My TripAdvisor Review No.535: Banff Voyager Inn, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Decent Overnight Stay.

We stopped at the Banff Voyager Inn during our bus tour of the Canadian Rockies for one night, with all our bus co-passengers. We had a decent 2-queen bed room for the three of us. The room had a flat-screen TV, a common bed side table with lamps and intercom, a mini fridge, a microwave oven, a chest of drawers and a round corner table with two chairs. There was a sit-out balcony, but it did not have much of a view since it was facing the wall of another wing.

The hotel has a heated swimming pool and gym but we did not use it as our stay was too short. The hotel is located at one end of town so we walked down the street, known as the Banff Avenue, to the other end, and went to the IGA Banff superstore where we bought some salami, cheese and burger buns for dinner.

The next day we got complimentary breakfast which included coffee, fruit juices, sausage, cereal and milk, bread with jam or butter, and scrambled eggs with toast and was quite good.

We had a comfortable night’s stay at the Hotel.

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Date of stay: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.534: Fairview Lookout (Lake Louise), Alberta, Canada.

What A View!

With the limited time at our disposal and the need to exercise our limbs due to a long bus ride, we decided to do the 2 km trek up to the Fairview Lookout. It seemed to be the shortest trek option from the many trail options at Lake Louise.

As we climbed up the narrow trail, through the dense tangle of branches of the forest trees, it gradually became steeper, and we had to stop and rest a couple of times. It took us about half an hour to reach the view point, but it was well worth the effort. We got a bird’s eye-view of the turquoise coloured lake and the Fairmont Chateau Hotel at the north shore end of the lake. It looked beautiful.

We were glad to have taken the effort as we got a stunning of the full oval shaped lake, and we got to escape the madding crowd of tourists stuck on the lake shore. Of course, we had to rush back down to be in time for our bus.

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Date of experience: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.533: Lake Louise, Banff NP, Alberta, Canada.

Dream Lake.

After visiting Emerald Lake our bus took us to Lake Louise just across the provincial border in Alberta. The colour of the water here was very much the same shade of emerald. This unique colour is due to the reflection of light from the rock flour sediment particles suspended in the water.

We had about an hour to roam around, have our lunch, use the washroom and dash back to the bus. It was quite crowded with parking available for cars quite some distance away. Luckily we were in a bus which could get nearby parking. At the lake shore we went for a trek up a trail to the Fairmont View Point from where we got an excellent bird’s eye view of the lake and the Fairmont Chateau from an elevation. We had to rush down to get back to the bus in time. We had our packed picnic lunch at the trail side, sitting on a rock under a cedar tree, keeping one eye open for prowling bears.

Lake Louise is supposed to be the most photographed lake in the world. It is surrounded by mountain peaks in a heavily forested valley. Being a beautiful site of natural wonder has its own drawbacks in that it attracts such huge crowds from all over the world. Finding parking is big problem during daylight hours unless you come before 8 am or after 3 pm. Bus tours get preference to the parking lots nearby. If you are staying at the Lake Louise Village or at Banff it is advisable to come by the shuttles or Roam Transits.

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Date of experience: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No. 532: Emerald Lake, Yoho NP, BC. Canada.

Gem Of A Lake.

This was the first in the series of beautiful lakes that we visited on our bus tour of the Rocky Mountains of Canada. It is located in Yoho National Park, about an hour’s ride from the town of Golden on the way to Banff. Our bus stopped here for about an hour and we had sufficient time to take a walk around the pretty lake surrounded by snow-capped peaks.

The colour of the water was a sparkling turquoise green, a colour which we have never seen in any other lake before this. This remarkable colour is believed to be due to the suspended particles of glacial sediment or rock flour which gets into the water when the snows melt in the summers.

Boats and canoes can be hired for a serene ride in the lake. There is an impressive chalet type hotel, The Emerald Lake Lodge perched at the edge of the lake. There was sufficient parking space near the lake and public washrooms as well.

We enjoyed our brief visit and leisurely walk around this stunning lake.

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Date of experience: August 2019

My TripAdvisor Review No.531: Rogers Pass Discovery Centre, BC, Canada.

Like A Museum Visit.

There is a Visitor Information Centre here, which has a good display of stuffed wildlife found in the region, as well as information about the history of the Pass. The taxidermist had done an excellent job of stuffing the animals and the displays were almost life like.

In addition there is a lot of information about the history and construction of the Trans-Canadian Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway, both of which traverse through the Rogers Pass. Many lives were lost due to avalanches during the construction, and to this day there is always threat of avalanches. You will find a couple of artillery guns stationed at the site, to be used whenever there is a threat of an avalanche.

There is a large and clean public washroom, but no coffee or snacks shop. There is a large rest area with plenty of parking space.

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Date of experience: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.530: Roger's Pass Summit, Glacier NP, BC, Canada.

Breath Taking Views At This Pit Stop.

We took a break to stretch our legs at this remote but historic site on the Trans-Canada Highway, Rogers Pass Summit, in the Selkirk mountains of BC Rockies. It is located in the heart of Glacier National Park, and is about two hours drive from Revelstoke on the way to Golden, on the Trans-Canada Highway.

There are beautiful views of the mountains all around. These mountains are popular for ski mountaineering, camping, hiking and mountain climbing. There is a Visitor Information Centre here, which has a good display of stuffed wildlife and information about the history of the Pass. There is a public toilet, but no coffee or snacks shop.

It is a calm and scenic place with a good rest area and plenty of parking to stop while driving along the highway.

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Date of experience: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.529: Last Spike (Craigellachie), BC, Canada.

Uniting Canada.

We took a break to stretch our legs at this remote but very historic site on the Trans-Canada Highway, at Craigellachie. It lies midway between Sicamous and Revelstoke in the British Columbia Rocky Mountains. The railway line runs alongside and if you are lucky you may see a train go by.

This place is famous as the historic site where the ‘Last Spike’ of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven in, in the year 1885. It signaled the completion of the CPR, Canada’s first transcontinental railroad, joining eastern and western Canada, thus uniting the two remote parts of the nation.

There were many placards explaining the significance of the site. There is a nice little gift and souvenir shop, and a large and clean washroom, but there were no snacks or coffee shop, though there is a rest area besides the railway track. The senior staff are friendly and happy to meet the visitors.

Not many tourists stop here, so it is a calm and scenic place to rest while driving along the highway.

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Date of experience: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.528: Downtown Marina Kelowna, BC, Canada.

Marina And Promenade By The Lake.

We stopped at Kelowna for lunch during our bus tour of the Rocky Mountains from Vancouver. After lunch at the Craft Beer Market we strolled down to the Downtown Marina nearby. It is a great place for a walk on the promenade by the Okanagan Lakeside. The Kelowna City Park is also located here.

What attracted us to the place was a tall white fibre-glass sculpture of the ‘Sails’, a piece of artwork created by R. Dow Reid, a well-known local sculptor. The Downtown Marina from where you can hire boats is located just besides this forty foot structure. It is a well planned marina from where you can enjoy a boat ride around the huge scenic lake.

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Date of experience: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.527: Discover Canada Tours, Vancouver, Canada.

A Dream Tour Of The Rocky Mountains.

We had a dream tour of the Rocky Mountains with Discover Canada Tours when we joined them for their Classic 4-day Summer Tour. The three of us hopped on to their luxury coach from Canada Place, Vancouver. Our guide, Kara, joined us at Langley, where a few more tourists from Victoria joined us.

We had a scenic trip through the snow-capped Canadian Rockies with a lot of beautiful lakes and forests on the way. Though the bus had a toilet on board, we did not need to use it as there were sufficient breaks at small towns on the route where we could get down to stretch our legs, buy some snacks and use the public washrooms outside. Lunch breaks were about an hour long.

We halted for the three nights at Revelstoke, Banff and Valemount respectively, where our hotel rooms were pre-booked. We were saved the trouble of hunting for suitable hotels in the peak summer season and the choice of hotel and rooms was good. We were always allotted a private room for the three of us, whereas the solo travelers could share a room with a co-passenger. We made many friends from different parts of the world. Breakfast was included in the tour. Our first breakfast was served on the bus from a Tim Horton’s, our second breakfast was a fabulous one at the Banff hotel, and our third breakfast was at a ranch in Valemount. There was also a complimentary barbeque dinner at Valemount.

Our tour guide, Kara, was very informative about the history and culture of various places along the way. She would also regale us with many stories and entertaining anecdotes from her earlier trips. Tammy, our driver, navigated us confidently and safely through the mountain passes.

We thoroughly enjoyed our 4-day, 3-night trip of the Canadian Rockies. We would definitely recommend Discover Canada Tours to any tourist who does not have their own vehicle, or the time to plan their own trip.

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Date of experience: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.526: Craft Beer Market, Kelnowa, BC, Canada.

Beer And Burgers.

We stopped at Kelowna for lunch during our Rockies coach tour and decided to have lunch at the Craft Beer Market restaurant near City Park. They had nice seating if you got a table next to the open windows, which we did not. So we had to squeeze on to our stools and confined seats on an inside table which were too close to each other.

There was a lot of variety in the beers and there was a bewildering array of Ales, Lagers, Stouts, Pilsners, Ciders, Anomalies and Rotating Handles. Finally we selected a Hazy Flavoured Ale, an Apple Cider and a Fruit Juice with Ice-cream between the three of us. For lunch we had a Crispy Chicken Burger with French Fries, and a Vegan Burger with Fries. We had to wait quite a while before the food was served.

We enjoyed the drinks and the burgers, but found the prices to be on the high side.

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Date of visit: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.525: Tim Horton's, Revelstoke, BC. Canada.

Breakfast On The Move.

After an early check-out from our hotel in Revelstoke, our tour guide brought us to the Tim Horton outlet in Revelstoke. Tim Horton’s have a chain of more than 4000 quick service restaurants all over the highways and towns of Canada. Besides coffees and doughnuts their popular fast foods include Timbits, muffins, croissants, tea biscuits, cookies, rolls, danishes and bagels.

Our guide had to pre-order the breakfast items to cater to about 50 of us bus passengers. We had three choices; 1) Sausage muffin with hash brown, 2) Egg and cheese muffin with hash brown or 3) Veg Bagel with hash brown. Instead of coffee all of us were served fruit juice.

We were all served within 10 minutes and the breakfast items were still hot. We saved some time by having our breakfast on the move, thanks to Tim Horton.

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Date of visit: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.524: Paramjit's Kitchen, Revelstoke, BC, Canada.

Homely Food.

After a long day in the bus from Vancouver, and after checking in to our hotel room in Revelstoke, we were stretching out our legs in First Street when we heard some nice Hindi music floating out of the restaurant. On the spur of the moment we decided to have dinner at Paramjit’s Kitchen even though it was full inside.

We found a table out on the street corner and were given good service by a German lady. We ordered Aloo Gobi masala (Potato Cauliflower gravy) with Naan (Indian bread), and a Dahi Pakora Curry (Fritters in Yogurt curry) with Rice. It tasted almost like our home food back in India. The food and the music brought back memories from home.

Prices were very reasonable. We complimented the Indian hosts after our meal.

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Date of visit: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.523: Hope Friendship Garden, Hope, BC, Canada.

Hope And Peace.

We stopped at small town Hope at the foothills of the Canadian Rockies during our coach tour from Vancouver. The Friendship Garden is a pretty little Japanese garden located inside a much larger Hope Memorial Park in the centre of town. We were allowed to take a short refreshment break, with the bus parked next to the garden.

We visited the clean washrooms in Memorial Park and then we were walking around to stretch our legs when we discovered this lovely little Japanese Garden in one section of the Park. A plaque in the garden told us that this garden was built by the local Japanese Canadians during World War II when they were interned in Tashme Camp, 20 km east of Hope on Highway No.3, to demonstrate the Japanese culture of Peace to the general public. The garden was presented to the town of Hope on July 27, 1991.

Our tour guide informed us that the Rambo movies, starring Sylvester Stallone, was filmed in and around Hope, along with some other movies like ‘Shoot to Kill’, ‘K2’, and ‘First Blood’.

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Date of experience: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.522: Hope Memorial Park, Hope, BC, Canada.

Lovely Garden And Park.

Hope Memorial Park is a huge park adjacent to the District Hall in downtown Hope, which is a town located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Canada. The huge park is spread over seven acres in the heart of town and is surrounded on three sides by beautiful snow-capped peaks of the Rockies.

This was the first stop on our coach tour of the Rockies. We got a half hour break to stretch our legs, buy some snacks and visit the washroom in the park, which were very clean and well maintained. We saw many nice wood carved sculptures and statues at many places in the park, as well as in the small town of Hope when we took a short walk around.

There is a small and beautiful Friendship Garden in one section of the Park, built by the local Japanese Canadians.

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Date of experience: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.521: Regent Hotel, Revelstoke, Alberta, Canada.

Heritage Boutique Hotel In A Historic Town.

We stopped at this almost 100 years old Heritage Boutique hotel in the historic town of Revelstoke during a guided coach tour of the Rockies. We had a 2-queen bed suite for the three of us, with two queen beds in interconnected rooms. Both rooms had a flat-screen TV, air conditioners, bed side tables with lamps and alarm clocks, but there was only one bathroom. One room had a wash basin and the other had an open closet with clothes hangers. There was a digital safe placed on the floor in the closet. There was no kettle or coffee maker, but we did get complimentary coffee early morning in the restaurant. The bathroom had a tub and soap, shampoo and moistureriser was provided.

We stopped at the hotel for one night with all our bus co-passengers. Being located in the centre of town we walked down the street to an Indian restaurant for dinner. We also got to witness the Revelstoke Summer Street Festival where a popular band was playing live music in the street.

Early morning we took a walk down to Columbia River, before getting ready to board our bus. We had a comfortable night’s stay at Regent Hotel.

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Date of stay: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.520: Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.

Beautiful Banff, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Banff National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, together with the other national and provincial parks that form the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks. There are beautiful mountain landscapes to explore with tall peaks, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, hot springs, canyons, limestone caves and fossil beds. There is a lot of wildlife in the forested regions which include Grizzly Bear, Black Bear, Wolves, Cougars, Wolverine, Red Fox, Weasel, River Otter, Coyote, Elk, Moose, Deer, Mountain Goat, Bighorn Sheep and many other smaller animals like Beaver, Squirrel and Chipmunks.

We took a guided coach tour and first visited the photogenic lakes; Emerald, Louise and Moraine stopping the night in Banff town. Next day we visited Bow Lake, Peyto Lake and drove up to the Columbia Icefields and Jasper National Park via the Icefields Parkway, which is supposedly one of the most scenic motorways in the world, and justifiably so. The scenery on both sides of this Highway No. 93 was spectacular with snow capped peaks even in summer, and many sparkling lakes and waterways glinting between the tall trees in unique shades of blue, green and indigo.

It was a truly memorable trip in which we picked up a canvas of beautiful landscape paintings that will forever remain etched in our minds as long as we live.

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Date of experience: August 2019

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My TripAdvisor Review No.519: Harbour Pizza Factory, Ucluelet, Vanc-Island, Canada.

Surprisingly Good.

We ordered a 12 inch vegetarian pizza, and a spaghetti with tomato sauce and a slice of toasted bread and both the dishes were surprisingly good and freshly baked. The medium size pizza was made of thick dough but well baked and more than sufficient for the two of us, and all the ingredients, spinach, green peppers, onion, olives and Parmesan cheese were fresh and tasty.

We had a leisurely sit-in dinner and the master chef was very friendly and jovial. Prices were reasonable and we had to pay before we were served. We would love to visit again if we return to Ucluelet. They do deliver to your hotel room as well.

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Date of visit: August 2019

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