lombok, Indonesia. True to the name, which means "Port of Lombok", it's best known as the port for ferries to the neighboring island of Sumbawa. The town is also called Tanjung Kayangan.

By bus
Buses from Mataram's Mandalika terminal travel to Labuhan Lombok at 2 hr intervals. Most buses stop outside the Kayangan port (see below), but you may need to take another bemo to get to the distant terminal.

By ferry
Ferries from Poto Tano, Sumbawa (1.5 hr) dock at Labuhan Kayangan (Kayangan Port), 3 km south of town.

 * Alat Strait crossings: Labuhan, Lombok - Pototano, Sumbawa with 8 ferries providing 18 crossings per day.

When arriving at Labuhan Lombok by ferry from Sumbawa passengers may find only limited services are available to connect to Praya in central Lombok, south toward Kuta, South Lombok or west toward the city of Mataram, Lembar ferry port in West Lombok and the Senggigi beach tourism precinct on the west coast.

To travel onward using public buses and bemo a traveller would need to have a good understanding both of the area and the vagaries of the interconnections and services. It would possibly be far easier and more expedient to either use a taxi, rent a car and driver or to use a book through service such as that provided by Perama tours to access other parts of Lombok.

East and Central Lombok is serviced from Labuhan Lombok for connections through to Sumbawa at Poto Tano. Labuhan has basic facilities to receive the ferries that ply the Alat Strait to Sumbawa. On the west coast Tanjung Lembar seaport provides facilities for the passenger ferries from Bali, passenger carrying ships visiting Lombok, small freighters and fishing boats.

The drive on, drive off ferries provide the principal facilities for road transport movements in and out of Lombok as well as moving passengers to and from Bali in the west and Sumbawa in the east.. The operators on these routes will occasionally suspend services due to breakdown or heavy seas.

 * Please see the main Lombok article for details on air and sea connections through to Bali, Java and other destinations westward.

title: Labuhan Lombok


text:
La Cañada Flintridge

La Cañada Flintridge is a city of about 20,000 people (2018) at the extreme northwest end of the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California.

Understand
La Cañada Flintridge is famous for its fancy and rather pricey homes. It is one of the nicer communities in Los Angeles County. It sits against the Angeles Crest Forest to the north and is split in half by the 210 freeway. La Cañada is a suburban, primarily residential community with few tourist attractions.

Get in
The 210 freeway runs through La Cañada and connects it to such places as Altadena and Pasadena to the east and La Crescenta to the west. The 2 freeway links the city to Glendale and inner Los Angeles to the south and ends in La Cañada, and the 2 continues (as a two-lane highway) northward through Angeles National Forest where it can be taken to such places as Palmdale and Wrightwood.

See

 * Angeles National Forest
 * Angeles National Forest
 * Angeles National Forest

Do

 * La Canada Rose Float Volunteer One of 6 remaining self-built floats in the annual Rose Parade on January 1st of each year, this float requires year round work from volunteers to create unique and colorful designs. You can construct the float from metal to flowers all year on Saturdays from 9am-2pm at the Valley Water Company. Decoration requires signups online but takes place all day from December 26th to December 31st.

Go next

 * Rose Bowl - The Pasadena Rose Bowl, home of the UCLA football team, the annual Rose Bowl football game and the 1984 Olympic Soccer Finals is only minutes away.

title: La Cañada Flintridge


text:
La Calera

La Calera is a sleepy looking town in the mountains of Cundinamarca, just outside Bogotá. Don't let looks fool you—this is one of the wealthiest towns in Colombia (emerald wealth), and plenty of the farms play host to wealthy Bogotanos on weekends. For a visitor, it's quiet and pretty, and is the principal spot around Bogotá for paragliding (follow the signs). As it is next to the main reservoir supplying water to Bogotá, there is a noticeably heavy military presence.

Get in
The road to La Calera winds up the side of the mountain from Bogota. On this road there are several restaurants with a great view back down into Bogota and they are very popular around sunset.

Once you reach the top of the mountain the road carries on to La Calera and passes several horse ranches where you can stop to take a ride.

Local buses also frequent this road, as do large trucks, which can make driving somewhat exciting. The locals are quite happy to overtake on blind bends and the no-over-taking signs are routinely ignored.

Eat
The road to La Calera has abundant restaurants, literally appearing every few minutes. Once in this small town there are also numerous small cafes and bars along the main street.

title: La Calera