We have just spent the past couple of days aboard the Rocky Mountaineer and what an amazing journey it has been. Leaving Vancouver is quite the affair with the red carpet rolled out and a lone Bagpiper sending us on our way. Dozens of staff line up all the way along the track to wave us off, as they day for every single departure.
Inside the Gold Leaf carriage of the Rocky Mountaineer with its high glass dome you immediately feel that this is going to be special, as indeed it is. The staff on board the train bend over backwards to cater to your every need. The meals we were served were first class and that is no mean feat on board a train! As soon as we board the train we are served breakfast in two seatings. Breakfast is two courses and our lunch is three courses. In between meals we are served snacks and of course the beverages flow freely.
 |
| Kamloops Rail Station |
Let's talk about the scenery. As we leave Vancouver and head towards our overnight stay in Kamloops we travel through farming country interspersed with the blue lakes that are dotted with fishing boats. The snow capped mountains are to the north of us heavily forested with pine trees and in the lower sections it is cyprus pine. On this journey we follow seven different rivers. Six of them flow to the Pacific and once we cross the Rocky Mountains the last flows to the Atlantic.
The first day is reasonably short with us arriving at Kamloops around 5pm and we are grateful for this as we all feel like we need to stretch our legs. Philip and I talk a walk around the nearby parklands and are in bed by 8.30.
The next morning we are all aboard by 7am as this is a much longer day as we make the long upward journey through the Rocky Mountains. Photos can never do justice to the Rocky Mountains so I ended up putting the camera down and just enjoying the journey. The mountains soar thousands of metres into the sky and they are well named with the beautiful rock faces that still have traces of snow at the very top. We follow along Kicking Horse River for quite awhile and I am very much taken by the lovely colour of this river that is glacial water but it gets its pale blue colour from the rocks that wash into it. This river is a favourite for white water rafting.
All through our journey we have commentary from the knowledgeable staff about where we are and what we should be looking forward to. Quite a few times one of the staff will call out "bear on the left/right" and everyone jumps out of their seat to look at these beautiful wild creatures. No photos of these because we are moving too fast! When we approach the two famous "switch back" tunnels we are told how they were built. They are spiral tunnels that actually cross over and under each other and have decreased the upward elevation of the train track from 5% to 2%. When we left Vancouver we had a single engine pulling all of the carriages but when we left Kamloops we had two engines to help with the upward haul.
We eventually arrive at Banff around 8pm but have to shift our clocks forward another hour so it is quite late when we arrive at the beautiful Fairmont Hotel. It is a matter of a quick shower and straight to bed for us we ready ourselves for a day of sightseeing in Banff tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment