After almost three months living in Lachine, Quebec we decided to head to Jasper and the Jasper National Park before travelling to Vancouver. Jasper is a small town of about 4000 people. With more then five coffee shops (no Starbucks by the way), small businesses, several bus transfers, a nice old train station with service to Vancouver and any kinds of hotels you can imagine it's certainly a nice place to live, we think! It's the second time in our lives that we are visiting Jasper. About two and a half years ago we visited Jasper for a short stop at the Pyramid Lake. One of the nicest sights in the National Park. Back then at this particular day I had to push Basti back into the car in order to head onto our next stop. He didn't want to leave that day. When you enter the Jasper National Park coming east from Edmonton on highway 16 you feel like you never felt before.
You might think you
are dreaming. You can see the nature, the beautiful mountains and you can feel the silence and peace that surrounds you. You are in the middle of nowhere but still in the centre of everything. On the one hand you are surrounded by big cities like Calgary, Edmonton or Vancouver on the other hand you step out of the door and you are in the National Park. You just lift your head and you see the nature, the mountains and the blue sky (almost every day). The distances of course are fare but you can get used to it. Canada is a big country and distances not a big issue. What I like the most about Jasper and the Jasper National Park is the unique people you can meet. It's a small town but also citylike. Mostly because of the tourists that come every weekend to ski at Marmot Basin, the young seasonal workers on a work permit from all over the world, people from all over Canada and all the tourists who are visiting the Park from beginning of March/April to October for camping, fishing etc. All those people form this community. Not to forget Jasper has definitely the best raspberry muffin ever, filled with white chocolate pieces. After a 12 kilometer walk through the woods and -17 degrees this is an awesome snack with a cup of coffee.
Basti and I are planning to stay in Jasper for about four weeks. We rented a little furnished apartment. For four weeks totally fine. We feel very comfortable. We don't have much time because there is so much to see and to do. So many trails to check out and to do cross country skiing, so many coffees and raspberry muffins to eat and so many sights to visit like the Marmot Basin Ski Area, the Maligne Lake and Maligne Canyon, Lake Louise and Banff, the Glacier and much more. And work, we want to find work in one of the nice new hotels around here. Now is a good time. Many hotels start to hire again for the new season which is going to start soon. So maybe we will or have to stay a little bit longer if we find good jobs. We will keep you posted! For now we say good bye. Tomorrow is another day we have to be ready for!
