Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Day 5 - Sea to Sky + Whistler

but you were always gonna make it through
that's what's so great about you
Water Ballet - Christian Lee Hutson

I took two day tours in Vancouver and they all started early so I couldn't have leisurely breakfast. Me needing a lot of time to get ready also meant that I needed to wake up early to accomodate all I needed to do in the morning. Luckily I could wake up and it wasn't a crazy rush. Breakfast was the Breka's donuts and they were good. The meeting point was at a hotel two blocks away at 07:05. The pink alley was visible from my window and I decided to walk through it. It's interesting and cute, but there's still a vibe of uncleanliness about it. Kinda nice that it's quiet that early in the morning. The alley after it was looking even dirtier that I didn't walk throught it.

When I arrived at the meeting point there's already 2 American couples who were related waiting. One of the ladies was quite friendly and we chatted a few times. One of the couple were from Florida, so I wondered if they were MAGA. It seems not because the lady has a son-in-law who doesn't want to have his child vaccinated and this really upsets her. Our other travelling companions also included a Canadian family of three who are Romanian if I'm not mistaken and a dad from New York who's travelling alone and would be hiking a few places in Canada. He said he drove into Vancouver from Seattle and would use that rental car to explore other places. Truly if I could drive, imagine what craziness I would get into, how far would I go, and yet I don't seem to have that desire to learn to drive. Maybe one day there would be a trigger that starts me on that journey of learning that life skill. Although as I told one of the American dad in the couple, driving is not really considered as a life skill here as in America. As for our tour guide / driver, he's a young guy originally from Chile. Kinda cool that he could make it work in Canada. He has travelled to parts of South East Asia and loves it a lot and I wish him a chance to get to Indonesia one day :) Our first stop was the Porteau Cove Provincial Park. The water of Howe Sound is in front of us. I guess because we're quite early, it's very nice that it's just us with not many people around.

Then it was off to Shannon Falls. The walk to see the falls is not very far and it's nice with trees all around and a stream. I remember thinking it's amazing that I could walk. I was still on Aleve at that time, but still it felt miraculous to me that I had to thank God that I was okay - praise be to God! I hate starting the day so early, but I cannot deny the advantage that there weren't many visitors yet when we were there.

Then it was off to take the Sea to Sky Gondola. I shared the gondola with the dad from New York. We were given some time to explore the area ourselves when we reached the top. The view of Howe Sound from up there is really nice. Also great that we got such nice weather and blue sky. There's also a suspension bridge. In the picture below, you could see my travelling companions, the couples, crossing it. The guy (whose wife is way ahead) is teasing his sister-in-law who's nervous about crossing. There are a few walking trails you could do in the area. I did the short Spirit trail and parts of the Panorama trail. I couldn't complete the Panorama trail because I didn't have enough time, but that's where I most probably took the picture of the rocky wall of Stawamus Chief.

As I was about to leave, I saw a group of parents bringing their little babies. It's very interesting that they have this group doing things like this, introducing their little babies to nature. The people nearby perhaps have like an annual pass to the gondola because when we got up, we also saw a few people going up to do yoga. Anyways, after we all got down, the next thing we did was visit Brandywine Falls. The walk to the viewing platform wasn't hard as well and it was a nice walk. One interesting point was crossing a train track. The waterfall itself falling into a gorge is quite pretty.

Then we went to Whistler. I did not have any photo of it. The only photo I took of it is in my phone of the Olympics rings. It hosted a Winter Olympic one time. The reason why I didn't have any photo is because I didn't find it particularly interesting. The little town is filled with shops and what I did there was eat. I had a crepe which wasn't all that good that I couldn't finish it, but it filled me a bit much that I couldn't get a Beaver Tail :( I settled for ice cream from COWS and being that I was in Canada, I made a point to choose maple things. I chose Cownadian Maple in a cone which is maple ice cream with maple cookie chunks which was not bad, but was rather too sweet even for me. Then I just spent the rest of my time walking here and there. After Whistler, the last thing we stopped for was the Green Lake which wasn't green at all when we were there.

For photos from the day, you can go here. It wasn't the most interesting day, but I did enjoy myself walking on my own on the quiet trails after the gondola ride up. It was an easy trip which I think was good for me in getting back on my feet, back to 100%. One thing that kinda ruined the day for me was that I lost my llama key chain. Ruin is a strong word, but it was on my mind a lot that day and I just couldn't understand how it happened. It's still a mystery that bugs me, though with less intensity now. This was the llama key chain that got the security guard in Nuremberg Castle came asking if it was a chicken. I got it in Peru. I think it was sold in a set of 5 or 10 and I may have shared them with la Gioia, I can't remember exactly but I think I have 5. I was never one to put a key chain on my bag but I put this fuchsia one on my bag and I kinda like it because the weird me attach meaning to things and I feel this llama is almost like a charm or a protector for me and the bag on my travels. I realize it was gone when I returned to the car, I think after Shannon Falls, and the ring that was holding the llama was wide open. I didn't bring my bag that time when we walked to Shannon Falls, so it was gone while it was in the car? I couldn't understand it. Did it fall? I tried to look around the floor of the car, but I couldn't find it. It was just gone :( gone gone gone :( Now the rest of what I'm about to say is so ridiculous and me writing this out loud is actually embarrassing, but hear me out, or maybe don't, don't watch me lose any dignity or credibility, but here we go. I couldn't make sense how it could have gone. The easy explanation was that it fell. It might have fallen earlier and I only noticed it then, but the way the ring that was holding it was wide open on the seat of the car was super strange to me. So in my attempt to let it go (because I can't really), I asked myself what if it's taken by power you cannot see. I do believe in spirits, protectors of places. So what if the spirits took it, could be as a token for you walking on their land, could be for the protection they gave that you were okay as you walked upon their land. What if, this was what they asked. It's not much and it's a cute llama. As much as I think it's a small ask, I was still very bummed for losing the llama. I need to let it go, but even now when I think of it, I feel sad for the llama, I hope it's okay - yes, I attach way too many meanings on things. That being said, I think I have 4 llamas left somewhere in one of the containers in mom's house. I need to dig it up. I do want to get a new llama on my bag. If it turns out, I actually don't have any llama keychain left, I would be very sad. What are the odds I get to go back to Peru?

Anyways, we arrived back in Vancouver not too late that I decided to go to the Gastown area which was filled with tourists. Dinner was at The Old Spaghetti Factory. This place was big and packed. There's like a trolley car inside - I cannot explain it well. I guess people like the set of main dish, soup, and ice cream. I suppose it's value for money. I chose my go to of seafood marinara. It wasn't the best, but I managed to finish everything. The waitress who served me was really pretty that I was thinking if I was looking at someone who's going to be famous one day. You know how many celebrities have story of them waiting tables while they tried to make it work. What if this waitress was trying to be an actor at the same time or maybe it's not that at all, she could be some student trying to make a bit of money. She's Chinese looking and speaks it too that she was able to serve a table of Chinese speaking people well and took their photo. After dinner on my way back to the hotel, I stopped by Lee's Donuts. Well I was also waiting for the steam clock just opposite it to do its thing. I think it's a bit much to have donuts two days in a row, but I heard they're good, so I got two, couldn't remember what, most probably maple things. Then I went outside for the clock to puff its way to 7 PM. Many people were watching too. Then I went back to the hotel. I wanted to watch Stephen Colbert's last show and I tried my best to stay awake. I managed to watch his monologue but I decided to just skip the rest. It was late, I was very sleepy, and I had another early day the next morning. One last picture for this post, the pink alley at night from my window. The big ball changes colour and I kinda like watching it from the window.

:) eKa @ 8:41:00 PM •