Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver

Our One-Day Tour of Vancouver with a local tour company on 16 August 2017 covered two major attractions - The Stanley Park and The Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Capilano Suspension Bridge is just 8.5Km from Vancouver City Centre. Not surprisingly, it attracts close to a million visitors annually.

Our tour guide who didn't join us for the park visit (because of entrance fee and his frequent stops at this attraction) kept reminding us not to miss three of the attractions - the Suspension Bridge, Treetops Adventures and the Cliff walk. We did all of them.

Crowd that day was huge but not excessive. Occasionally, we had to slow down to wait for older folks who moved at slower pace and families with young children. 

The experience of crossing the Suspension Bridge has some similarities to our visit to Poring Hot Spring, Ranau. But crossing Capilano Suspension Bridge is by far more adrenaline provoking because it is 140m long and suspended 70m above the river below.

We did the Treetops Adventures immediately after crossing the suspension bridge. This attraction consists of seven footbridges suspended between old Douglas Fir Trees forming a continuous walkway erected 30m above the forest floor. This is mild compared to our Poring Hot Spring Treetop Walk.

Our last station was the Cliff Walk. I was quite fascinated by the anchoring system used to suspend the boardwalk next to the shear cliff.  As far as the walk, my only "complaint" is that the walk was rather short! A much longer boardwalk would have provided a more thrilling experience!

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Hunting Birds at the Raptor Corner.

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Cliff Walk

Anchoring system to suspend the boardwalk.

Trees commonly found in this area.

Ski Mountains, Vancouver

During winter, many ski enthusiasts come to ski and snowboard in many of the skiing sites in Canada. At the time we were in Canada which was early Autumn, skiing season has yet to start. Still, that did not deter us from visiting some of these ski mountains and resorts around Vancouver.

The Lo family took us to a few skiing sites so that we could see first hand what these ski mountains are like. In Mt Seymour, the gondolas were totally shut down but hikers could still come to trek the mountain and enjoy some of the spectacular views.

Seymour Mountain

Mt Seymour.

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Cypress Mountain
Cypress Mountain was all quiet when we dropped by to have a look. Still we saw a few cyclists who love the challenge of cycling in hilly terrain.

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Grouse Mountain

Grouse Mountain is popular all year round because there are quite a variety of things to see and do. The mountain is also a wild life refuge. 

We took the skyride from the Valley Station to the Alphine Station next to the Peak Chalet. Along the 8-minute ride, our gondola moved slowly upward and dangled above the vast track of pristine wilderness on the mountainside. At the far end of the horizon, we saw the Pacific Ocean, inlets and bays and the man-made dam. Spectacular view indeed!

Bird show.

Grizzly Bear.

Paragliding starts from Grouse Mountain Peak and 
descending 3,300 ft and eventually lands at Cleverland Park..

Driving to Rockies in Canada

Whenever I met friends who came back from Vancouver or Toronto, the usual question posed to me was: "When are you coming to Canada?". My usual quick response would be: "Soon!". But over time, they were less enthusiastic about asking but instead added: "We won't be asking because we know the answer!".

That prompted me to seriously consider planning for a one-time grand tour of Canada. I would do a tour that would silence and appease all the doubters!

A 4-week tour was planned and we finally landed at YVR, short for Vancouver International Airport at 10.45am local time on 14 August 2017. That was also our first time flying in China Southern Airlines. Besides its much lower fare, the flight's only transit point was attractive to me because I dislike multiple stops along the way. The flight from KK to Vancouver has just one stop in Guangzhou. Its only drawbacks are the wee hours departure time of 3.30am in KK and a transit of 7 hours in Guangzhou.

After spending a week in Vancouver, we picked up our rented car from YVR and started our driving tour to the Rockies - our primary place of interest.

Since that was my first experience in driving a left-hand drive vehicle, I took extra care to avoid any mishap especially in the initial period of driving. In fact, I had been warned earlier that it may take a bit of practice to get use to driving on the right side of the road rather than the left side which I am used to all my life. In the end, I did well and the car was returned in one piece without any bump or scratch!

From Vancouver to Edmonton, we had overnight stops at Hope, Kamloops, Rivelstoke, Banff, Jasper and finally in Edmonton.

Route through the Rockies from Vancouver to Edmonton.

After Coffee Break on the way from 
Vancouver to Hope.

Coffee Break near Rogers Pass to Lake Louise.

We returned the rented car at Edmonton Airport and took a direct flight thereafter to Toronto by Air Canada.

In Toronto, we didn't rent a car but instead moved around in the city by using public transport - the subway and the public bus.

We also joined two pre-booked tours in Toronto - a One-Day Tour to the Niagara Falls and another 3-Day Tour to Montreal, Quebec, Thousand Islands and Ottawa.

3-Day Tour to Montreal, Quebec and Ottawa from Toronto.

P/S We did learn a lesson about booking air travel with multiple stops. We had to pay CAN$25 (RM87) for each luggage from Edmonton to Toronto by Air Canada simply because we booked the flight KK-Canada and return sector separately from the Edmonton-Toronto sector. Had we booked the whole flight in one single booking through "Google Flight" website under the multiple stops, we would have enjoyed free 2x30Kg luggage for each passenger throughout!

A Glimpse of Genghis Khan

One cannot speak of Mongolia without mentioning Genghis Khan - the two are virtually synonymous. The vast Mongolian grasslands, now iconic in both history and imagination, owe much of their global prominence to the legacy of this formidable figure.

Today, Genghis Khan is revered by many Mongolians as the greatest leader in their history. For some, his legacy transcends leadership - they regard him with near-divine reverence. Statues, monuments, and even airports bear his name, reflecting the deep national pride associated with his accomplishments.

However, not everyone shares this admiration. Critics argue that his rise to power - and the creation of the largest contiguous empire in history - was built on a foundation of relentless conquest, widespread brutality, and acts of genocide. For them, his legacy is a complicated one, marked by both strategic brilliance and devastating violence.

Genghis Khan remains a towering figure in world history, and how one views him often depends on which lens - cultural, historical, or moral - is used.

 

Statue of Genghis Khan and his lieutenants on horse back at Genghis Khan Square, Hailar, Hulun Buir, Inner Mongolia.

A museum has a display of Genghis Khan with his four wives.

Saint Sophia Cathedral, Harbin

One of the most frustrating aspects of traveling with group tours is the rigid, pre-planned itinerary that leaves little room for spontaneity or change. Even worse, some stops are allocated such absurdly short durations that you barely have time to do anything - sometimes just enough for a quick toilet break.

A prime example of this was our stop at the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin. We were given a mere 10 minutes. What can one realistically do in 10 minutes? At best, snap a few photos from a distance. There was certainly no chance to step inside, let alone take a leisurely stroll to appreciate the cathedral's stunning interior and architecture. It felt more like a box-ticking exercise than a meaningful visit.

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St. Sophia Cathedral was originally built in 1907 to serve the many Russians who had settled in the region following the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. The original structure was made of timber. Between late 1923 and late 1932, the cathedral underwent significant expansion and renovation. The result was an architectural masterpiece - widely hailed as a monumental work of art and recognized as the largest Orthodox Church in the Far East.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, treaties between the Communist Chinese government and the Soviet Union facilitated the transfer of all Russian Orthodox churches to Chinese control. The Chinese government subsequently ended all Christian missionary activity, and St. Sophia Cathedral was closed during two major political movements: the Great Leap Forward (1956–1961) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).

Remarkably, the cathedral's solid structure withstood the ideological and physical destruction of the Cultural Revolution. During this period, it was repurposed as a warehouse for a state-run department store. Its windows were bricked up, and tall concrete walls were erected on all four sides, rendering the once-iconic cathedral both inaccessible and invisible from the street. Over the years, additional buildings - an auto shop, a pen factory, and residential apartments - further obscured it from public view.

The cathedral's fortunes began to change in 1996, when the Chinese central government designated it a national cultural heritage site as part of a broader campaign to protect historical landmarks. In response, local businesses, enterprises, and individuals from the surrounding area collectively donated US$1.5 million to fund its restoration. All surrounding structures that obstructed the cathedral were demolished, and in 1997, St. Sophia's magnificent façade was fully restored.

Today, the cathedral no longer functions as a place of worship. Instead, it has been repurposed as the Harbin Municipal Architecture and Art Museum - a tribute to the city's multicultural history and Russian influence.

As I stood before this once-sacred site, a thought struck me: could China truly evolve as a nation if places like St. Sophia Cathedral were once again allowed to fulfill their original spiritual purpose?

Ice Carvings in Harbin

The biggest attraction in Harbin is undoubtedly the International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival, held annually during the winter months. However, for those visiting in non-winter seasons, there's still a chance to experience the magic of ice and snow at the massive Indoor Ice & Snow Paradise, which officially opened on 30 June 2016.

Visitors are provided with warm clothing upon entry into this enormous “giant freezer,” but for someone like me who isn’t accustomed to cold climates, the experience was far from comfortable. What made it even worse was the lack of gloves - our hands quickly turned numb in the freezing temperatures. Despite the dazzling sculptures and icy wonderland around us, we had to leave after just over 20 minutes!