Had an early train to Vancouver, which proved more eventful than we might have liked at 7.40 in the morning. An inept Amtrak employee named Jessica nearly got in the way of us and Canada (she just couldn’t work the ticket printing machine), but my charming of the train conductors and CB’s cool head in a crisis enabled us to jump on the train sans tickets, only delaying its departure time by a few minutes.
Once in Vancouver, I was relieved to discover that at our absurdly cheap $9/night accommodation (booked by CB as a way of negating the expense of our Seattle sponger) was not just a cardboard box hastily erected over some sleeping bags, but a real, bona-fide, fully-bricked building. Stepping into the massive, creaky house, we soon realised that the man in charge had the faintest whiff of body odour about him. (I had the distinct sense that this odour would only ferment as the hours went on).
Handwritten notes adorned the walls, such as: THERE ARE FRIENDLY PEOPLE IN THIS HOSTEL. DO NOT HAVE SEXX IN THE ROOMS. HAVE SEXX IN THE SEXX ROOM (…the ‘Sexx Room’ being where I inadvertently showered the next day). Non-plussed, we went upstairs to our dorm, where we discovered stained sheets and pillows, and a sharp metal edge that had the potential to gash thigh on CB’s bed frame. Continue reading
Little tales from life... 
