Vancouver Part 1

Early next morning, we took an Uber to the train station to take the Amtrak Cascades Train to Vancouver. Thankfully, we had the sense to return the rental car the evening before as we didn't realise that we would have to queue up and check-in. The train was spacious and very comfortable. Most of the foreign passengers got on the train and immediately put beauty masks/ eye patches on and went straight to sleep. We headed to the Cafe Car where there were more viewing panels. (One of the officers on the train pictured below looks so much like Gale Bertram from the Mentalist, no?)

The ride was very enjoyable with funny punchlines and dry anecdotes from the driver. We got patches of sun here and there as well. The driver pointed out a bald eagle to us which sat perched atop a tree branch. We also saw heron and storks.

We finally arrived in Vancouver but were delayed an hour right outside the train station due to an extremely long cargo train which was moving at snail pace ahead of us. After which, a long queue formed for the taxis outside the train station. The rental car place, similar to the one in San Francisco, also decided to stick us with an even more honking huge car than the GMC- a Toyota 7 seater despite the fact that we had booked a smaller car. What is it with car rentals on this side of the world? After two runs up and down the parking lot, we finally got a Toyota Camry which was fitted with snowtyres. This was supposed to be recalled after the winter but was the only car left which was smaller than all the 7 seaters so we took it.

I have mixed feelings about Vancouver. The views and nature are magnificent. The drivers were the first difference that we noticed. American drivers are fantastic (at least in the few days that we experienced). The drivers in Vancouver were quite erratic and inconsistent, both in speed and manoeuvres, making them difficult to anticipate. They would slow down quite suddenly and not keep up with the distance between cars leaving swathes of empty space at times. Blame it on the distracting gorgeous views? My husband nearly ran a young chap over, who had earphones on, strolling across the main road at a leisurely pace despite the light being red on his end. Parts of the city felt dilapidated and left behind in a bygone era which also felt quite odd.

The drive on the Sea to Sky Highway was insanely breathtaking. Snowcapped mountains and pine mountains were always in view. It reminded us of the fjords in Norway.

We visited Shannon Falls near Squamish.

This was the fantastic view from the highway.

My husband made an inspired lunch of chicken, salad and potatoes for earlier in the day in our very well-equipped Airbnb which provided every spice you'd dream of and basic ingredients to cook with. 

After his hard day at work (he always ends up working on his birthday), we ended the day with a celebration birthday dinner for my husband - takeaway from a sushi place which was fully booked. We enjoyed our yummy dinner while watching Netflix. It seemed that almost every Airbnb we stayed in had Netflix, Amazon TV, Hulu and Apple Tv. Another perk we're not used to having. :)