Canada, 2025: Vancouver to Jasper
FROM THE PEN OF THE PRIME MINISTER, ABROAD
International Visit to Canada, 2025
Station: Jasper, Alberta
This one of a series of posts about my trip to Canada. More posts about this trip can be found here.
The train station had a queue already when I arrived. I had pre-checked my bag and stood in line with the rest of my economy travellers. Looking around it was clear I was on the young side of those boarding. It would not be long until I begin to loathe some of these people.
The first two days we would go through the Rocky Mountains, past Mount Robson (highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies with a peak of 12,972ft/3,954m) and it’s snow capped peaks and lakes shining green from the minerals washed down in the sun. The views were breathtaking and your eyes are glued to the window to see what next piece of beauty you’ll happen across next. I saw birds and even a black bear ambling into a forest on the edge of an open field. The Lake District this was not.
It was a busy train and the dome car with panoramic views was always full, and the food it served on the bottom deck wasn’t great, but did the job. The old people chatted away into the night, and had their phones pinging loudly with messages constantly, which made it hard to concentrate. Mobile phones should be silent by law. Thank the Lord God Almighty for noise cancelling headphones.
The train itself it noisy, it creaks and sways as it grumbles along the tracks (although a large part of this journey is stationery, the freight companies own the actual tracks so those long trains carrying oil food and livestock get priority.
Night was where it gets tough. The views disappear into darkness and the economy cabin lights are dimmed slightly but never off so wearing an eye mask was a must for me to try to sleep. The seats are large, recline slightly and there’s a load of leg room, but at the end of the day, it’s still a train seat and there isn’t a lot of comfort to be found. I doze on and off while old people cough and phones go off and I wish I was rich enough to upgrade to the sleeper car. Alas, paying an extra $1000-2000 was not in my budget.
But at around 6am, the light creeps up and the views return and you’re back to being in awe and wonder of the majesty of creation and all other worries and annoyances pale into insignificance. I exist in the same world as these giant mountains and lakes and trees and rivers, and alongside the wild creature that inhabit it. That is something to be truly joyful for.
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