Reluctant Traveller
"Scratching the surface reveals a low-key, laid back place populated by typically friendly locals that are eager to please, and plenty of it's own charm and tradition (including the daily alms gathering by local monks, if you get up early enough). In stark contrast to other major towns and cities in neighbouring Vietnam or Cambodia, you can walk around hassle free without the locals preying on you for trade." - Laos 2008.
Latest journal entry: Wells Gray Provincial Park (from Canada 2011)
Having left Whistler behind, we’ve travelled nearly 500km north-east to Wells Gray Provincial Park, just a few kilometres shy from the tiny (and very new) town of Clearwater. It’s been a relatively relaxed few days, and despite being the mosquito entrée du-jour, we’ve managed to see quite a bit during our relatively short stay.
I was hoping to avoid rolling out the usual summary adjectives to describe Wells Gray Park (I’ve learnt that it’s very difficult to *not* describe rural Canada as either “stunning” or “beautiful”), but with some of the most dramatic water features of anywhere we’ve been so far on our journey, quite a few quarters have definitely ended up in the cliché swear-jar.
With the weather being it’s usual mercurial self, we didn’t accumulate much in the way of walking kilometres, but the gentle amble along Lakeshore Trail was a major highlight of our visit, passing directly adjacent to Clearwater Lake where people were out casually rowing canoes. It’s difficult to imagine, but only a few kilometres downstream this placid stretch of water turns into the raging torrent that is Clearwater River, whose awesome power can be viewed over ice tea and an excellent light lunch… (more)