After cycle Japan by bicycle, I find myself a new passion.
Since I came back, I feel in need to discover the world.
But this summer 2015, I told myself that I should discover my own country before to see the rest of the world.
This may sound strange to many people, but I'm Canadian.
My country is the second largest in the world in terms of area.
9, 093, 507 km2, of land area.
Imagine, this is wide enough to set 1 699 339 774 American football fields.
It's 153 866 times bigger than the island of Manhattan.
But with only 22 times its population.
Compared with France, Canada is 14 times bigger,
But there is only half it's population.
Canada is so few populated for it's size, that it's 15th on the list of
the smallest density coutry, with only three and a half people per km2.
In four weeks, I only had time to discover a small part of my country.
This time, I did'n had planned anything and had only one objective. Drive up to
Vancouver, through every single Capital of Provinces passing thru.
I live in a small town near Montreal named Granby.
4 700 km is the distance to travel between my hometown to Vancouver on the shortest route.
The shortest way is the Trans Canadian Highway.
The Trans-Canada Highway is one the world longest national highway.
It crosses the country from sea to sea and spread over 7821km.
Good morning internet today, Monday August 17, I leave Granby to go up to Vancouver.
In fact I do not really know where I'm going to, it take 4 weeks off ...
I will discover my own country for the first time.
So I leave with my car, my bike...
some cloth, back there it's my room with shoes for a little bit of everything.
Yes, you well understood, my room.
An original woke up this morning, I just ear some cows howl.
There is no fields, I did'n ear any all nigh long.
They are in a truck next to me.
Many people think it is expensive to travel the world, but when
you minimizes some accommodation such as lodging, which alone is
usually the most expensive part if a trip, see the world
is not that expensive.
So what I've just done is that I transferred all my luggage in front of the car...
And in the back, well I just unroll my mattress witch is actually auto
inflate. So this is my room for tonight.
While it inflate well I'll go quick trip to the toilet.
And think about it, after slept a whole month in the trunk of my car, how do you think
I felt when I come back home.
Living with the minimum for a while is the best way to appreciate your home confort when you come back.
I have been told that Saskatchewan highway was boring, but the Northern Ontario road is so boring.
I hope it's not worse in Saskatchewan.
I'm now...
About an hour and a quarter I drive today, Yesterday I drove most of the evening and a part of the night in this
it's...
There is nothing.
There is nothing nothing nothing nothing.
Theres is nothing to look at to.
That's it.
With some 70's commercial signs.
It's seams like eery commercial is from...
Thirty years in the past.
Ho now this start to be interesting.
From now and for about the next 700 kilometers, well I overpass Lake Superior.
I think the one who name those lakes, ''Les Grand Lacs, never crossed them or even walk along them.
There are not big, there are not even gigantic, they are huge!
Let's talk simply, it's so huge, that if you would fill those lake with soil, you
should move all of the United Kingdoms l, and there would be still enough place to move
the Andorra, the Republic Nauru and the Vatican.
I told you earlier that my room was the trunk of my car.
My car wasn't equipped with any shower or bath, be he could take me to
some baths much more elegant than the one you can find in any hotels.
Ok, there wasn't any hot water but still, we can't have everything in life.
After all, the road to Lac Superior is really long and boring, but
one you reach it, it's really beautiful.
It's worth...
It's worth the trip.
Full of mountains, full of tree, full of turning, full of beautiful views on the lake,
the lake who look like a sea.
It's amazing how big it is.
It's been an hour that I drive along it, this is what I will do all day long and probably a
part of tomorrow too.
It's really huge, I think you should really drive along it, or bike it to
realize how big it is.
I look on the map, I do not understand it's...
It's so huge.
In Manitoba, the distance between the Trans-Canada West and East, is so great that the
the junctions between the two highway are street and they even have a name.
Yeah!
How to describe Manitoba since drive in.
Hardwood and straight.
Very very straight.
Winnipeg is a cool city.
It's clean, everyone smiling, people Zen is, it seems that nobody is
stressed, everything is relaxed.
It's beautiful.
Peoples are smiling.
I loved this city.
Everything is beautiful, everything is clean, and the people are really friendly.
The cycling road in Winnipeg is really awesome.
It follows the river all along, I'm on it since few kilometers.
I'll maybe go in city center later, but it look like such a great city.
Good morning, this is day 5, I am between Winnipeg and Regina.
Ho is foggy.
It's may be because I have slept here.
After the wheat fields, marshmallow field.
I thought it was factory-made but no, It come from Manitoba.
In a minute or two I'll leave Manitoba and will arrive in Saskatchewan.
It wasn't really wide.
I've been through within 24 hours, I arrived yesterday...
Early afternoon, I will leave it this morning a bit before noon.
What to remember...
Many fields, a beautiful city, very friendly peoples.
I liked it, it is a beautiful province, really.
It's not as bad as I've been told Saskatchewan, I mean, it's flat there but...
It is not worse than the Montérégie.
I pass on the North Trans-Canada and the territory it was unique.
Rather than having mountains, over here and over there, there is full of holes in the ground.
Huge hollow into the ground.
Magnificent.
Regina as Winnipeg also have its cycling road along water spot.
People are also smiling.
It's not too big, it's seam to be a great city to I'll go downtown later.
I'm finally in Alberta.
Soon I'll be in the rockies, I can't wait.
That was the most undefined border I saw from the beginning,
In fact I did'n even realized I pass it thru.
In fact, the only visible difference there is between Saskatchewan and Alberta at the border,
is that in Saskatchewan, fields his reserved exclusively to agriculture, and in Alberta
we only see oil fields.
From here I make a bike trip to Edmonton.
I park far from the city by a river.
That one is just next to a cycling road who lead to downtown,
so it should be fun.
From here I could say that it's the most beautiful city I visit in Canada since the beginning of this trip.
Not only the city is extremely clean, people are really nice, but the
architects of the city did an exemplary job.
Downtown towers look really great and match well with each others.
The green spaces are abundant and remarkably well maintained.
Pedestrian trail spread all over from downtown to suburb.
I did"n stay long, but Edmonton seems to me a place where it's good to live in.
Last night I slept in a park in Hinton, witch is close to Jasper, this is where I'm going.
I should be there in an hour.
What I'll probably go lunch before.
And when I say that I am really close...
How to describe Jasper.
Jasper territory is a National Park. We can find in beautiful mountains,
great rivers, wildlife, most beautiful bike trails I've seen
to this day, and some breathtaking sightseing spot.
I had a lot of fun to adventure in.
Unfortunately, in Canada, a national park is not a nature reserve.
It's a very lucrative tourism industry, well equipped where only the government and
rich companies who thanks to an brown envelope can afford to settle right in the middle
of the most beautiful environment, ruining the entire landscape to sell services,
activities, restoration to abusive prices because they successfully
prevent competition to settle there, creating a local monopoly.
It is also a huge tourist trap in which you can follow sign
announcing natural hot spring on several kilometer to eventually end
on a simple swimming pool.
Tourist trap again.
It is also a place where tourists from around the globe can purchase
in memory of, very poor quality maple sirop in a beautiful maple leaf
glass bottle for a lot more money than real good syrup.
You can also purchased in moose plush and tile checked shirts, as
if all Canadians were lumberjacks, and as if all lumberjacks wore checked shirts.
This is the sad reality that I was face, every single time I came back from
those expedition in those beautiful trail in the middle of nature.
But that nature was really pretty,
I'm just on the edge of a cliff, this mean that here, well it go straight down
I would say for at least 500M.
At least.
I must be very careful not to fall.
According to the sign I saw earlier, I should be to the top of pyramid in about 600M.
I think it was really wrong.
I only stayed there for some days because there was so many name of place that
I had heard so much about before all around me on the map.
And there was the main mistake I did on this trip.
If you plan to visit Western Canadian, flee all those famous names that you know.
After Jasper, of course I visit Banff National Park.
And who says Banff, says Lake Louis.
Yes the famous Lake Louise, you know that one of course.
This turquoise lake surrounded by mountains.
A true paradise.
And... No.
What you never see on those pictures is what's hidden in the background.
''Disgusting''
''Disgusting''
I then head on a less famous place recommended by a local.
And it was a good idea.
Kamloops is a real city, with real people who have other interest than fool
every tourists they can attracts.
Kamloops have a peculiar geography, it basically look like this.
Everywhere.
Rock, sand, small bushes.
But there is bike trails everywhere.
Everywhere everywhere everywhere everywhere.
From what I've been told, this is the capital of mountain biking.
This is wrong.
After bike it, I can say that it's Rather the paradise of mountain biking.
The city maintained hundreds, and maybe Thousands of kilometers of mountain bike trail.
In the woods, in the cities, in the middle fields, mountains, trails
are just every where.
So that was an other great bike tour in Kamloops today, super, super
great bike city, really.
Then I thinking to go to Vancouver but it still raining in Vancouver.
So yesterday while coming in Kamloops I forgot to pass in one place, the Okanagan Valley.
So this is where I am going wright now.
We'll go see what's to be done there.
I have been told it's a really beautiful place.
Let's see this.
Right now I'm on Highway 5 South.
It's a big highway, the speed limit is 120 km/h and there is three line almost all along.
In Western countries, I noticed that speed limits on highway is faster than
eastern one, however, drivers respect this limit, so people traveling at the same speed.
In almost all regions the winds are so strong that the idea of having
fixed signs, they forget it, they the hung them.
Ofter we can see them float by the wind like a leaf.
I guess if it were attached the sign would be taken away.
Well there is a bear who just crossed the road right in my face.
I had tu pull up the brake to avoid hit him.
It's like as smart as a deer.
It waits on the roadside and it jump on the road... Yeah.
Yeah yeah.
I was about to finally reach my goal, Vancouver.
After all I had heard about this city, I had very high expectations.
And I was very disappointed.
I have not even finished my first day in the city.
So I am now in Vancouver, I take my bike to explore
the city, I parked on the street Quebec and bike it from here to go...
Over there.
Let's go see what the city has to discover.
If I well remember, green blinking light mean we have priority everywhere, we can go straint and turn both side.
I do not know what that mean here because it's blinking green on both sides.
Bizarre.
Yeah, well, I tried to find something great in this city and... I did'n find anything.
It's ugly, it's gray, people are...
Unhappy, they rage between driver.
There is waste everywhere, it stinks...
This is not kept, I tried to find positive in this town and...
I did'n find any.
So now I head on Squamish, a small village in the mountains between Vancouver and Whistler.
Whistler will be my second destination.
So let's go back and have fun in those mountains.
With fewer people and more stuff fun to do.
Oh yeah!
Let's go there.
I was now on the way to the city I most appreciate in Western Canada.
Squamish is definitely the place where we can do the most kind of
outdoor activity and I enjoy it.
Rafting,
bungee,
Mountain biking,
pilot a plane.
And what I loved about this place is that most activities are practiced people living in this city.
There is no tourist trap, mostly.
Last day in Canada before come back home thru the United States, but before...
Sky Diving.
I should take a flight in a few minutes, fly up in the sky and then jump.
It will be awesome.
I'm getting ready to jump, there will be no video, unfortunately
because we can't bring camera in the plane.
So it will still be fun, I will enjoy it and you will not see it.
Unfortunately I have no image from jump.
I could pay an astronomical amount of money to put a GoPro identical to mine
on the helmet of the guy who jump with me but I could not jump with
mine because it was to dangerous they said.
It was really a great experience.
We jump at 10,000 feet, we fall for forty seconds, on 5000
feet, we opened the parachute and slowly reach the ground.
It was incredible.
It's an experience I'll surely do again.
It is less is less intense than the bungee because we do not see the ground approaching really quick.
We jump from the plane and it's still...
It is intense but...
It is more relax than the bungee and you have time to observe the landscape and when the parachute
opens we see very well round and Ah...
It was really a great experience.
So this is how my trip in Canada end.
I would then return by the United states, but I came back pretty quickly, I have not really visited.
So what I remember of Canada, is it's a very beautiful country, where I
felt safe from end to the, with every places more beautiful than each other.
This is a great country where it is good to live, where you can eat a wide variety of product.
It's a chance we have in Canada to be such a multicultural nation.
Immigrants bring with them meals from there countries and gives us the opportunity to have
a varied diet and eat the very best from every where in the world.
My only regret was to have been attracted by famous name.
If you come to visit Western Canada, flee those name you've heard about
before, these places are tourists traps where all it's beauty had been broken by tourist facility
who will want nothing but what's in your wallet and ruin your vacation.
Seriously I do not want to go in details, but several companies had try
to fool me in several ways.
I did'n fall into there trap because I'm very warning on this kind of thing, but I guess
families who come from so far to see that famous Western Canada to get caught
in these traps, it's very frustrating.
These people will remind Canadians like dishonest thieves simply because
some company gives a perverse pleasure to scam them to get even more richer.
And it's even more frustrating to know they will continue to make a fortune for a while
because their customers come from far away, and do mot have any opportunity to tarnish their reputation.
For me, this is unfortunately the first thing I am thinking when someone
asks my opinion on my trip in my great country.
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