First few stops on the train - Longlac & Winnipeg

Canada is a big place. Crossing it by train is really highlighting just how enormous this place is compared to other countries we have been through. Unlike Australia, there is a lot of inland space in Canada that can be inhabited. No deserts so far.

Since we last checked in on this blog, we got on a train and travelled 20 hours northwest of Toronto to the tiny town of Longlac (about 1500 population) and after 3 days there we went another 20 hours west and ended up in the small city of Winnipeg.

Longlac was lovely. The people were all very friendly, and happy to talk to us about the history of the town, and hear about why we had chosen to stop over in their little town. We explained that we just enjoyed the clean, untouched beauty of tucked away places like Longlac, which haven't been invaded by too much tourism yet. We got talking to a lady down by the local lake, who explained that until 20 years ago all the logs felled by the local logging industry were dumped in the lake, trussed together into massive rafts, and towed 90 miles down to the other end of the lake where the lumber mill was located. The practice caused a lot of pollution in the lake, so these days trucks are used to transport the wood.

We also happened to meet Mario, the local pizza shop owner, who kindly offered to show us around the town the following day. We took him up on the offer, and he showed us the local Native Reservations, where the natives are provided with government funded accommodation and other facilities. He also showed us a few of the local sites, like the old church which looked like it was about to cave in, and the local boat ramps which were quite busy at the time because of the nice weather bringing out all the fishing enthusiasts. Mario mentioned that the best things about the area were the hunting and fishing. He later introduced us to his friend who told us that moose and deer were the usual suspects that locals would hunt for.

Longlac turned out to be a lot of fun, thanks to the friendliness of the locals and the natural beauty of the whole area. Well worth the stopover. Next we made our way to Winnipeg.

What a contrast. Winnipeg is not a large city by any means. There wouldn't be more than 15 buildings over 20 storeys in the whole city. The CBD area occupies about 10 blocks, and beyond that are single and double storey concrete structures that go on for a few miles in every direction. The town felt old, outdated and worn out. The most interesting things about the architecture were the vintage advertisements painted onto whole sides of buildings.

The people were not unfriendly, but everyone walked around looking down at their own feet, like in most cities, and everyone minded their own business. No chit chat to be found in Winnipeg.

The main place to see in town was the downtown (CBD) district, which was also quite slow and dirty, and small enough to cover in 30 minutes. Past that, the main thing to enjoy in Winnipeg was the local burger culture. As I mentioned in a recent Travel Bites article, Winnipeg is famous for the Fatboy Burger, and there was no shortage of run down little drive in places churning out burgers the size of three Whoppers stacked on top of each other. Over our three days in 'The Peg', we tried 3 different places and are now firm fans of the fatboy.

But now we are back on the train, headed for another little town called Watrous. Apparently there is a lake there which is more buoyant than the Dead Sea. That should be worth a swim and a pic.

Until next time!

//Brendan