In Distant Lands Part 2

The last time I was in Banff was 22 years ago and it has changed a bit. Back then I remember it as a quaint town with a selection of quality gift stores with a respectable range of products, and some nice cafes. Today there are dozens of places all selling the same products and an unending array of places to eat, many much the same - burgers and fries or pizza. Although the place it is not as highly priced as I might have thought.

All that said the place has that pleasant alpine feel, as you would expect from a ski town, with many of the buildings in the Swiss alpine style. 

We managed to do most of the touristy things, including the gondola ride (the chap at the front desk told us 'oh you'll need to book because the queues will be large but I can help you with that' but we chose to ignore him and simply took the bus there, the queue was not large, we bought our tickets and were at the top in half an hour, despite the large school group and the English tour group that arrived at the same time as us).

Looking up the cable car to the summit

Looking back on Banff from the halfway point.

The summit was shrouded in cloud, but it didn't stop us from walking out along the wooden walkway out to where the gamma ray recording station stood. It was a pleasant walk in the cool air and by the time we started to walk back the cloud had begun to dissipate and we could see the town below.

The gamma ray research staton before  the cloud completely shrouded it

The gamma ray research  station.

The town from the summit after the clouds began to dissipate 

Dinner that evening was at an Indian restaurant called Zyka...oh my God that was beautiful food...if you ever find yourself in Banff and you appreciate Indian food that is tasty and fragrant rather than just hot and spicy, you are doing yourself a serious disservice if you don't go to this place.

Thursday saw us leave Banff. It was a gorgeously sunny but cool day. We had thought of taking a helicopter ride and with such great weather it seemed a shame not to, so we checked if places were available, which they were, and we drove off to the heliport at Canmore. With clear skies, a gentle wind and a significantly lighter wallet we set off on a fabulous flight through the valleys and over the crests of the Rockies. It seems that we picked the right moment because the pilot said that the building clouds indicated a change coming, doubting that there would be any flying for the afternoon.

With the buzz from that flight still in our systems we got in the road again to Lake Louise. This is the luxury part of our trip and had booked two nights at the Chateau Fairmont on the lakefront. What a stunning place this is. I had rather hoped that the spring thaw would have melted the lake ice to show us the famous pale blue hue that alpine lakes have, but not to be. We had arrived early so while our room was being readied we walked along the foreshore and basked in the mid-day sun just taking in the view.

The view from the room ...

...  and with the sun setting...

...and the sunrise.

Today is a lazy day of walking, eating and drinking before heading to the cousins tomorrow.