World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Canada

The scenery did not change too much from the North of Montana to the South of Alberta, Canada. The only thing we noticed that there was a lot more of no mans land in Canada. Time after time we passed small villages or lonesome gas stations. There was one major paved road heading North towards Banff National Park with lots of gravel roads branching of its side. Most of these gravel roads stretch outwards like highways, so in turn we were not much slower on those than on the main road.

The town Banff itself appeared to have been placed there in the sole purpose of feeding and entertaining tourists. It almost seemed like someone had seen a rugged traditional Austrian mountain village and tried to mix it with an amusement park and a tourist trap like castle Neuschwanstein. We spent a night at a nearby cheap and cozy campground and decided to have a look at one of the first sights of the National Park. The Banff Cave and Basin National Historic Site was just like the name suggests an underground cave and a hot basin up top. Not to be to critical but this was pretty much all that one could see there... There are a lot of major hiking trails where we are sure there is more to see but we were glad that due to the Canadian 150st anniversary we did not have to spend money for National Park fees.

We decided to take a quick shortcut to the Radium Hot Springs where we spend the next evening in a nice warm pool. We heard that if we would have traveled a bit further south we could have dipped into some natural basins but for the time being we were just glad to relax in the warm water. On our way back from the hot springs we came across a place called "Old Salzburg". We obviously could not resist and tested our luck once again. The ambiance was surprisingly close to that of an original Austrian restaurant and paired with good food, beer and the backdrop of the nearby mountain range we felt a little bit closer to home. Only the receipt at the end of the meal showed us once again that good food and beer is quite expensive in these parts of the world.

The next morning we decided to split up for a bit. Basti headed back into the Banff National Park to see some more of the infamous lakes. He really liked Moraine lake, Emerald lake and the famous Lake Louise. Steffi, Denis and Fabi in the meantime took a little more time riding towards the south and spent an early evening swimming in a lake along the way. After first crossing said lake on a ferry they enjoyed the crystal clear water with an incredible view. More than a short dip was not possible due to the freezing temperatures of the water. Especially Denis tried to avoid going into the water but lost in the end thanks to pure pressure.

After getting back to the main road we coincidentally met back up with Basti and headed to a rugged looking hotel. The sign told us this was the "oldest hotel in British Columbia" and we were immediately convinced once we walked into the bar. The furniture and decor screamed historic value and we enjoyed ourselves playing pool with different people from the area.

The next morning we headed along the USA-Canadian border towards a small town called Osoyoos. Since they celebrated the Canadian 150st anniversary this night we decided to stay for a while. The temperatures were great and with a lot of luck we got one of the last camp spots right next to the lake. Later we watched one of the longest firework shows we had seen so far and because we had such a good time we decided to spend another day in the sun and water. What a marvelous farewell from Canada.