We've been warned about taking a greyhound bus by several different people. We've been warned by travelers and by Americans. So, we were curious!
We wanted to go up to Vancouver, and the cheapest way to get there, was by bus.
We got to the station, and it surely was different from all these train stations and airports we've been to: What a dump! It was tiny, crowded, run down and it stunk of fried food. There were some really special characters around and I was a bit afraid of starting a conversation with anyone.
We had our tickets already, which was very fortunate, since it was a Friday and a long weekend in Canada - all tickets for the day were sold out! We were told to stand in line of gate 1, as soon as we got there, even though it was 2 hours before our departure. There are 2 main reasons for this: Firstly, you don't want to be stuck sitting next to some smelly freak. Secondly, you want to get onto the bus! Even though you have a ticket for a certain bus, going on a specific date and time, it is not guaranteed that you are going to get on! First come, first serve! If the bus is full, it's full. Too bad!
So, we waited in this line, which grew longer and longer behind us. When we had waited for a couple of hours and our bus still hadn't arrived, we started playing cards with 3 other travelers waiting in front of us. We sat on the dirty floor and played some silly game to make the time pass. We were delayed for almost 2 hours, but then we got onto the bus and we didn't have any creeps to close to us - phew!
When you are from Europe, there is nothing more easy, than crossing borders while traveling -it's great! Not in America. At the US-Canadian border, we all had to get off the bus and take all our luggage through customs. We had to wait in a huge line, fill out some forms and answer lots of questions.... It took about an hour before we got going again.
It was worse though on the way back into the States. Greyhound passengers get checked very carefully at the border, so make sure you have all documents (passport, flight tickets, accommodation reservation forms, and maybe even a bank statement) ready for inspection. Also, don't try to bring fresh food across the border. It's a no no. Another no no, is to bring Cuban cigars from Canada into the States (because of the embargo), we did it anyway ;-)
Well to be honest, I didn't like Seattle that much. It is very small (compared to other cities like Chicago) and not that impressive. We still had fun!
First we went to the famous Pike Market, where you can buy any fresh food you can imagine. Lots of fresh seafood as well. It is very touristy, but I liked it. I liked the flower displays a lot and all the little sample trays....mmmhhh....you get to try almost everything that is being sold there. I only bought a small bottle of white truffle oil.
From there we went to the Museum of contemporary art (SAM). The exhibitions were very good. After that it was time for a snack, I had a prepared bagel and Tristan bought a Hot Dog of a streets vendor.
Then we were ready to go to the Columbia Center (again, a high building with great views of the city). There are several high rise buildings you can go to for that, we chose the Columbia Centre, as it only costs 3 or 4 dollars, which is a bargain compared to the overpriced (and much lower) "Space needle".
The sky was very clear and the views were magnificent: snowy mountain ranges, clear blue bays, the city, the harbor - beautiful!
Even though it was very hot and tiring we went all the way to the sculpture park, space needle and music experience center from there. But really, I wasn't impressed with any of those things.
On our last day we went to the Seattle aquarium. I've never been to one before and loved it! There were so many amazing and creepy creatures and it was displayed very well. You could even touch starfish....brrr.... It is a nice thing to do, if you don't mind paying 15 dollars (no student discounts!) and if you don't mind having screaming kids everywhere.
Along the harbour (near the Aquarium) there are many fish'n'chip shops that looked delicious. We decided to go for something a bit different: A brazilian restaurant!
The island is very beautiful. Unfortunately the beaches are rocky and it is very, very hilly. We made the mistake of hiring bikes and going for a ride one day. My goodness! I thought I was going to die! These hills are very steep and these bikes aren't very good (or, I am not very fit). In the end we retired into a pub on the main street to have some "black bute" beer, which was delicious!
On another day we took the bus down to the south end of the island. We walked for a few miles (up and down and up and down), along lots of black berry bushes (yummy!!!) and big fancy houses. Our destination was the lighthouse of the island, which was situated at a very nice beach, with gorgeous views of snowy mountain from Olympia National Park. If we've had a car we would have gone over to that National Park for some more mountain hiking - these snowy beauties were calling out to me, but there was no way for me to reach them.... next time maybe...
On one day we wanted to go over to Seattle for the day. We had to get up fairly early, to catch the hostel's shuttle service to the bus stop in town. The bus then took us to the ferry going straight into downtown Seattle. I can not remember the prices anymore...sorry!
We arrived in Seattle early in the morning and were greeted by sunshine and a woman with hairy armpits in a Cafe....mmhhh....
Anyway, we hung around a Cafe for a while, trying to taste the special flavor coffee is supposed to have in the birthplace of Starbucks.... the cafe (Zeitgeist) was neat and the food was tasty. We then proceeded to the harbour to find out which ferry can take us over to Vashon Island.
Since the only youth hostel in Seattle was fully booked, we resorted to going to a hostel on this Vashon Island, which is only 30 min by boat from the city.
We found out that the only ferry to Vashon, leaving pier 51, was not until another 6 hours, or something crazy like that. So we hopped onto a bus and were taken to the outskirts of the city. Taking a bus can be a bit confusing there.... there are zones were it is free to ride, so sometimes you don't have to pay at all, sometimes you don't have to pay until you get off, and at other times you pay getting on... just watch for that little sign in front of the bus driver and as always, carefully watch what the locals do...
In our case, we had to pay a small fee getting of the bus, and we were told to hold on to the ticket, since we can use it on the island as well. The lady who informed of this was a local on Vashon and told us a bit about the island.
When we got to the other side, we had no clue where to go or what to do. There was the ferry port and a bus stop, but nothing else. Since we didn't have a phone to ring the hostel for directions, we looked at the bus time table, only to discover that we'd have to wait ages before the next bus turns up - bugger!
Just as we both started to get into a bad mood, the lady from the bus waved us over to her car and offered us a lift to the hostel! Wow! There is still good on this planet!
15 minutes later we stood at the reception of this Hi-Hostel Vashon. We were greeted by two wacky, but very friendly guys, who happily took our money and explained all the rules to us. One rule was: No alcohol! But, they said, if we don't see it, it is ok.
We had booked into shared dorms with bunk beds, but for the first night, we decided we wanted something a bit different: a fire teepee! There were many Indian tents, known as Teepees around, in which you could make fire to keep warm. It was fantastic!
After 5 wonderful days in East Glacier it was time to move on. We wanted to stay longer and hike more, but it probably was a good thing to leave, as the smoke clouds from forest fires nearby grew larger each day....
From the train we saw some of the fires which was a bit intimidating. Apparently there was no harm to towns and people though.
The train left East Glacier at about 5pm and went through some very scenic parts before it got dark. Neither of us got much sleep since it was not that comfortable. In the early morning hours we had reached the pacific coast and it surely was a treat!
After a total of 17 hours on the train we arrived in Seattle.