Page 2 of travelbuffs Travel Blog Posts



When:13th-15th July 2012 Where: Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC What: typical tourist attractions It is two weeks since we have been here in the 3rd largest city in Canada, Vancouver. According to statistics, Vancouver has the population 5 times of Calgary. We are living in the heart of the city, in downtown. Feeling like a newbie(at least me) I am trying to get used to the culture shock. Within this time, we made a trip to the capital city, Victoria. We have heard very many good things about the city so far. 1. One of the top places to live in Canada. 2. Geographically situated in such a way that it gets very little rain compared to the west. In winter, they get flurries and sometimes that tips off Victorians I hear 3. A very expensive place ... read more
Victoria Parliament building
Butchart gardens
campground near Victoria

North America » Canada » Alberta » Lake Louise June 29th 2012

When:Canada Day weekend 29th June - 3rd July 2012 Where: Calgary to Vancouver and a little in between Highlights: Lake Louise Canada Day, Yoho NP & the drive into BC Mileage: ~1200 km Friday, June 29th We leave early in the morning and make a peaceful and relaxing drive to Lake Louise 2.5 hours away. Lake Louise campground is one of its kind in Canada. It is in prime bear(grizzly) country and hence is protected by an electric fence that gives the campers a feeling of security. We have not tested the extent of electricity in the fence for obvious reasons and can only hope that the bear or any other animal does not get close enough to get a shock! We set up camp and relax biking around! Saturday, June 30th Yoho National Park We ... read more
Takkakaw falls
calling out to me
Hell's Gate - going down to the river

North America » Canada » Alberta » Banff National Park May 19th 2012

When:Victoria Day weekend Where: Rockies Highlights: stays at hostels, snow, just be-ing Saturday, May 19th This trip was so last minute, but we didnt want to cancel it as we hadn't been to the Rockies yet in Spring. For a change, we did not have an agenda. We just drove. Being long weekend, we expected crowds. Only when we stopped at the Lake Louise visitor center did we know that it was the highest snow in 50 years. Phew! Seeing the weather in Calgary, we thought it was a bad winter in terms of the amount of snow. After spending a while at the visitor center(the exhibits are informative), G picked up an explorer book. A set of stuff that S needs to know to get that badge. I told him that she is an explorer ... read more
The painted pots
That should be Bow Lake
Iron build up

North America » Canada » Alberta » Lake Louise January 22nd 2012

What: Ice Magic Festival Where: Lake Louise, Banff National Park It had been 6 months since we visited Lake Louise. We had stopped on our way back home from previous trips, I think. Ice Magic Festival brings carvers from around the globe(mostly from USA & Canada, sometimes as far as Russia) to Lake Louise. They have 34 hours to create a 7ft wonder with 36 blocks of Ice. The weather is always the trick while visiting Rockies in Winter. Specially, at Lake Louise, the weather is specially favourable for the Victoria Glacier. Prediction of -10C gave me the chills. But we had decided to go, no matter what. G was a little apprehensive about parking. But we reached the Lake at around 10am. There was parking still available at the Lake. Also, this year, the festiva ... read more
the Winner
Looking out
contestants

North America » Canada » Alberta » Kananaskis Country October 2nd 2011

When: Oct 2 2011 Where: Highwood pass, Kananaskis country Highlights:Yellow Larch trees What are larch trees? Ganesh heard about this trail that was famous for its fall color. So, once again, grateful for being so close to these mountains, we drove in to Highwood Meadows. Btw, Highwood Pass is the highest pass in Canada that could be reached via a paved road. It is at an elevation of 2206 m(7237 ft). Two trails head from this parking lot. 1. The absolutely incredible Ptarmigan cirque 2. Highwood Meadows Trail - that branches into an unnamed trail. But right at the trailhead, a board greeted us. A board that read that the area was closed as a grizzly bear with cubs were in Ptarmigan cirque basin. We wer... read more
Got this shot just when we were about to leave
walking back...
larch pattern around rocks


When: September 2nd - 5th Where: Mt.Robson Provincial Park Highlights: Camping, float trip, hike, BC. Friday, 2nd September We were so dead, both of us that we thought we would just pull over & catch up some sleep. But somehow(read G took over) & we reached Jasper by 2pm. I fell asleep 1 hr into the drive & S slept when I was half way through it. So, it was break time for all of us at Jasper. We witnessed rain & a bit of snow on our drive & Jasper was still cold & windy. But we enjoyed being outside so much. Even S did not mind the cold. It was only a short 1 hr drive to Mt.Robson and we reached there early enough to set up camp and check out the visitor center. ... read more
Bridge where Kinney Lake becomes Robson river
Green Robson river
water flowing down as Robson river after Kinney Lake

North America » United States » Alaska » Juneau August 2nd 2011

Highlights at Juneau: Mendenhall Glacier/ Visitor center Mt.Roberts tramway walking along the touristy shops around the port salmon runs along sheep creek Haines...Tuesday, August 2nd The Ferry terminal is further away from the so-called downtown & so we left early to drive up there. Some 5 mi or so. We took the 9.00 am ferry to Juneau. It was 4 hrs of cruising along, fairly warm & pleasant. The landscape was fantastic. Mountains just rising up from the ocean floor. We saw a few tidewater glaciers on the chilkat range & snow on many mount... read more
Light play :)
Port of Juneau
sunset at Ketchikan

North America » United States » Alaska » Haines July 31st 2011

Sunday, July 31st 8am ferry to Haines. The only other time we travelled with our car in a ferry was in Washington. From Bremmerton to Seattle. So, it was interesting to see cars from different states(US..some as far as Arizona) & other provinces(Ontario was popular, I noticed). It was the first time for S to be on any vessel in ocean waters(though typically, you don't get to the ocean between Skagway-Haines). It was a very short 40 min or so cruise & the ferry had a movie theatre that played some Alaska movie. When I have more time, maybe I should watch it. Mainland Alaska memories seem so long ago. The ferry had a neat dining area that served decent food. We spent most of our ferry time there as S had more space to run/see ... read more
Chilkoot lake
Eagle prey
family fight...and the mother won

North America » United States » Alaska » Skagway July 29th 2011

At White Pass Summit, we entered Skagway, Alaska, USA. I think the first thought that came to both of us was that we never expected to set our shoes in Alaska again. It felt different driving into the US. Border formalities greet you just before you enter the town. Fairly empty & we got through fine. Just had to part ways with imported tomatoes & bell peppers. Hmm..Will have to be more thoughtful in the future. And we paid some $12 to enter the US. I am not sure why I did not ask the reason for the charge. Anyways, my head goes blank in front of a US authority. Skagway: A very cute little town. One drive on broadway st & you have seen it all as a tourist. The place is filled with jewellery ... read more
A glacier right in Skagway
Just exiting the tunnel :)
Skagway

North America » Canada » Yukon » Whitehorse June 27th 2011

Wednesday, 27th July We had a late start from Watson Lake & I was a little worried about the 450km drive ahead. But we seemed to catch up when it was raining & managed to stop at many interesting places before reaching Whitehorse, YT. We entered YT for the first time. Four yrs ago, we had a view of the Yukon river on our way to the Arctic Circle(in Alaska).That was all we had known about Yukon. Our first stop was at the Contintental Divide. This divide separates the rivers that flow W(all rivers join Yukon river) to the Bering Sea from those that flow N into the Arctic Ocean(joins Mackenzie river). Our next major stop was at Tesli... read more
The river-really blue-green
Bound to take rest after running around so much
more ...




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