Goodbye USA, Hello Canada

Day 59  Monday 30^th May 2011 (Memorial Day)

As we checked out of the hotel we could see the sea of small American flags decorating the graves in the Washington Memorial Park opposite the hotel. The trudge to the airport was made more difficult by the weight of the bags strung around our necks but we were fortunate because the weather had held and it was not raining.

We were early for the “Quick Shuttle” bus to Vancouver so we perched ourselves in a spot that would ensure comfortable people watching but passenger traffic in the airport was slow and not much went on before our coach appeared. We were fortunate enough to be on the overspill bus for that day and we had plenty of room and the wifi was working at a good speed (better than the hotel in fact !)

The trip to Vancouver Airport (which sits in the Richmond area) was uneventful save a good view of Seattle from the Interstate as we approached downtown.

View from the bus (Space needle far left)

The Canadian border crossing went smoothly as passenger details are forwarded to border control in advance and unless you have been a naughty boy/girl then entry should be straightforward.  We reached Richmond not long after  and the bus driver dropped us off a stop early at the casino telling us that the Skytrain station opposite would be better for our hotel than going all the way into the airport. He wasn’t wrong and after a quick trip inside the casino to use their ATM to get some Canadian dollars we were on the Skytrain bound for the Richmond Center shopping mall which is just around the corner from our hotel on Westminster Highway.

We checked in, dumped our bags in the room and then went for a recce of the area. It was buzzing. The district is heavily populated by Chinese and many signs are in Chinese. We spent ages searching the streets for a liquor store and eventually found one about a half mile or so from the hotel but on the way back with our arms aching after carrying bottles we found two more liquor stores almost opposite the hotel entrance – Doh !