The last three days were three stops in Alaska.
First we visited Ketchikan. We saw the rainforest – it rains about 160�/year there. True to its reputation, it was raining. The forest was a great experience, but I must say that the one that I visited in Puerto Rico was definitely more dense and had more interesting character to it. We did not see much wild life – we did get to see several eagles there.
The next stop was Juneau. We took a helicopter ride to the glaciers and walked around on a glacier. This trip was definitely one of the more interesting experiences in life. This glacier and surrounding ones did look like a river of ice. The glaciers that I saw in Switzerland were more like snow everywhere. Not having a snow covering enhances the nature of glaciers.
Today (July 7th) we are at Skagway. We took the train and saw the trails that were taken by people in 19th century for gold. Two interesting thoughts come to mind while listening to those stories. First how much effort people put in for making money. The risk that was taken and the amount of effort that was put in is mind boggling. I guess even today the same thing continues – the difference is that due to the better technology the risks taken are of different kind. The second thought is also true even today. During gold rush, people who made more money with less effort were the people who provided infra structure. People who sold shovels and other things to gold rushers were more successful than the gold rushers! This seems to be a common trend. One should learn from this.
The most interesting sight-seeing experience of the cruise was the voyage to Tracy Arms. This internal passage takes you through an area where we see many ice floes. This is the picture that I had in my mind of Alaska. And this was definitely very interesting experience to be sailing through so many ice floes. Other things are not the unique picture of Alaska that I had in my mind.
The cruise itself is very enjoyable experience. Lots of food and lots of activities to keep you busy. And if you want to do nothing – that is also a good option.