Arrived at Vancouver late Friday (9/3) night. Could not get my luggage until 9/4. Eventually I had to pick it up at the airport. I have never had my luggage delayed before.

Stayed in a downtown hostel. A nice place, but parking place was a bit difficult to find.

The neighborhood is quite pretty. Compared with downtown San Francisco, this is much better, especially with fewer homeless people. Went to downtown Vancouver's Metrotown Mall bought audible book 'Business @ the speed of thought' by Bill Gates. As the drive to Banff will be a long one, I need some reading material while driving.

On the way to Banff, picked up a hitchhiker, Paul, engineering student from Northern Ireland. He worked in a Quebec Irish bar before started his two-month journey to the west. He too was heading to Banff. Paul got off in Kamloops while I drove on. It was getting dark and I was getting tired. At the end of the day I had a nice shower and a good sleep in a Salmon Arm motel. I was disappointed to find that I could not connect to the Internet from my room. The Swiss motel owner came here five years ago as a tourist. He has a Swiss flag flying side by side with Canadian flag on his property.

next day (9/5)