I woke up just before dawn at 5:30 a.m., hoping to see the train enter Hell’s Gate, the narrowest point of the Fraser Canyon, creating a fury of rapids. That was not to be, because I had just arrived in Hope, B.C. The train was running early. That is a pity as I imagine that it would be a spectacular sight, given the placement of the rails inside the canyon (I now know why some tourists opt for the premium priced Rocky Mountaineer tour, which overnights in Kamloops, ensuring a daytime passing of the Canyon).The waters passing this narrowing is faster and more turbulent than that going over Niagara Falls. The day before, we had passed by Moose Lake, which develops into the headwaters of the mighty Fraser, a river that had been a part of my life every day for about 16 years. This river is the longest river in British Columbia and plays an important role in the economy in the province--with the pulp and paper industry, hydroelectricity, and the salmon industry. More salmon is caught from this river than anywhere else, and this year marked the most abundant harvest in the recorded history of this river.
The silhouette of the coastal mountains forming the north shore of Greater Vancouver came into view. This also is an image burned into my psyche. The city is showing off itself in one of those rare sunny days in the city.
I had my last meal on the train. My table companions were a sixty-ish couple from Yokohama, Japan, visiting St. Catherines, Ontario to participate in rowing competitions and a lovely older woman from London, Ontario, who left her scientist husband at home to take this trip across Canada on her own. I am always inspired by women who exercise their independence. I found out that she had studied at Mount Allison University, almost half a century ago, so it sounds like her independent spirit was fostered a very long time ago (Mount Allison is a tiny university in Sackville, New Brunswick where the first woman obtained her higher education degree in Canada in the 1800‘s and more graduates have become Rhodes scholars than any other liberal arts university in North America).
We backed into Vancouver’s Union Station in the heart of downtown, almost an hour ahead of schedule. (Note that train travel times on this track is highly dependent on the number of freight trains that we have to pass along the way, more so than the distance travelled.) I said my goodbyes to the many wonderful people that I had encountered in this great journey across most of Canada.
I headed home, with my luggage in tow, on the Skytrain, Vancouver’s driverless metro system. After literally decades of talks about building the Richmond connection to the Vancouver line (I remember seeing it in the plans for Expo 86), it finally did get built, in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in the city.
I am home once again. Yet, in many ways this is a home that has changed much over the years. Vancouver is now home to the largest Chinese population by percentage outside of Asia (Toronto has a larger population by number but a lower percentage as it is a much larger city). In the years leading up to 1997, when Hong Kong was to be returned to China after being a British colony for 99 years, many immigrated to Vancouver. It now boasts what I consider the best Cantonese cuisine in the world. There are many reasons for this: in 1997, some of the top chefs in Hong Kong settled in Vancouver. Along with the chefs were the businessmen bringing their families to the city. Most of these businessmen immigrated on a business visa, which automatically brought much wealth along with them. They would then set up home and return to Hong Kong to continue their businesses while leaving their spouses (almost exclusively women) with their children in Canada. These wives would have lots of time and money to eat out. Put into this picture the abundance of produce from the fertile Fraser Valley, and even from Richmond itself, along with the great salmon and other locally sourced ingredients. You now have excellent chefs, clientele with both time and money, fresh ingredients, and stiff competition. This meeting of circumstances lead to what many consider to be the best Cantonese cuisine in the world.
That means, that for the 1 1/2 days I will be in Vancouver on this short visit, I have plans to pack in some great food.
Today, we restaurant hopped: we started with some melt-in-your-mouth fresh-from-the-oven Portuguese style egg tarts. While these were more like egg tarts than Portuguese tarts, they were the yummiest tarts that I’ve ever had in Vancouver. (Sorry--I was so busy eating them that I forgot to take pictures!). Next came some spicy fried tofu and chow mein at the next restaurant. Then after a couple hours wandering through Richmond Centre working off the meals, I went home to some fresh-from-the-garden spotted green beans stir fried to perfection by mother.
It was time to meet up with Sylvia. Sylvia is someone whom I had met while studying in London in 2002. Since then, our paths would cross at various occasions in various spots on the globe. These short encounters are always pleasant, as I see her as a kindred spirit in many ways (yes, one of my favourite books is Anne of Green Gables).
This was a long day, and I was happy to crawl into my own bed at the end of the day. Sleeping without the clickety clack was a welcome change.
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