Canada – the Alien Next Door – Day 6 – the Rockies by Rail – All aboard!
By 7 AM we are breakfasted. By 8Am shivering on the platform, waiting for our luxury train to arrive. A far-off whistle blows! We see an oncoming light! Everyone pulls out cameras, starts snapping photos. It’s coming closer! It’s getting louder! It’s not stopping! It’s a freight!
It’s a loooooooooooooong freight. Everyone puts their cameras away, goes back to shivering.
Another distant whistle. Another headlight. This time it’s the real thing – the Rocky Mountaineer, striped elegantly in black and gold.
Uniformed attendants jump from the doors and spread a red carpet on the platform to mark where you are to mount the train. We have been issued special red-enameled maple leaves which entitle us to seats in the bubble dome car and hot meals served in the downstairs dining space. (Lowly gold-enameled leaf-ers have to make do with box lunches served at their seat.)
On the train!Comfy reclinable seats! Snack tables! Scenery! Clean windows! Open bar! Food, snacks, local cuisine – hopeless! I haven’t seen a scale since we left, but I’m beginning to dread when I do.
Tonight : Dinner and overnight in cosmopolitan Kamloops
Allyson Johnson 