Lest any of my regular readers think my traveljournal no more than a thinly-veiled vessel for rants, let me preface the following entry by saying that i really didn't expect to have anything to rant about today. little did i know...
i arrived at the Greyhound station an hour early (as was suggested on the form i got when i booked the tickets), collected said ticket, then waited at the coffee bar (they seem to be everywhere, don't they?)until 6:20, when boarding was to start. standing in line for the bus, in the cold, at 6:30, i was startled to see the bus pull away from the platform completely empty.
30. minutes. later. the bus reappeared. and sat there for a further ten minutes before anything happened. the annoying thing about this was that while i was waiting in the cold for the bus, i was forced to experience the personalities of my fellow passengers. between the two increadibly noisy Quebecoirs and the three moronic canadian homeboys (just a tip: if you are not from L.A, don't pretend that you are. it makes you seem to be a dickhead) i was in a somewhat disgruntled mood when the bus finally pulled away. i had chosen an overnighter bus in the hope that i would be able to get some sleep on the way. good luck. between the "can't-get-comfortable-in-any-way-at-all" and the noise from the Toronto Posse at the rear of the bus, i was lucky to doze off for more than five minutes at a time. i was able to sleep more on the plane ride over to Vancouver than on the coach FROM vancouver. something's wrong there.
the scenery (what i could see of it- night time, remember) was a small consolation. i had come to canada in the hope of seeing forests of tall trees and snow-covered mountains. i saw the forests in vancouver and now i've seen the snow-covered mountains on the road to Calgary. cool, but it in NO way makes up for the sheer levels of Suck on the bus trip.
15 hours after boarding the bus we arrived in Calgary. fourty minutes later than schedule. upon leaving the bus, i discovered that the caring souls at Greyhound had arranged a final little treat, a reminder if you will, to commemorate my trip. it seems that during one of the innumerable stops in backwater towns, the Pack had been taken off the bus to allow the other packs to be pointlessly shuffled around, and had been carefully placed in a pool of slush. thus, when i reached down to shoulder the Pack at Calgary depot, my hand met with the filthy grey water the bottom of my Pack was now soaked with. just what i needed standing sleep deprived and annoyed at a bus terminal.
i deemed it safer to take a taxi to my hostel considering the state of my temper at this point. arriving there, i checked in, took a shower, had a shave and fell asleep for six bours. the best part of the day, to be honest, particularly once i awoke and had a very decent burger for dinner.
here's hoping tomorrow will go a little better, as i venture out to explore Calgary. still, as i've said before in reference to an airling flight, it wouldn't be hard to improve on today.
don't worry, i'm not really as down in terms of mood as this entry suggests, i just needed to vent a little.
stay tuned.
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