What comes first to your mind when you hear Canada? A couple of decades back, for a lot of my Indian friends, I am sure it would have been the most interesting and funny pronunciation itself "Kaneda". (Yes, in early grades of elementary school, my conscience used to debate on how it was pronounced because my exposure of the world was limited to Doordarshan and old Indian cinema. The word sounded like Canada but the authoritative Punjabi characters on the TV insisted on Kaneda)
But now we live in the era of Connected Cows and Connected World, hence people know something about a lot of things these days, thanks to the ubiquitous articles and snippets on social media. However, the best way to find more about a country is by reading books (notice I did not say magazines or articles), traveling to and the best of all, "living" in that country.
Hence, after a decade of living in the United States, we decided to visit Canada for a week for our ninth wedding anniversary, with an eight year old Freyjaa and a year old Nirvanh in the tow.
The trip started with an unexpected twist. We wanted to visit British Columbia and hence I was looking for tickets to Vancouver. However, mistakenly I had bought our onward tickets to Victoria (an island not too far away from Vancouver) . I realized about the mistake only after the pleasant lady at the Delta counter announced that she was feeling sorry to let us know that the flight to Victoria has been delayed and they were willing to put us on other flights going to Victoria or "Vancouver". I pounced on this opportunity and booked us on the flight flying into Vancouver, leaving an hour later.
Canada is a very pleasant country and you gauge that as soon as you disembark at the airport. Most Canadians in British Columbia have accents similar to Americans on the West Coast. However, people seemed to be in less rush than folks back home in California.
We covered White Rock, Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton and Lillooet on this trip and the vast lands with very little population density enamored us.
I highly recommend Nita Lake Lodge in Whistler as an excellent place to station yourself and explore The Pacific Province. It is on the expensive side during peak seasons, however they make your stay very interesting by offering free kayak, boat and bike rentals. It is situated on the Nita Lake where you can paddle and offers beautiful trails in the mountains nearby. Another outdoor adventure spot is Squamish, with its famous Sea to Sky Gondola ride, where you walk on a Suspension Bridge when you reach the top. For a sleepover, I recommend the sleepy town of White Rock, very close to the US Border if you are driving up from the US Border. It has excellent Oceanside accommodations where you can enjoy the vistas if you are in a mood to relax. If you want to go very rural, check out the aboriginal history and lifestyle in Lillooet; stopping at a ranch for a horse ride in Pemberton. Last but not the least, Stanley Park in Vancouver is an urban jungle and is highly recommended. I particularly liked walking on the waterfront in downtown Vancouver.
There are more fun things you can do which I have not recommended in this trip report. Hit me up if you need more info. One interesting fact for my Australian friends and their neighbor Kiwis- Canada has bilateral agreements with you guys and you guys can get easy work permits to work in Canada for the summers. Sounds like a fun idea to spend your idyllic summer in the wonderful outdoorsy British Columbia. Go figure!
But now we live in the era of Connected Cows and Connected World, hence people know something about a lot of things these days, thanks to the ubiquitous articles and snippets on social media. However, the best way to find more about a country is by reading books (notice I did not say magazines or articles), traveling to and the best of all, "living" in that country.
Hence, after a decade of living in the United States, we decided to visit Canada for a week for our ninth wedding anniversary, with an eight year old Freyjaa and a year old Nirvanh in the tow.
 |
| Beautiful Trails in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada |
The trip started with an unexpected twist. We wanted to visit British Columbia and hence I was looking for tickets to Vancouver. However, mistakenly I had bought our onward tickets to Victoria (an island not too far away from Vancouver) . I realized about the mistake only after the pleasant lady at the Delta counter announced that she was feeling sorry to let us know that the flight to Victoria has been delayed and they were willing to put us on other flights going to Victoria or "Vancouver". I pounced on this opportunity and booked us on the flight flying into Vancouver, leaving an hour later.
Canada is a very pleasant country and you gauge that as soon as you disembark at the airport. Most Canadians in British Columbia have accents similar to Americans on the West Coast. However, people seemed to be in less rush than folks back home in California.
 |
| View From The Top After Taking The Sea To Sky Gondola Ride in Squamish |
We covered White Rock, Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton and Lillooet on this trip and the vast lands with very little population density enamored us.
I highly recommend Nita Lake Lodge in Whistler as an excellent place to station yourself and explore The Pacific Province. It is on the expensive side during peak seasons, however they make your stay very interesting by offering free kayak, boat and bike rentals. It is situated on the Nita Lake where you can paddle and offers beautiful trails in the mountains nearby. Another outdoor adventure spot is Squamish, with its famous Sea to Sky Gondola ride, where you walk on a Suspension Bridge when you reach the top. For a sleepover, I recommend the sleepy town of White Rock, very close to the US Border if you are driving up from the US Border. It has excellent Oceanside accommodations where you can enjoy the vistas if you are in a mood to relax. If you want to go very rural, check out the aboriginal history and lifestyle in Lillooet; stopping at a ranch for a horse ride in Pemberton. Last but not the least, Stanley Park in Vancouver is an urban jungle and is highly recommended. I particularly liked walking on the waterfront in downtown Vancouver.
There are more fun things you can do which I have not recommended in this trip report. Hit me up if you need more info. One interesting fact for my Australian friends and their neighbor Kiwis- Canada has bilateral agreements with you guys and you guys can get easy work permits to work in Canada for the summers. Sounds like a fun idea to spend your idyllic summer in the wonderful outdoorsy British Columbia. Go figure!
3 comments:
Quite interesting but very short.
Quite interesting but very short.
Thanks! I will try to be more comprehensive. The only trouble is time :-)
Post a Comment