3 weeks in Canada (Quebec and Ontario)

A summary of our trip to Canada:

- 21 days

- 2 provinces: Quebec and Ontario,

- 3800km driven
- one tent pole broken
- one camera dropped, mirror shifted and repaired
- very relaxed 3 weeks (with several minor exceptions, e.g. for the two bullets above)
and.....
- one baby girl conceived (we only found out later of course, once we were back home)!!! :D

Day 1-2: Quebec City
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Day 3: Quebec City - Mont-Trembalnt National Park, (320km)
Day 4: Mont-Trembalnt National Park

Day 5: Mont-Trembalnt National Park - Gananoque, Ontario (390km)

Day 5: Cruise on Thousand Islands

Day 6: Gananoque - Kingston, Sand Banks - Barcovan Beach (220km)

Day 7: Barcovan Beach - Toronto (170km)

Day 8: Toronto

Day 9: Toronto - Niagara Falls - Sauble Beach (430km)

Day 10: around Bruce Peninsula

Day 11: Sauble Beach - Bainsville (666km)

Day 12: Bainsville - Montreal (90km)
Day 13: Montreal

Day 14: Montreal - Montmorency Falls - La Malbaie (400km)

Day 15: La Malbaie - Tadoussac (70km)

Day 16: Tadoussac - Desbiens (200km)

Day 17: Lac Saint-Jean

Day 18: Desbiens - Jacques-Cartier National Park (160km)

Day 19: Jacques-Cartier National Park

Day 20: Jacques-Cartier National Park - Quebec City (40km)

Day 21: Quebec City

Day 22: Return home


The original trip plan was different, with much shorter driving, but we needed to adjust our schedule to different conditions. First of all - the weather. When we arrived at the Bruce Peninsula the forecast was not too promising:10 days of constant rain. We gave it a try and indeed it was not lying.... And... on that day I dropped our camera (the only one on that trip)... Therefore we decided to drive first to Montreal, where we could find a camera repair shop and than further to the East part of Quebec. In the end the camera was fixed in two days, we enjoyed that time in Montreal a lot and the East of Quebec was sunny :-)
A highlight of the second part of the trip was river kayaking in Jacques-Cartier National Park. At first it was pretty scary as dr TBBE is not a good swimmer and we did not have any prior experience with kayaking... It was an adventure at times, but we both loved it! Because campings in national parks in Canada are very much occupied and we did not (want to) book in advance, we stayed in a nearby place that happened to be the best or the second best camping in that trip. Aventures Nord-Bec   is not only a camping with great spots and good facilities, but the owner and his employees are very warm and helpful people. We also visited their kennel with 100 husky dogs - highly recommended if you like dogs!

Liege

A couple of photos from our half a day trip to Liege:

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Hallerbos and Villers La Ville

We had a great day out in Hallerbos and Villers la Ville. The Hallerbos was full of blooming hyacinths and the walk was very relaxing and beautiful:  

And the Abbey in Villers La Ville was just amazing. Definitely something to recommend: 

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Chiang Mai

The night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, via Ayuttaya, is an excellent mean of transport: relatively fast, cheap and comfy. And the beds are pretty large too :-) 

Just make sure that you buy your train ticket on time... We went to the train station in Ayuttaya on the day before the planned departure just to find out that there were no tickets left for the sleeping couches. We were pretty surprised because it was just middle of the week with no major holidays around. Another visit at the station early in the morning next day was more successful - we got two tickets but not next to each other, which in the sleeping compartments makes things much easier. The station clerk must have seen our disappointment because he promised to change our seats to neighboring ones, if possible, later on during the day. And he did :) the trip was very comfy (train no 1, 2nd class sleeping seat) and we arrived to Chiang Mai only 15 minutes late.

We stayed at the Julie's Guesthouse, which was nice, clean and cheap (300BTH for a double room with a fan and ensuite bathroom). I guess we were lucky to get a room there without booking, they were full for the next days.
After renting bicycles we made a tour around the old town and subscribed for an evening cooking course at Asia Scenic.  Our teacher was India and she made the classes not only useful but pleasuring and funny.A very much recommended experience :) we cooked 4 dishes and visited a nearby market to get a short lecture about spices used in Thailand. 

Our first visit to the Night bazaar was very interesting, as it was our first experience with such a huge night market in Thailand (and maybe in general). We did not buy too much, but wandering between the colorful booths was entertaining. 

Next day we decided to see what is there to see outside of the old town. Bicycles came handy again. We took a very informative and relaxing boat tour. It was pretty expensive (400BTH for 1.5h) but sightseeing from a boat gives another insight into the city. 

Our challenge on that day was also to do our first laundry in Thailand. We looked for regular washing machines "for rent" that would be fast and straight forward to use but found nothing like that. In the end we used the regular laundry service (can be found on every corner) and decided to pay extra for an express laundry service (ready in 4-6hours) instead of the regular service (ready next day). While cycling around the town we found the Saturday's market that was much nicer than the Night Bazaar and full of local people as well. If you have a chance to go there - do it :-)

The attraction for the evening - Thai boxing at Thapae Boxing Stadium - was the weakest point of the day and not worth the money (800BTH) in my opinion. But I am not into these sort of sports anyway...

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