The Canadian to Toronto

"The Canadian" is the name of the train between Vancouver and Toronto, which runs 3 times a week and takes something like 4 days to go from one city to the other one.

Actually, I think this is the best way to travel across Canada - obviously not the cheapest - because you don't have to worry about anything. I mean, it's not like the bus at all... It's comfortable - even in the economy class, you can stop wherever you want if you ask in advance, there's a restaurant and a snack shop, you can see amazing landscapes (especially in the "panoramic" car), etc.
You can still walk in the train if you need to stretch your legs and you can sleep better than in the bus. At least that's what I felt.

From Winnipeg to Toronto, it's a 1 day and 9 hours ride and I thought it would just be boring but, in fact, time flew and I had an amazing trip. The fact that you don't have access to a shower is probably the worst thing when you take the train but it's the same for everyone in the economy class so at the end you don't really care : we were all stinking... (just kidding)
The fact that you can plug and use your computer is a plus, especially if you have some movies to watch - and even if you don't have any, it's easy to find someone who has some... And this Summer, it will be even better because they'll install WiFi in all of their trains.
Moreover, it's so easy to meet people that you can just talk for many hours and forget that you're on a train.

I really liked this trip and I met many people, as well Canadian as French in fact, and we just talked about many things like what you have to see in Canada. And I met a man who's from Nova Scotia and he just invited me to come to see him and his wife in Annapolis Royal when I'll be there. That's great!
Then I ate with my new friends before going to the "panoramic" car to enjoy the sunset and the view on the lakes of Ontario.

The bad thing with this train is that it doesn't go everywhere you want... That's why I haven't taken it from Vancouver. Instead of going "directly" from Vancouver to Toronto by following the US border, it goes in the North to Jasper and Edmonton before going to Saskatoon and Winnipeg.

Anyway it was memorable. I like the fact that I experienced different ways to travel in Canada and I'm just waiting for driving in the East. But before that, I think I'll take the train to go to Ottawa and Québec after Toronto.

Winnipeg - Prairies...

The bus from Banff to Winnipeg was supposed to last 22 hours maximum but the thing to know is that this week end, there was a huge snow storm in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. For security, they decided to close the highways between the provinces and we ended in waiting 4 hours in Regina for the roads to re-open. It could have been worse. At least I met some people to talk a bit.
I don't blame Greyhound for this, it was not their fault but I have one problem with their global organization... How can they sell more tickets than the number of seats available in the bus and then wait until the last minute to hire an other bus? I think they have a real problem... Aren't they able to register the number of tickets sold or do they just like seeing the mess in the bus depot and angry people waiting to see if they'll finally be able to go where they want to? I bet for the second option...

Anyway, the ride was long but still bearable and we arrived in Winnipeg with "only" a few hours late. The landscapes were by far less interesting than the Rockies. Great Canadian Prairies...

My first impression of Winnipeg? None, haha... it was the night... But I started to be a bit paranoid because I met different guys in different places who made me promise to not walk alone at night in Winnipeg... Sounds a bit scaring, no? Finally, I didn't get any trouble but I was curious so I checked on the Internet and discovered that Winnipeg is apparently the Canadian city which has the highest rate of crimes. I heard many things about it before but not that. Usually, the first thing that people say about this city is something like this.

I've just spent a bit less than two days there but I prefer it to Calgary. There are more things to see, I think, especially cultural and historical stuffs such as the French area, Saint-Boniface, and the Manitoba Museum.

I haven't done a lot of things - everything closed quite early in fact - and I admit that it's not a major touristic area to see in Canada but it was not as bad as what people told me.

For a short stop in Winnipeg I recommend going to Saint-Boniface, the Forks, the Legislative Buildings and wandering around in the city centre. That's basically all I've done...

Last days in Banff

The rest of my time in Banff was as great as the first days and the time passed so quickly that I feel as if I'd stayed there for just a couple of days...

With Nana, we tried to do a few things in the town but as I said before, this is not the best season for the activities so we just walked a lot I think. We went to the Upper Hot Springs which is initially a natural hot swimming pool but because of the lack of natural water during the past couple of years they have to complete it with municipal water, which is really not the same. After a nice walk, it was more than great and relaxing, and even if the weather was not good enough to enjoy the spectacular view on the valley, we spent a few hours in the water looking at the mountains.

The next day, I met a French girl, Clémence, who was in fact one of my roommate and we went hiking with Lucas, a Swiss guy. It had snowed during the night and the ground was covered with at least 15 cm of fresh snow. It was just beautiful. I love snow so much...

We went to the Hoodoos Trail, a 4,5 km trail which goes from Downtown Banff to the small Hoodoos behind the Tunnel Mountain. It was really easy but with the snow we had to be careful sometimes, especially when it was a bit steep. On our way, we met a herd of elks (we thought they were deers but a Canadian couple told us that in fact they were elks...). It was surprising and they were just settled right on the trail. We were not really motivate to walk through the herd so we took an other way to get around them.

It was a very good walk and once again, we had a beautiful view on the mountains.

 

For my last day, I had lunch with Nana to decide what we were going to do during the afternoon. We went to the Bow falls before going to the cinema to watch Rio. It was childish but funny! And then, for my last dinner in Banff, we ate in a nice Japanese restaurant before going to the bus station...

In short, I had an amazing time in Banff! I enjoyed the snow and the mountains with a good friend even if it was hard to find something else than hiking to do. This is a very good place to discover the Rocky Mountains and it is worth is to spend a week there.

Day trip - The Glacier Trail

I really wanted to see more than Banff in the Rockies. My very first plan was going to Lake Louise and then to Jasper by bus and catch a train to Winnipeg there. Finally, I changed my mind to save some money and some time. So the best option to discover the Rockies was booking a tour with a tour company!

I received an other good advice which was using Discover Banff Tour. I have to admit that there are so many companies here which offer the same kind of tour in the same range of price that I was a bit hesitating. And now that it's done, I have no regret. We had a friendly and knowledgeable guide, with a charming smile, a small bus, a small group composed of 12 people and a weather which was not bad.
We'd chosen a tour called "The Glacier Trail", a full-day tour driving from Banff to Jasper National Park on the Columbia Icefields. Fortunately, we took some warm clothes because on the glacier it was a bit cold.
We saw so many breathtaking landscapes that I couldn't even say the name of the different places we've been.

 

We started the day by a short stop in Lake Louise, about 30min, just enough time to walk on the frozen lake and have a look at the Chateau Lake Louise. Such a nice place but I wish I could see it in summer, when the ice is melted, to see the blue/green water reflecting the Mount Victoria.

Then we just kept on driving on the most scenic highway in the world, stopping in some places to take some pictures, before arriving at the Columbia Icefields Centre where we ate our lunch, waiting to go to our Ice Explorer tour on the Athabasca Glacier. The trucks are amazing, apparently unique and expensive, but I'm not sure that this kind of tour will help fighting against the melting of the glacier.... Anyway, we had to deal with a snow storm and we couldn't see anything but it was great. It seemed very cold because of the wind but it was just -8°C.

After this short but unforgettable experience we just went back to the bus to go back to Banff.

It was such a good day! I do love this area. Nature, snow, mountains... what else?

First days in Banff

It's been something like 2 days and a half since I arrived in Banff and all I have to say is that I love it!
It's very small and there's not many things to see if you only stay in the town but the landscape is just incredible!

It would be a lie to say that I've never seen that kind of landscape before but, honestly, it's not the same.
I love the way the town is surrounded by mountains with the river going through it. And the best is that there's still some snow. I mean, not a lot but it gives me an idea of how it is in the winter.

The last two days were kinda quiet, just wandered around and explored the town. I met Nana, a friend of Vancouver who is trying to settle here for a few months and we wandered around together.

Today we walked on the Tunnel Mountain trail. It was not so hard but a bit steep sometimes and the melting snow on the trail didn't make it easier. We slipped a few times and almost got lost at the top but finally we did it and we enjoyed the breathtaking view on Banff.

The way back to the town was much easier, we could just slip on the snow, it's faster! The only bad thing is that it's not the best season to enjoy all the activities you can find here. It's too late for winter one's because the snow is melting and it's too early for summer one's because of the snow...

Anyway I'll try to enjoy my time here as much as I can because then I'll visit some cities for while.

Drumheller - Badlands

There's a nice place in Alberta that Dave has recommended to me and I'm glad I followed his advice!
Drumheller is at 2 hours by car from Calgary and I rented a car to go there with Vera, my roommate in Calgary. What a pleasure to drive after more than 3 months without a car!
For those who have never heard of it before, you have to know that Drumheller is the 1st place in the world to find dinosaur's skeletons - at least, that's what I've heard...

First stop was at the information centre where you can see a giant dino. You can even go to the top of it, in his mouth, for 3$. But well, that's for kids!

Then we went to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, a museum full of skeletons, scientific explanations, geological history and many other things. It's huge and very well organized and for 11$, it is worth it. Honestly, I was there only to look not to read, and the little I've read reminded me my Science lessons in high school...
Anyway it was more than interesting.

Lunch and walk in the little town of Drumheller, which is very different from all the places I've seen before in Canada. It looks like a real stereotype of an American town...

After that, we went to the Hoodoos and we stop at a kind of suspension bridge, near an old mine. The Hoodoos are nice, but not as big as I thought...

Already time to go back to Calgary by a road... well... actually you can't call this a road! It looks more like a mined path, full of dust, holes and rocks.

This was a very good day and thanks so much to Vera who accepted to come with me and share the rental.

By the way, I've found something interesting in Calgary... country pub!!! Went to Ranchman's with 2 German girls and our Swiss driver. Country music, beers, cowboys & cowgirls and country dance of course ! Yeeeeeeeha! Seems like a big part of the culture in Calgary... Stampede must be amazing!

Calgary or the "Sandstone City"

It's been two days now since I arrived in Calgary and honestly... it's not very exciting!

The first day was a lazy day... I just slept and then I decided to go to the city centre and walk to see how it was. Well... I didn't find anything really interesting except maybe the aerial pathways between almost all of the buildings. I discovered, after, that it's to fight the snow and the cold in winter, you can go almost everywhere in the city centre without having to put one foot outside. This is amazing... and terribly useful!

Then, the architecture, nature and urban landscapes in Calgary are not great at all. I can understand that after a huge fire they decided to build everything using sandstone but honestly... it's ugly. It looks like a kind of urban desert in the middle of nowhere. 

I walked for a while and it was very hard to find something to do; the streets are just empty and what is supposed to be a park is so dry that you can't even see some fresh grass whereas the snow is not completely melted and the river is still frozen locally. In comparison to Vancouver... well... no... you can't even compare them!

The second day, I've decided to go to Calgary Tower and the Glenbow Museum. Finally I ended spending the day with Davies, a guy met at the hostel. We went to Chinook Shopping Centre (huge but nothing special) before going back to Downtown to see the tower and the museum. The observation desk at the top of the tower offers a great view on the city which confirmed my first idea of "urban desert in the middle of nowhere".

Fortunately, the Glenbow Museum was quite interesting and if I remember it's the biggest museum in this part of the country. I liked the exhibition of portraits taken by Karsh, a famous photographer, and all the historical stuff was well done.

In short, Calgary is not the kind of place I like but for a few days it's bearable.
The hostel where I'm staying, Wicked Hostels, is fortunately a good place and the staff is very nice. I talked with some people from different countries and this is good at least.