Canada Diary - Day 3
Seattle (US) to Vancouver (CA) - 14 May, Day 3.
Groggy start to the day. Had booked tickets on the Greyhound to take my sorry arse north of the border to Vancouver, Canada. This was about where my forward planning for the trip comes to the end. Winging it from here on it.
Had a good lunch at a Vietnamese place, got taught how to shake hands in Ghana by a school teacher.
Greyhound was mercifully pretty comfortable, only about 6 people on board. Read a book or stared out the window most the way. Canadian customs officers where very civilised, didn’t make you feel like a terrorist like the US.
Got off at the Greyhound station in Vancouver (somewhere I was to get to know well) and could see the city centre in the distance but didn’t fancy walking with a backpack that weighed about as much as I did. Instead I got the Skytrain, after spending several minutes working out how to pay for it.
Had to wander around for a bit to get my bearings. Luckily in US and Canada all streets are on a block system and nice and straight unlike here in the UK. Once you can find two parallel street names on your rubbish Google map and work out which way is east and which west from the sun, then you can find your way anywhere in an American or Canadian city.
Vancouver is very impressive, all bronze coloured skyscrapers and soaring buildings.
Eventually slugged my way to American Backpackers Hostel, a $10 a night place, swearing my backpack getting steadily heavier. Got there, climbed the steps and saw it was as dirty as a dollar hooker, stank of weed and had nobody on the desk but plenty of signs warning against fleas. Walked straight back out and headed for the Cambie.
The Cambie (300 Cambie Street) is a bar/grill/bakery/hostel right in the centre of the area known as Gastown. For that $10 extra over the AmBackpackers, you get mixed sex 4 bed dorms, discount on breakfast from the grill or bakery, clean showers, an Irish roomate and a safe hostel instead of a flea infested rape pit.
Had a few pints of Canadian beer and one of the Cambie’s massive burgers for dinner at the bar while watching the Detroit / Dallas Ice Hockey game. Finally feel like I’ve arrived in Canada.
Canada doesn’t like smokers. Packets kept behind a curtain in shops and you’re not allowed to smoke inside or within 2 meters of a doorway or window. Bit ironic considering the same shop is able to sell bongs, knives, and weed pipes in the window.
Went to bed after a post dinner walk, jet lag catching up slowly. Only have to share the 4 bed dorm with one other dude, likable Irish chap I could just about understand who smoked a few joints out the window and fell asleep with the intro to the Father Ted DVD playing endlessly on his laptop. Had to listen to the same three Father Ted catch phrases repeated hundreds of times before they eventually lulled me to sleep.
Had a good lunch at a Vietnamese place, got taught how to shake hands in Ghana by a school teacher.
Greyhound was mercifully pretty comfortable, only about 6 people on board. Read a book or stared out the window most the way. Canadian customs officers where very civilised, didn’t make you feel like a terrorist like the US.
Got off at the Greyhound station in Vancouver (somewhere I was to get to know well) and could see the city centre in the distance but didn’t fancy walking with a backpack that weighed about as much as I did. Instead I got the Skytrain, after spending several minutes working out how to pay for it.
Had to wander around for a bit to get my bearings. Luckily in US and Canada all streets are on a block system and nice and straight unlike here in the UK. Once you can find two parallel street names on your rubbish Google map and work out which way is east and which west from the sun, then you can find your way anywhere in an American or Canadian city.
Vancouver is very impressive, all bronze coloured skyscrapers and soaring buildings.
Eventually slugged my way to American Backpackers Hostel, a $10 a night place, swearing my backpack getting steadily heavier. Got there, climbed the steps and saw it was as dirty as a dollar hooker, stank of weed and had nobody on the desk but plenty of signs warning against fleas. Walked straight back out and headed for the Cambie.
The Cambie (300 Cambie Street) is a bar/grill/bakery/hostel right in the centre of the area known as Gastown. For that $10 extra over the AmBackpackers, you get mixed sex 4 bed dorms, discount on breakfast from the grill or bakery, clean showers, an Irish roomate and a safe hostel instead of a flea infested rape pit.
Had a few pints of Canadian beer and one of the Cambie’s massive burgers for dinner at the bar while watching the Detroit / Dallas Ice Hockey game. Finally feel like I’ve arrived in Canada.
Canada doesn’t like smokers. Packets kept behind a curtain in shops and you’re not allowed to smoke inside or within 2 meters of a doorway or window. Bit ironic considering the same shop is able to sell bongs, knives, and weed pipes in the window.
Went to bed after a post dinner walk, jet lag catching up slowly. Only have to share the 4 bed dorm with one other dude, likable Irish chap I could just about understand who smoked a few joints out the window and fell asleep with the intro to the Father Ted DVD playing endlessly on his laptop. Had to listen to the same three Father Ted catch phrases repeated hundreds of times before they eventually lulled me to sleep.
