After 6 months and 20 days, travelling by truck, taxi, boat, train, car and lots and lots of busses we drove into Vancouver, the city on the Straight of Georgia, the completion of our journey north and the beginning of our time in Canada. At the border they proudly declared that we were entering "the best place in the world".
To be fair we didn't see the rest of British Columbia, which I gather is spectacular. I get the impression that Vancouver is a city to live in rather than one to visit. It was pleasant, with pretty parks and a waterfront and historic buildings. The only exception was the part of town where we were staying. As we were informed on check in: "you go here and it is downtown, here is Chinatown, head that way to the bars and restaurants of Gastown, and around that corner is drugs. Don't go there."
We took an overnight flight to Toronto. The blessing of an overnight flight is the saving on accommodation costs but when you cross three time zones as we did, it turns out that you board at 11pm, land at 7am and maybe get 2 hours of sleep. Thankfully we were graced with beautiful weather in Toronto (that day and all the others too) so while waiting for check in at our hostel we took a nap in the local park; the camping gear came in handy once again!
In Toronto we were treated to three days of fun with our friend Clare. We toured Chinatown, Kensington Market and the beach on Lake Ontario. In the evenings we enjoyed the spectacular dinner view from the revolving restaurant in the CN Tower and the brillian concept cafe: Snakes and Lattes, where the drinks kept coming through rounds of Cluedo and Jenga.
Before leaving Canada we made the trip to Niagara Falls, taking in the natural spleandour and making friends with a group of Chinese tourists. Apparently we were the only English speakers who could make sense of an itinerary that included Hong Kong, Vancovay, Alcargee, Manreta and Nu Yar. We now have a place to stay should we ever visit Sechuan province.
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