Back in 2007 Matt left Japan to return to the UK. Being Matt, he didn’t catch a flight back but decided to exchange his Japanese government-bought one way plane ticket, for a trip on the iconic Trans-Siberian train (via Mongolia), travelling overland from Beijing to Latvia.
In the nearly 17 years since it is one of those experiences that comes up a little too often in conversation.
‘When I did the Trans-Siberian…’
Fill the blank with:
‘I shared a cabin for a week with three eighteen year old girls’ or
‘I unwittingly smuggled tortoises over the Mongolian/Russian border’ or
‘I bought potato vodka from a Russian grandma through the train window’.
Etc.
Suffice to say I have at times been a teeny tiny bit jealous of Matt’s epic long distance rail experience and have always thought I would enjoy a similar trip (preferably minus the tortoises, vodka, Russian grandmas and eighteen year olds). Our current epic trip has been heavy on the cycling with a few flights, several ferries and so far one overnight train in Thailand. When we set off I thought this would be it – until someone* mentioned that there is a train that crosses Canada when we were in the midst of working out the best route home from NZ. A quick search online confirmed that ‘The Canadian’ is one of the world’s iconic train journeys travelling 4,466 kilometres (2,775miles) from Vancouver, British Columbia all the way to Toronto, Ontario. With time not being entirely on our side (I need to be back at work in June!) and Canada being ginormous, a train journey looked like the perfect solution. We are trying to minimise our air travel, and what better way to see the vastness than from a train?
More online searching back in February revealed that there were no direct tickets left for our ideal April dates from Vancouver to Toronto. In retrospect this is unsurprising as we have found that everyone else on this train booked their tickets much further in advance. However, when we split the journey in two, with leg one taking us to Jasper, Alberta, and leg two onwards to Toronto a few days later we could bag ourselves the last two berths on each train in Sleeper Plus (=the cheapest way to travel on the Canadian which involves having a bed at night rather than a seat. The journey totals four days/nights. I need a bed.) We booked in a flurry of excitement and then put it to one side as we continued exploring NZ’s South Island.
All aboard
Fast forward two months and we screech to a halt at Vancouver’s Pacific Station an hour before departure. This should be plenty of time, shouldn’t it? The look of surprise on the faces of the station staff when we push our bikes in laden with our gear suggested otherwise. Apparently it is advisable to box your bikes when you travel on this particular train which hadn’t been mentioned when we emailed them to confirm that we could bring our bikes with us. An hour is not enough time to safely put bikes in boxes. Option 2 is – put them in plastic bags! After a bit of deliberation we went with the bags. Getting on the train (with the bikes) was the priority at this point and a badly packed bike in a box may be handled with less care than a bike in a big plastic bag, which ultimately just needs to be handled like a bike (rather than a box).
Decision made we were on board feeling a bit flustered. What better way to de-fluster – ‘Bon Voyage’ drinks in the dome car. yes please and thank you! The drinks were sparkling wine accompanied by canapés as we pulled out of Vancouver at the breakneck speed of c.30 kilometres per hour (cue lots of ‘we could cycle this quicker’ for the entire trip).
Our first ‘leg’ on the train was meant to take about nineteen hours giving us the opportunity to experience the full cycle of how things are ‘done’ on The Canadian. It ended up taking three hours longer than scheduled which apparently is completely normal, or how things are ‘done’ (freight trains take priority so our train was at a standstill a lot on this first leg in particular).
Otherwise things look a lot like this:
⁃ Sitting looking at beautiful views from the Dome Car (or maybe from your own berth set up as seats in the day)
⁃ Waiting for your sitting at dinner (early or late, your choice)
⁃ Eating dinner
⁃ More sitting looking at views
⁃ Going to bed, trying to sleep
⁃ Getting up and going to the Dome Car to look at the views with a coffee and morning pastry
⁃ Going to actual breakfast
⁃ Sitting and looking at the views (drinking coffee/tea and eating the provided snacks)
⁃ Going to lunch
⁃ Being quizzed intermittently throughout the above by all of the Canadian/American retirees ‘oh you’re the folks with the bikes!..’
⁃ Repeat
By the time we pulled into Jasper we were both completely stuffed – any concerns Matt may have had about needing to bring some of our own snacks on board had been forgotten – we were both amazed by the quality/quantity of the included food on board). And ready for some exercise!
The Rockies
As it turned out, the comparatively late booking of our trip was very fortunate for us, as the stopover in the Rockies ended up being a highlight of our trip so far. Looking at the map as we got closer to getting on the train we realised that Jasper was very much in the mountains, and at one end of one of the world’s best scenic roads (the Icefields Parkway) at the other end of which is Banff!
At one point I was weighing up if the four nights would give us enough time to cycle the Parkway one way (c.300km) with a return to Jasper by bus and a stopover on the way. More research revealed that with temperatures being very low (-12 at night, and not expected to be above freezing during the day) this might not be the best idea – added to which accommodation options on the way are limited/non existent in the winter (the campgrounds aren’t open yet, can’t think why?)
We didn’t want to miss the parkway though (and going to Banff seemed like a good idea…) and so we managed to book a small hire car on arrival at Jasper for three days, starting the following morning. This gave us time for a shortish ride around the trails and back roads surrounding Jasper where it was confirmed that it is indeed cold in the Rockies in April! Three pairs of socks, two jackets, two pairs of gloves and (reluctantly) leggings just about kept the frostbite at bay.
The next morning we were on the move again, this time leaving the bikes behind in Jasper. We realised this was the first time we had been without the bikes overnight since our departure from the UK – strangely a bit of a wrench. The wrench was soon forgotten though as we enjoyed an incredibly spectacular drive to Banff. And by spectacular I really mean it! Jaw droppingly stunning at every turn, we stopped at every view point and did numerous short walks en route (until we stopped stopping when we realised our Parks Pass ran out at 4pm and that we would be returning the same way a couple of days later, with even better weather forecast).
Banff’s setting is even more spectacular than Jasper’s somehow so we enjoyed a full day there exploring by car and by foot. The views at every turn were just wow, despite the very low temperatures.
We warmed up in the evening at the Banff Avenue Brewing Company where remarkably they were selling steins of beer for Canadian $9 on a Thursday.
As expected, the drive back to Jasper involved more ‘wowing’. We stopped at Lake Louise to be greeted by a huge ice field (no Lake to be seen whatsoever). Of course this meant that we experienced this famous setting in a different way to summer visitors, by walking the length of it, and back. This was a magical experience albeit our very lightweight trainers were in no way suited to the task (cue more potential frostbite).
We also fitted in a stop at the Athabasca Glacier, which forms part of the vast Columbia Icefield. Cue more wows, combined with more cold feet!
Soon enough we were reluctantly back in Jasper and exchanging our speedy four wheeled transport for our bikes. Reluctance turned to happiness though as we woke on the day of our second train to see that it was delayed again! It is very unusual for me to be happy about a delayed train but after popping to the train station to check in with our new friend Arnaud there we were given the go ahead for a morning ride. Back onto the Parkway we went for a quick out and back ride which was brilliant! Now safely on the bucket list to maybe return one day and cycle this road in warmer weather.
Rejoining the train we were a bit better prepared for what was in store. We didn’t mess about heading to the Bon Voyage drinks (which are a Vancouver and Jasper event only). And once they were finished in our dome car, we headed for the first time to the Park Car which in the summer months is reserved for Prestige passengers only to admire the view from the very rear of the train. It turns out there are benefits to it not being the summer months – as we were allowed to sneak in and enjoy some of the more plentiful Bon Voyage drinks available there, as well as all of the leftover canapés whist watching the Rockies recede into the plains.
The next three days and nights onboard were spent on the eating and view admiring schedule with a few timezone changes adding to the slightly alarming frequency of the meals! We enjoyed chatting to many more other passengers over said meals and hearing about why they were taking the train. For many it was very much the trip of a lifetime, particularly those with a keen interest in all things rail associated.
The views as we travelled eastward transitioned from the mountains, to the plains, to the rolling forests and lakes of Northern Ontario. We managed to jump off the train on a few occasions – mostly just for 15 minutes but we managed a longer stop in Winnipeg, Manitoba – all of an hour at 10.30 at night! It gave us just enough time to admire the Forks area and the Museum of Human Rights from the outside – a must-do apparently (just not at 10.30pm!)
Despite our late departure from Jasper we somehow made up the time – probably by the driver putting his foot down at points (this is when the chat about being able to cycle as quickly stopped). We couldn’t work out what was more disruptive to sleep – the stop/start as we waited for freight trains to overtake or the breakneck speed on slightly rough tracks providing the opportunity to roll around your berth whilst getting some shuteye! By the third night we had become used to both. Either way, I was ready to disembark. For us it was very much a highlight of our own trip of a lifetime. But, I needed fresh air, space and to get away from other people from a while. We were both ready to climb back on the bikes and see the rest of Canada at our own pace!
*yes Mum, it was you!
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