Alaska Cruise Part III - The beauty of Alaska
Alaska was purchased by USA from Russia in 1867 for $ 7.2
million. This worked out to be just 2 cents per acre. Yet many Americans at
that time had called this purchase a folly.
The Gold discovery at the end of century changed the entire picture and
today USA gets its maximum oil and minerals from Alaska.
If you look at the map, the state of Alaska is so huge that
it appeared that we were just touching the tip of the state and coming back. The
cruise was not going up to Anchorage but it was supposed to stop at Skagway,
Juneau and Ketchikan. Juneau is the Capital of Alaska. The first stop was
Skagway and it was a full day stop.
Skagway
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| Beautiful sleepy town called Skagway |
The ship had already anchored when we got up in the morning.
Our room was on starboard (right) side so it was facing the sea and the
mountains. The snow covered mountains appeared very close and very fresh.
Another cruise ship from NCL (Norwegian cruise line) was also anchored nearby.
There was no hurry so we dressed and had our breakfast leisurely but were still
out of the ship by 10.30 AM. We took a local bus and in 5 minutes we were at
the end of the town. This pretty little
town was actually 3-4 blocks in length and width. The sunshine made this town look very fresh
with temperature at around 20 deg C. As we walked from the place where bus
dropped us towards the port, we could see some locals enjoying the weather and
the sun. Most shops here were either jewellery shops or souvenir shops. In
between there were some attractive looking pubs and restaurants.
We walked back from the end of the town towards the cruise ship and after around 30 mins of leisurely window shopping we reached the train station
. They informed us that a 3 hour journey up to the White Pass and back would
cost $ 120 per head. Now this was pretty steep for a 3 hour train journey which
would take you up to the White Pass and bring you back. I was suddenly missing
the Kalka-Simla train which would have cost just a fraction of this.
White Pass and Yukon Route railway is considered to be as much an
engineering achievement as Panama Canal, Eiffel Tower and Statue of
Liberty. It gained importance because it connected this port town of Skagway to
Whitehorse Yukon and then to Canada and interior Alaska. The intent at that
time was to create the transportation to the gold fields in the interiors.
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| A very picturesque journey |
It was undoubtedly a very picturesque journey in a very
sweet looking ancient train. The thick forests and gleaming snow added to the
aura of Alaska. I was outside the compartment between the wagons for most part of the journey admiring the views and
clicking pictures. It is a difficult task to click pictures when the train is
moving, but the views were stunning. The cantilever bridge was the most amazing,
one has ever seen. It was enough to make your heart skip a beat at the thought
of train going over it. The train went up to White Pass and the engine was detached and put on the other side of the train so we could come down. The seats were reversible so they asked us to get the seats corrected and also asked people to switch places so that those who had been deprived of the views while going up would get them now. Very fair !
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| The Cantilever Bridge |
There is a Red Onion Saloon in Skagway which actually is a brothel converted into a pub. While Devicka and kids were in a shop I entered the Saloon to find
myself transported to a 19th century brothel. It is now a pub with
the look of that era’s brothel. The gold diggers used to come from all places
and while they were in Skagway they looked for ale and Sex. Now they have sexy waitresses looking like
brothel girls; the pictures on the walls and décor were all raunchy and they
even had a ‘Madam’ who offered to take me upstairs for a paid round (excursion only !) to the
working rooms. It wasn't a place meant for kids so I skipped the idea of lunch here.
We had been having all meals on the ship so now was the time
to enjoy some Alaskan Beer and the famous Alaskan fish in one of the pubs. As
mentioned above, the Red Onion Saloon was avoided so we went into a very well
laid out pub called the ‘Bonanza pub and Grill.’ The fish was amazingly fresh
and the taste of food was fantastic. I loved the dark Alaskan Beer and had it for teh rest of the trip. Even the normal 'fish n chips' tasted delicious. Most people don’t eat outside the ship as it involves spending
money. We had gone with the concept of trying out the cuisine of each port of
call. It was a good decision as it gave taste buds a change from the ship food.
There was nothing more to do in this small town and the kids
were not interested in hiking so we walked back to the ship and had a nice nap.
Once the ship is docked, the rules don’t allow casinos or the on board shops to
function. There was nothing much to do so I plunged myself into Jacuzzi and
then caught up with some reading. It was
the first time that I actually relaxed since leaving the Indian shores.
Juneau, the Alaskan Capital
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| The Misty Juneau |
For once it was not a sunny day. I opened the drapes in the
morning to see a picturesque town partially covered by fog. It was just a half
day halt here and we had to be back on board by 2.30 PM.
By the time we hit the road it was 11 AM. This was a bigger
town so it took more time covering it on foot.
The shore excursions had some very tempting excursions on offer.
Mendenhall Glacier is the most famous here and right next to the town - around 15 km's away.
a)
The Mendenhall Glacier view point is accessible
by bus and most people go to the view point by the glacier express bus and watch the Glacier form a distance.But if you want to go on the Glacier, that involved a different
programme. You could pay a handsome packet and land on the Glacier with the help of helicopter. Though glacier express bus was available right outside the ship, we decided not
to go to the Glacier but spend time in town. Maybe we should have gone and seen
this glacier as well as the view point had some interesting information about the glaciers.
b)
The Whale watching trips are very popular. They
guarantee whale sighting otherwise give 50% refund. One lady on our ship was
very upset as she had spent $ 200 but could only see the tail of 1 whale. She
was planning to complain to the tour company through which she had booked this excursion as she got no refund. She was telling Devicka that we see better Whales from our ship. Devicka kept quiet as so far we hadn't seen any whale from the ship.
c)
The float plane over 6 Glaciers was on offer for
$ 280. It was a 40 minute flight. We decided not to go. Later we met someone
who had gone and she was very happy. She could just see 2 Glaciers and the
weather got bad. She got full refund. In her words – it didn't make a
difference that she didn't see the other 4, as all the Glaciers looked alike !
It was a good free flight.
Juneau Jewelry shops were mainly manned by people from
India. Enterprising Indians had reached there as well. They kept calling us inside the shops.We didn't even enter the jewelry shops as we did not have any money in our budget to buy jewelry. We went to a few
souvenir shops and bought some knick-knacks. We had lunch in one of the pubs famous for Salmon and sea food. Our lunch comprised of Salmon, prawns
and Alaskan Beer. We were safely back in the ship at 2.30 PM for snoozing,
attending a rock concert and losing money at casino.
Ketchikan
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| Alaska is famous for Salmon |
This was a final port of call at Alaska and it was not a
long stop. At a family meeting the previous evening Devicka and kids had
refused to do anything with float planes etc. They simply did not want to do
it. I was on my own and was determined
to do this excursion of going on float plane over the fjords. The Carnival
shore excursion desk was charging $ 274.00 for this. I got out at 8.30 AM to
look for an alternative.
The advantage of taking a shore excursion from your ship is
that it becomes their responsibility and they have to get you back on time. If
you take excursion from outside, it’s your risk. The cruise ship will not wait for you if you get late.I found a Company which would
take me on this flight which would take me over the fjords and Glaciers and
land somewhere in water in wilderness. The price was negotiated at $ 199.00 and
it became easy as a family of 4 from Singapore were also booking the same
flight. The plane has a capacity of Pilot and 6 passengers.We walked to the famous creek market (entire market is built on a
creek) and boarded a minivan to the place from where our pilot Danny took us on
a float plane soaring over the fjords for the most spectacular views one could
ever see. The trip was called ‘Misty
Fjords floatplane ride.’
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| The creek market is a must visit while in Ketchikan |
It is an experience sitting in this tiny float plane. I sat
next to the pilot and had the entire frontal view. It was very noisy but the
sound controlling headphones helped a bit as we took off. It was fascinating
that from afar what look like dense forest covered mountains have so much
character in them and one could see lakes, waterfalls and even the frozen lakes.
Soon, you are totally immersed in looking at the beauty, the like of which you
have never seen before.There were no big Glaciers this side but as the plane
maneuvered between the mountains and crossed a pass, the place would open up
and you could see miles and miles of river or a lake. It was on one such river that we
landed. As we got off in the middle of nowhere, Danny asked us to breathe the
freshest air in the world! For the next 10 minutes I was filling my lungs with this pure air.
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| With pilot Danny in middle of nowhere |
We were lucky as we could clearly see a grizzly bear running
off from the edge of the water hearing the sound of plane. We were in the air at that time.Danny informed us that this was the bear area and
there were thousands inside the forests. The plane would come very close to the snow
covered mountain, drop down, and find some passage between these White
Mountains. More than once our heartbeats stopped. No one would be able to find
the remains if there was a crash.I was also worried about the contingency of not reaching the cruise ship on time. We flew over our cruise ship and landed back in the sea in Ketchikan safely, 90 minutes after we had
taken off.
When you see much natural beauty and experience this kind of
a flight between mountains and close to what nature has to offer, the moment
exhilarates you as well as numbs you.
I was certainly overwhelmed by this experience !
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