Vancouver Highlights

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Vancouver Highlights

We visited Vancouver a long time ago, and now my recollection about it has become slightly foggy. But after all, that is the biggest advantage of writing blogs. When you start writing a blog, you willi-nilly find old photos, discuss with your travel partners and research the Net. This process automatically refreshes your memory of those happy moments, and once again you get the pleasure of the vacation that you have taken a long time ago.

It is like remembering the smell of the Jasmine flowers in your hair and the sweet notes of the ‘shehnai’ music, on your wedding day when you take out your wedding sari to wear again.

That is why Avi insists that I should write about our travels. He has practically forgotten most of them and wants to use my blogs as a refreshing tool.



Vancouver is a beautiful city. Had we taken a flight to it, we would have found it even more beautiful, but we came to it from an equally beautiful city, i.e. Seattle and the road from Seattle to Vancouver is also a scenic route.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastown

Vancouver’s Gastown is quaint, though I wish they would change its name. I mean it has the sort of connotation that you would think it is a name fit only for places like Dachau or Auschwitz, not for the pleasant little downtown of the pleasant big Vancouver.

However, Vancouver’s Gastown is innocent of the atrocities. Perhaps the only crimes it can boast of are freely ‘drinking’ before the Prohibition and rioting in 1971.

Its steam clock is also very interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_clock

We took a tour of the privately owned Capilano Bridge.

http://www.capbridge.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capilano_Suspension_Bridge

In every link that I followed I always found that the Capilano bridge is 450 feet across and 230 feet above the Capilano river, and originally it was made of the hemp rope.

It is a very enjoyable bridge. OK, they charge heavily for the privilege of walking across the bridge, but they also make it a pleasant experience. The totem poles, the treetops, (this is new) the cultural center, the rainforest walks, everything was developed for the tourist and it enhances the natural beauty of the park.

I could not help comparing it with our Lakshman Jhoola at Rishikesh.

However, the information about Lakshman Jhoola is elusive on the net and I really had to hunt for it. This is what I found:

1) Version 1 : Lakshman Jhoola, rebuilt with iron ropes in 1889, replacing a jute rope bridge, spans the venerable Ganga.

2) Version 2 : Lakshman Jhoola is a suspension bridge across the Ganga river along the old route to the holy shrines of Badrinath and Kedarnath. This rope-bridge, without any pillars or any other support, is 140 m. long. The original jute ropes were changed to more stable iron chains in 1929.

3) Version 3 : Lakshman Jhoola was built in 1939.

4) Version 4 : Lakshman Jhoola, built in 1823 by the Uttar Pradesh P.W.D., has a span of 284 feet and was rebuilt in 1930 after a great flood.

This is a typical scenario when you are researching for reliable information about ANYTHING in India or about India.

So, when exactly was the Lakshman Jhoola built? What is its length? How high is it over the river Ganga? I do not know.

However, from what I remember about both the bridges, I would guess that both are about the same length, about 140 m. long. And the setting of both the bridges is equally scenic. Lakshman Jhoola is suspended about 30 m. above the Ganga, I would guess, but I am not sure about it.

Like the suspended bridges, I have suspended my judgment.

And, come on, it is not exactly Golden Gate bridge. Among the suspension bridges, the Golden Gate Bridge would be the king, while the Capilano footbridge would be just a footman.

So, people of India should take comfort in the thought that they need not go to Vancouver just to see the Capilano suspension bridge. Actually, from the amount of fuss made over it, you would think that there was nothing else to see in Vancouver.

However people of India need not sigh
They do have a suspension bridge nearby
Rishikesh has Lakshman Jhoola,
For which they do not charge any moolah,
So, to the Capilano Bridge, say ‘Bye Bye’.

How do you like this limerick?

The gondola that takes you up the Grouse Mountain is another attraction that you should not miss. The views from the top are fabulous.

http://www.vancouverattractions.com/grouse.html

The Laser show at the Science Center was new at that time and was absolutely fascinating.

http://www.vancouverattractions.com/science.html

The Nehru Science Center in Mumbai is also pretty good.

http://www.findfamilyfun.com/canadaplace.htm

I did not know that time that cruise ships for Alaska leave from this pier, which looks like a cruise liner with sails. (However, cruise liners nowadays do NOT have sails) It is a beautiful building. It was not much appreciated by us that time because our Hawaii cruise was far in future at that time.

Whistler and Blackcomb

When we went to Vancouver, we were still scared of traveling in the icy winter. We had imagined all sorts of horrid scenarios in the frozen wastes of Canada. I believe Jack London has a lot to answer for. Still, the ‘call of the wild’ was strong on us and so we went to Whistler and Blackcomb in summer, thus taking good care to see to it that we do NOT come across any snow or ice except maybe in an iced Coke.

Now, in retrospect, it looks funny. It was like going to St. Moritz in summer. Recently we went to New Zealand’s Winter Mecca Queenstown in August, at the height of the winter season and ENJOYED it.

So, now the idea is clear. People go to ski-resorts in winter for skiing.

However, we are not cut out for adventure sports, and have no inclination for things like skiing and snow-shoeing etc. All we are interested in is sightseeing or “viewing” the scenery from the comfort of a bus or train or lodge.

So, at Whistler, we took the gondola up the mountain and enjoyed the mountain scenery.

At Blackcomb, we came across an artificial rock for the kids to practice rock-climbing on. The kids, some as young as 3-4 years, were properly strapped and properly ‘roped’, so it was perfectly safe for them to climb, and it was a highly enjoyable sight to see the little kids climbing the rock, and strutting about self-importantly once they had succeeded in their attempt.

Kids are always enjoyable.

The glimpse we had of the three different-colored lakes from the Gondola was also a memorable sight.

Now that I see the scene in my mind’s eye, I think going there in summer was quite sensible for us. The scenery is colorful in summer, while in winter, all you get is pure white of the winter snow. As a novelty, it is wonderful, but afterwards, it gets, sort of, monochromatic.

That reminds me. When my elder daughter entered professional college, (She is a medico.) we bought diamond tops for her as a gift. She liked those, but told us that, in future, she would much prefer jewelry in which diamonds were combined with some other precious stones like rubies, emeralds or sapphires in colorful designs.

“Diamonds alone are so boring, Mama” She said.

Surprisingly, I agree with her. I know how snobbish it sounds, but it is true. It may be a personal choice, but I too much prefer color - both in scenery and in jewelry.

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Comments

[deleted_9521]

Gastown was named after Gassy Jack who was a owner of a Saloon in Gastown. Gastown was Vancouver's first name. Where Gastown sits was the original "downtown". There is plenty of drug crime and prostition in the area and very many homeless people. Thanks for visiting our fine city