Alaska - Into Wild Alaska
Door: Marielle
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Marielle
09 September 2018 | Verenigde Staten, Kasilof
After spending the morning calling with friends in The Netherlands I leave the Pioneer Hostel in Prince Rupert to catch the ferry to Ketchikan. I share a taxi with Nathan and Ashley (2 brothers from Yorkshire) to the harbour. Before boarding we have to through US customs. I have a very nice officer who grants me half a year in the US based on my visa that costed me a lot of energy and money to acquire! My companions and Jeannette from Australia have the other officer who is not so kind and grills them for 10 minutes each... The ferry is small and almost empty. At 21:30 we arrive in Ketchikan and I share a taxi with the brothers to the Eagle View Hostel of Dale (76) which is situated at the top of the hill and has great views. The telescopes on the table make me wonder what Dale is looking at ;-)
The next day is my birthday and when Dale asks me for money for the dorm bed I make a hint, unfortunately he did not grasp that... After breakfast together with Nathan and Ashley I go exploring the city of Ketchikan. We start of with a short hike on the upper side of Ketchikan towards the downtown area where it all happens... the cruiseboats! They are huge and the amount of people overflowing the small town of Ketchikan as well. Up to 10.000 visitors a day! It is like the city centre of Amsterdam... I can imagin that the town is happy that the season is almost over. When we see the passengers disembark the cruise ships we do recall the words of Jeannette (I will not repeat them here, but she was right...). After tasting some salmon for free and a visit to Creek street (the former red light district of Ketchikan) we follow the salmon up the river where they hatch their eggs. An incredible ammount of salmon is swimming upstream! We have lunch in a diner where the waitress seems to be a stand up comedian, extremely funny. To celebrate my birthday we have some local brewed beer and cook dinner at Dales place. It was a very good birthday! Thank you for all your kind wishes and messages, made me feel very priviliged.
In mist and rain (the usual wheater in this area) I enter the ferry to Juneau but soon after leaving the harbour the sun starts to shine. We sail through fantastic passages where the ferry needs to take quite some sharp turns. After advise of the lady in the cafeteria I eat in the restaurant of the ship for a few dollars extra. The food served is delicious and there are multiple other options than burgers with french fries ;-) I did not rent a cabin and sleep on a couch and at 4:00 am I need to disembark when arriving in Juneau. It is pitch dark and very cold. Luckily I meet a nice couple from Seattle and we share a taxi to downtown where we spend the first hours in a lobby of a hotel before we are send away. The coffeshop opens at 6:00 am and I am happy to leave the streets. I have booked a boat trip to the Tracy Arm and South Sawyer Glacier which departs at 8:30 am. After being invited to stay in Seattle on my way through, I say farewell to my nice companions in these early hours. The boat trip is magnificent! The sun is shining, the views are fantastic and blocks of ice are drifting in the water when approaching the glacier. We come very close to the glacier and the sound of melting ice is amazing. Seals lay on the blocks of ice and are enjoying the sun. At 17:30 we are back in Juneau and I walk up the hill to the Juneau International Hostel, the cheapest hostel I have encountered on this trip. For only 12 US dollars per night I have a clean bed and access to clean bathroom and kitchen. I do need to vacuum the first floor, but of course that is not an issue ;-) In the kitchen that night I meeting Anni from the UK who gives courses in spiritual dancing and combines this with travelling. We have a very good connection and since she lives in Baha (Mexico), she invites me to visit her when I am there and of course I will do that!
When I am preparing to leave for the ferry to Whittier in the morning, Nathan and Ashley enter the hostel :-) Very nice to see familiar faces! Again the sun is shining today and many people tell me how exceptional this is in Alaska. I enjoy the sun while waiting for departure of the ferry and also during the journey, if not too cold, I am outside on the deck. These ferry days are very lazy days! On the way to Witthier we pass impressive mountains with snow and glaciers. Also we see many whales. I sleep two nights on the sundeck on a sunbed. For 3 US dollars I rent sheets, cushion and blanket. It is reasonably comfortable but am happy to sleep in a normal bed again afterwards. At 6:30 we arrive in Whittier after 42 hours on the ferry.
Whittier is very small and seems to consist of one apartment building where apperently all 320 inhabitants live. The rest of the town is filled with old ships and cars. Very strange sight. In the coffee shop I have breakfast and meet up with Dough (75) from Seattle. He has to catch a next ferry at 14:00 and my train to Anchorage only leaves at 18:00 so we decide to do a little hike to Portage Pass. The view at the top consists of five glaciers! Back in town I need some stamps and we find the post office in the one apartment building. The post office seems from the previous century as does the inside of the apartment building. The lady of the post office is extremely friendly and when she finds out I am from the Netherlands she directly proposes I should meet Gerda who is living in Whittier but originally from The Netherlands. By coincidence Gerdas husband George is just picking up his mail and he takes Doug and me up to the fifth floor to meet his wife. However she is not there and is making a walk in town, so we get into the car with George to chase her down. I spend around two hours with Gerda talking dutch over a cup of coffee. A very nice meeting! After this special day in Whittier I hop on the train to Anchorage which follows the Turnagain Arm and we see whales from the train! At 21:30 I finally arrive in Anchorage and am very happy to sleep in a comfortable bed that night :-)
Anchorage mostly consists on low buildings and therefore is spread out. I rent a bike to explore the coastal trail and downtown Anchorage. A peculiar city but with the sun shining it has really nice features. The next day I am happy to leave for Kasilof on the Kenai Peninsula where I will stay for the next few weeks with a family as a volunteer. I will help in the garden and with the sled dogs. I arrived yesterday and the family is extremely nice, the animals (dogs, cat and horses) super sweet and surroundings are beautiful so I am looking forward to my stay here and do some rooting after 2 months on the road.
Stay in touch and hasta luego!
The next day is my birthday and when Dale asks me for money for the dorm bed I make a hint, unfortunately he did not grasp that... After breakfast together with Nathan and Ashley I go exploring the city of Ketchikan. We start of with a short hike on the upper side of Ketchikan towards the downtown area where it all happens... the cruiseboats! They are huge and the amount of people overflowing the small town of Ketchikan as well. Up to 10.000 visitors a day! It is like the city centre of Amsterdam... I can imagin that the town is happy that the season is almost over. When we see the passengers disembark the cruise ships we do recall the words of Jeannette (I will not repeat them here, but she was right...). After tasting some salmon for free and a visit to Creek street (the former red light district of Ketchikan) we follow the salmon up the river where they hatch their eggs. An incredible ammount of salmon is swimming upstream! We have lunch in a diner where the waitress seems to be a stand up comedian, extremely funny. To celebrate my birthday we have some local brewed beer and cook dinner at Dales place. It was a very good birthday! Thank you for all your kind wishes and messages, made me feel very priviliged.
In mist and rain (the usual wheater in this area) I enter the ferry to Juneau but soon after leaving the harbour the sun starts to shine. We sail through fantastic passages where the ferry needs to take quite some sharp turns. After advise of the lady in the cafeteria I eat in the restaurant of the ship for a few dollars extra. The food served is delicious and there are multiple other options than burgers with french fries ;-) I did not rent a cabin and sleep on a couch and at 4:00 am I need to disembark when arriving in Juneau. It is pitch dark and very cold. Luckily I meet a nice couple from Seattle and we share a taxi to downtown where we spend the first hours in a lobby of a hotel before we are send away. The coffeshop opens at 6:00 am and I am happy to leave the streets. I have booked a boat trip to the Tracy Arm and South Sawyer Glacier which departs at 8:30 am. After being invited to stay in Seattle on my way through, I say farewell to my nice companions in these early hours. The boat trip is magnificent! The sun is shining, the views are fantastic and blocks of ice are drifting in the water when approaching the glacier. We come very close to the glacier and the sound of melting ice is amazing. Seals lay on the blocks of ice and are enjoying the sun. At 17:30 we are back in Juneau and I walk up the hill to the Juneau International Hostel, the cheapest hostel I have encountered on this trip. For only 12 US dollars per night I have a clean bed and access to clean bathroom and kitchen. I do need to vacuum the first floor, but of course that is not an issue ;-) In the kitchen that night I meeting Anni from the UK who gives courses in spiritual dancing and combines this with travelling. We have a very good connection and since she lives in Baha (Mexico), she invites me to visit her when I am there and of course I will do that!
When I am preparing to leave for the ferry to Whittier in the morning, Nathan and Ashley enter the hostel :-) Very nice to see familiar faces! Again the sun is shining today and many people tell me how exceptional this is in Alaska. I enjoy the sun while waiting for departure of the ferry and also during the journey, if not too cold, I am outside on the deck. These ferry days are very lazy days! On the way to Witthier we pass impressive mountains with snow and glaciers. Also we see many whales. I sleep two nights on the sundeck on a sunbed. For 3 US dollars I rent sheets, cushion and blanket. It is reasonably comfortable but am happy to sleep in a normal bed again afterwards. At 6:30 we arrive in Whittier after 42 hours on the ferry.
Whittier is very small and seems to consist of one apartment building where apperently all 320 inhabitants live. The rest of the town is filled with old ships and cars. Very strange sight. In the coffee shop I have breakfast and meet up with Dough (75) from Seattle. He has to catch a next ferry at 14:00 and my train to Anchorage only leaves at 18:00 so we decide to do a little hike to Portage Pass. The view at the top consists of five glaciers! Back in town I need some stamps and we find the post office in the one apartment building. The post office seems from the previous century as does the inside of the apartment building. The lady of the post office is extremely friendly and when she finds out I am from the Netherlands she directly proposes I should meet Gerda who is living in Whittier but originally from The Netherlands. By coincidence Gerdas husband George is just picking up his mail and he takes Doug and me up to the fifth floor to meet his wife. However she is not there and is making a walk in town, so we get into the car with George to chase her down. I spend around two hours with Gerda talking dutch over a cup of coffee. A very nice meeting! After this special day in Whittier I hop on the train to Anchorage which follows the Turnagain Arm and we see whales from the train! At 21:30 I finally arrive in Anchorage and am very happy to sleep in a comfortable bed that night :-)
Anchorage mostly consists on low buildings and therefore is spread out. I rent a bike to explore the coastal trail and downtown Anchorage. A peculiar city but with the sun shining it has really nice features. The next day I am happy to leave for Kasilof on the Kenai Peninsula where I will stay for the next few weeks with a family as a volunteer. I will help in the garden and with the sled dogs. I arrived yesterday and the family is extremely nice, the animals (dogs, cat and horses) super sweet and surroundings are beautiful so I am looking forward to my stay here and do some rooting after 2 months on the road.
Stay in touch and hasta luego!
