Rocky Mountaineer Kamloops to Vancouver

Friday, May 15

Another early start. The suitcases stay in our rooms when we are picked up by bus and taken to the railway station. They will be picked up later and taken directly to our hotel in Vancouver by truck as the train cannot accommodate the luggage.

The same staff greet us on the platform. The little red carpet is rolled out for us.

When the train leaves, there is a line-up of staff waving flags on the platform to see us off, just like yesterday.

As soon as we are on board, they start serving breakfast.

Leaving Kamloops, we start by following the Kamloops Lake

Kamloops Lake in British Columbia, Canada is situated on the Thompson River just west of Kamloops. The lake is 1.6 km wide, 29 km long, and up to 152 m deep. The community of Savona is located at the west end of the lake on the Thompson River. Wikipedia

• Province:
  • British Columbia
• Area:
  • 52 km²
• Surface elevation:
  • 365 m

We get a good view of the painted rocks as the train is going very slowly just then.

We have to stop at a place called Ashcroft to pick up some water as one of the carriages has apparently run out of it. 

Ashcroft is a village in the Thompson Country of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is 30 kilometres downstream from the west end of Kamloops Lake, at the confluence of the Bonaparte and ...Wikipedia

• Population:
  • 1,628 (2011)
• Province:
  • British Columbia
• Area:
  • 51.45 km²

This is the driest area in all of British Columbia. There is a copper mine not far away and most of Ashcrofts inhabitants work at this mine.

Later on, we criss cross the Thompson river 

At Lytton, the Thompson river merges with the Fraser river which is a muddy looking river that goes all the way to Vancouver. It looks muddy because it doesn't carry the minerals that the more mountainous rivers do.

Lytton in British Columbia, Canada, sits at the confluence of the Thompson River and Fraser River on the east side of the Fraser.Wikipedia

• Population:
  • 228 (2011)
• Province:
  • British Columbia
• Area:
  • 6.54 km²

We pass the Cisco Crossing which is famous because during the war it was the best guarded spot in Canada. If anything had happened to this crossing, the West would have been completely cut off from the rest of the country.

As we get closer to the coast, there are lots of farms and the landscape is generally looking quite lush. A lot of trees and shrubs are out in full bloom. I see lilacs everywhere.

Coming into Vancouver through some industrial area, we can spot the first of many bridges before passing under one of them.

Then it is farewell to the lovely staff as we leave the train for the last time. We are picked up by a bus which takes us to our hotel, The Georgian Court, right behind the sports stadium.

Venturing out for the first time soon after arrival, a couple of us come to Gastown, a very old area made fashionable.

An old steam driven clock catches my attention - I wonder why - then we find somewhere to have a bite to eat, actually sitting outside, in the heart of Gastown.

It is just a shame that there are so many beggars hanging out everywhere. My friend calls them the 'ill-at-ease', but I seem to be the only one ill at ease.

Lucky we have a good little map. One certainly wouldn't want to stop and ask for directions.