Places to visit in Fiji
Fiji has an unhurried lifestyle that can be relaxing or infuriating, depending on your attitude. A timetable for a bus or ferry is more a guideline, and fretting and fuming will prove to be counter-productive.
38% of Fiji’s population is of Indian descent.
There are more than 300 islands but no major cities in Fiji. Though Suva, the capital is considered the best place to party in the S. Pacific, just staying in resorts will be a bad move; consider a homestay in a remote village for a couple of days and experience the hospitality Fijian’s lifestyle, still unchanged by the modern world.
Nadi, besides having an international airport, offers a wide selection of accommodation ranging from 5 stars to budget. As an entry point for 600,000 visitors annually, it doesn’t look much like a city, but more like a collection of villages surrounded by sugarcane fields. Here you will find travel agents to arrange your trip, banks, shops and some good restaurants. In the southern part of town is Sri Siva Subrahmanya Swami Temple, dedicated to the deity Murugan.
Viti Levu or “Big Fiji” is almost half as big as Wales with sugarcane fields on the drier north coast and verdant rainforests on the eastern half of the island. To fully explore the island you need more than a week, but most tourists give it two days, exploring by bus or taxi. The capital city Suva and the town of Nausori are also on this island. In the interior is Fiji’s most attractive village Navala and its highest mountain, Mount Tomanivi; just offshore are the popular budget resorts of Nananu-i-Ra island.
Suva the capital, in the northwest corner is a deep water harbor surrounded by mountains. It’s an attractive harbor with colonial buildings at its center, excellent bars, cinemas showing Bollywood movies and since Fiji is a large archipelago, all government organizations have their offices here. Beside this, there’s not much here except the museum. Set within the Thurston Gardens, the Fiji Museum has some wicked forks used by cannibals and double-hulled war canoes.
Mamanucas islands are thirty or so in number and lie just off the coast of Nadi; ideal for a day trip. These are perfect coral islands with white beaches fringed with coconut palms, placid lagoons, and tasteful resorts. Just a short walk will get you to the secluded beach.
Yasawa Islands lie north of the Mamanucas and are larger and more dramatic; they are also less commercialized. To visit them, book a seat on the Yasawa Flyer catamaran and spend a day on each of the many budget resorts along the way.
Fiji is in the southern hemisphere, close to Australia and New Zealand so there’s a heavy influx of tourists during the southern winter. Book during our winter months and you will get better deals and the weather will be milder too. For all your foreign exchange needs visit www.buyforex.com and get the best bargains. EbixCash World Money multi-currency card is secured with pin/chip technology and has 24 x 7 support. Don’t forget to get travel insurance as well.
