Canadian Train - day 3 & 4

 The journey continued on and on. It reminded me of the Trans-Siberian train I took from Moscow to Beijing. It's sad to think that Russia will probably be closed to tourists for years. The few Russians I met were less than impressed with Putin, even back in 2014.

The train was still a few hours late and I found the constant stopping for freight trains somewhat annoying. A stopped train is no fun, it's only when a train is moving that it serves its purpose.

In this area, there were lots of rolled hay bales.

I presume the huge white shed held grain.

Another lake.

I presume these are geese. Some of the formations were much larger but they are hard to capture on a camera in a moving train.

I remembered the name Saskatoon from geography lessons, but I thought its station would be more distinguished. I see the city has a population of over 1/4 million.

We were allowed off the train for a few minutes but it was cold enough that I did not want to linger.

Actually, it's important to get out and walk, not only for some fresh air, but also to exercise your legs. Five days of sitting is not good for you.

The last two carriages are reserved for 'Prestige' passengers. We ordinary Sleeper Class passengers were allowed to visit this car after 4pm but we never got around to it. It's cool to look out the back of a train at the rails disappearing off into the distance.

Inside my compartment. Light switches and two US-style powerpoints.

Wash basin.

Closed toilet.

Open toilet.

Pull down bed. Once you have been shown how to do it by your car attendant, it's easy to do it yourself. It's very handy if like me, you need an afternoon nap. It's a much wider and possibly longer bed than the bed on Amtrak. I found it comfortable enough and mostly had no trouble sleeping.

The seat.

Reaping the crop.

There are lots of lakes and rivers in Canada.

In summer, this is probably a lovely place to stay for a few weeks or months.

However, cell phone reception out in the boonies is virtually non-existent. This is where you go to truly get away from it all.

We were really enjoying the trip.

For a few meals, by chance, we were seated with a couple from Berlin. It turned out they were both classical music lovers as passionate as I am. We had some wonderful conversations about musicians we had seen and concert halls.

The train reached Winnepeg at the end of day three several hours late. The staff who looked after us on days 1 through 3 got off and were replaced by another team who had to prepare for our late departure at 5 am. They all looked extremely tired.