Banff Vacation and India on the Horizon

It's been a long six years since we made the decision to move to Vancouver, and although the transition has involved some stressful times, lots of hard work, and hundreds of hours of planning, Radha and I are finally enjoying our new home. With all this effort finally coming to fruition, we decided that we deserved a vacation. It had been seven years since we took any personal time off, so after receiving an invitation to attend a wedding in Banff, we made the plans for a nine-day road trip.

Banff is in Alberta, nestled in the Canadian Rockies

Josh, the middle son of our dearest friend Allan, was marrying a wonderful Indian woman whose parents have roots in the Punjab area of India. The celebration would take place over the course of three days, and since Radha and I are leading a group to India this October, we couldn't have imagined better timing.

Jacob and Sonya Hirsh

Having no knowledge of the interior of the provinces, we pulled out the maps only to discover that it was a fourteen-hour car drive from Vancouver! Banff is a popular resort town, known for its spectacular outdoor activities, and we decided to take the scenic route by adding in the Kootenay Mountains as well as the desert areas near the US border.

On July 13th we packed up our Prius and headed east. After an evening in Kelowna, we reached the base of Mount Robson where we stayed at a cozy B&B named the Mountain Lodge. From the balcony of our second floor room we stared out at the second highest peak in the Canadian Rockies:

Mt. Robson, 3954 meters (12,972 feet)

The sound of the stream below our room was deafening, and later that day we took a hike through the forest until we heard the sounds of rapids ahead, which are fed by melting glaciers at higher elevations. Following the mountain stream, we were led through a pine groove covered in mist caused by the water pounding and splashing against the rocks in front of us. We both looked around the forest realizing that, although there was no person or animal in sight, we were not alone. This magical spot gave us the sensation and feeling that something invisible was present:

Radha in a Magical Forest Grove

Over the course of our sixteen trips to India we have come to know this feeling well, from the temples to the sacred rivers the towering Himalayas. The tingling feelings of being in the presence of something that was beyond the physical realm, and we sat down to meditate and savor the connection to what we knew were the spirits of the forest. With the cool mist wafting through the trees we saw the rapids directly in front of us – this was our introduction to the unspeakable power of the Canadian Rockies:

rapids near our lodge

We were captivated by the sight, the sounds, the smells, and the unseen communication with the subtle world present all around us. The coolness caressed our faces as we stood motionless, allowing the vibration of the water and the forest to sooth and heal our travel-wearied bodies. Eventually we walked back into the woods and noticed animal tracks leading along the water’s edge. Barely visible through the moss, we followed the tracks back to our lodge.

The next day we drove through Jasper into Banff National Park and were literally overwhelmed by the enormousness of the mountains. There was so much to take in, and the only thing I could compare it to was what a hard drive must feel when it reaches its storage capacity. With so many pixels of beauty surrounding us, we felt like we were downloading more than we could handle and decided to stop once more. Much like the day before, we closed our eyes in order to allow the spectacular scenery to be processed by our brains and mind. The most noticeable experience was how small and insignificant we were in comparison to all the greatness around us.

Continuing onward, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Fairmont Hotel at Lake Louise:

Lake Louise

We reached Banff late that afternoon and enjoyed our first home cooked meal in three days. Then, the wedding celebrations began:

For the next three days we experienced a perfect melding of Jewish and Indian traditions:

There was dancing, singing, chanting, purification ceremonies, eating, and more dancing. And, needless to say, Bollywood was alive and well at this party!

It was a gorgeous ceremony surrounded by the mountains, and a fabulous opportunity to spend time with our dear friend Allan and his partner Joan. Radha and I were thankful to be there.

On the ride back through the desert area of Osoyoos we spent an evening enjoying the farmlands that produce much of the food we consume in Vancouver:

Osoyoos, an irrigated desert

In order to provide land for the returning soldiers from the Second World War, the Canadian government irrigated the desert and gave the land to the returning soldiers. Filling our car with fresh fruit and vegetables, we embarked upon the final leg of our road trip.

On the way home we realized that the wedding had reignited our love of India and its peoples, and that in a short while we would be returning to India for our seventeenth trip after a decade long hiatus. In a few months we will return to the birthplace of a tradition that recognizes the importance of living in harmony and cooperation with Mother Earth and all the other realms that provide us with sustenance, peace and well-being.