#47 Okusalawo okutuufu

Before I finish the last sentence from the last blog, here's a little info blog.

1. I'm sorry this post is coming so late, I haven't been in the city I'm telling you about today for a long time. I had some Wi-Fi issues, so I only have the chance to write it today.

2. For some reason, Word deleted my last 30 pages of the file, so I had to rewrite the post. Another reason for the delay.

3. Therefore, the next post will probably be online in the next few days.

4. There is also an audio version of the post this time, unfortunately it turned out to be quite long (1:37 h), if you still listen to it, you can let me know if you like this version of the blog post. 😊 But now let's really get started...

Link to the audio file: https://tinyurl.com/ympqn2fa

Hope

... Hope, that was our next destination, where Vedesh and I were supposed to spend a few days. We were a bit outside on a free (!) camping site. It was located directly on a lake surrounded by mountains. Absolutely beautiful.

After we changed our spot and finally arrived, Vedesh went to sleep, as he had been awake for almost 24 hours. He was woken up by the campground attendant, who informed us that we should put away our food, as a bear was coming towards our campsite. He must have gone into the forest earlier, as I didn't see him during my little "search walk". The attendant also told us that we were allowed to make a fire. This was the first campsite where it was allowed, as it is usually prohibited in Canada during the summer. So we cooked (or Vedesh cooked), delicious Indian food over the fire.

On the second day, we went to Hope. Hope was the filming location for the movie Rambo and was the reason why the film industry came to Canada. Otherwise, this film location is more like a small town, but it has a relatively large number of motels. We strolled through the shops together and I noticed that Vedesh wasn't really interested. :D I like to walk through the streets and go into the stores. For example, I found a bookstore where every book cost a maximum of two dollars. From a financial point of view, it was good that I had left my wallet in the car. :D However, I couldn't spend too much time there because, as I said, Vedesh wasn't so interested and mostly waited outside, and you also don't want to spend too much time in stores if someone is waiting outside.

After a short shopping trip, we went back to making a fire and cooking. That evening, I also introduced Vedesh to a Canadian thing. Marshmallow + cookies + chocolate = delicious tooth decay. Vedesh had never eaten a marshmallow before, and that evening he prepared his first marshmallow over the fire. As a final treat, we also had chocolate + banana. Also super unhealthy (but delicious :D) and thanks to the banana, it doesn't feel quite as bad. It was funny that Vedesh didn't have much experience with wildlife (for example, he saw and heard his first owl in Hope) and therefore would behave somewhat incorrectly. When we walked around the campground in the evening (it was already dark), we heard a pretty loud rustling noise from the right side. Vedesh immediately came to me, whispered, and said, "Come on, let's run back to the car."

I explained to him that we should do the exact opposite. Walk slowly and talk loudly to each other. When we arrived back at our spot, we sat by the fire for a little while. I didn't tell Vedesh that an animal had been sneaking around us the whole time, so he wouldn't get restless again. :D And besides, it didn't sound particularly big.

The third and therefore last day was quite unspectacular, as we didn't really do anything. We went for a walk in the morning, but the rest of the day we just sat in the picnic area. We had a beer in the afternoon when the owner of the campground came, who we had already talked to the day before. He said, "Guys, I don't understand you. You have such a beautiful campground here with such a beautiful area, and you're sitting here getting drunk." Since we were sharing a beer, we realized that we definitely weren't getting drunk. :D Then he told us about all the hikes in the area. We could also find gold very close by. In fact, the owner of the campground had found a stone there a few years ago that he was able to sell for $30,000. When I asked Vedesh if he wanted to go hiking there, he said he was quite happy to stay at the campground, and that was a bit disappointing.

Before my road trip started, I was asked if I really wanted to travel alone, and yes, the biggest advantage of traveling together is, of course, sharing the costs, but after camping together with Vedesh, I now know that this decision was still the right one. Because constantly finding compromises, constantly asking what the other person feels like doing, and so on, was a bit exhausting, especially when we had slightly different priorities. I don't want to sound too negative, but those were some points that clearly reinforced my decision. Cooking, eating, and sitting by the fire together is, of course, amazing, and I really enjoyed it.

And so on our last evening, we sat together by the fire, treated ourselves to some sweets, and looked at the stars.

The next day it was time to separate and go our own ways. Vedesh had to go back to Vancouver because he had to work again, and I continued to...

Kamloops

It was the first time that I really didn't know if I would stay in the city. The problem was that I didn't have time for myself in Hope (and therefore in the Wi-Fi area) and couldn't really plan my next steps.

After arriving in the city, I spent some time in the park and visited the information stand there. With sufficient hiking maps, I went to my first campsite. It wasn't an official place. I drove into some random forest for about 30 minutes, only to realize that this place was a horror. There were an unbelievable number of mosquitoes, it was impossible to stay outside. On top of that, one of the car windows was slightly open, and after I closed it an hour later, it was already too late. It felt like a whole extended family of mosquitoes moved into my car.

Actually, I was hoping that I would be safe under the sleeping bag. However, the problem was that it was so incredibly hot that day, and therefore in my car, that I didn't need anything to keep me warm. Unfortunately, that would make me the perfect dinner for the mosquitoes, so I sent one mosquito after another to bug heaven until shortly after midnight. There was also a somewhat bizarre situation when around eleven o'clock, a truck suddenly arrived. I really thought I was in the middle of nowhere. It got even weirder when two quads were unloaded from the truck, and two people drove even deeper into the dark forest. I think they were hunting illegally because hunting was prohibited in that area.

The next day started just as hot, but that didn't stop me from doing a planned hike. The mountains and vegetation were completely different from a few hours further west. Despite the low height of the mountains, this hike was still a total torture because it was incredibly hot. Due to the lack of trees, there was hardly any shade, so I sweated and panted on my way. Everyone who received a voice message from me during that time knows that I felt like I needed an oxygen tent. :D Especially since I had apparently taken a wrong path and lost my orientation. The problem was that the hiking trails on my map were marked with numbers, while in the park, they were marked with names. So I ended up stomping a few extra kilometers before I finally arrived back at my car, completely exhausted.

Afterwards, I went back to the city because I wanted to attend the music in the park event, just like the previous evening. Every evening from July 1st to August 31st, different bands play for 1 ½ hours. After listening a bit to the local rock band, it was time to head to my new campsite. After all, I couldn't spend another night in the mosquito castle.

The second place was much better. Far fewer mosquitoes and a much better view. There was another young couple at this location along with me. This was actually the first time I officially stayed somewhere where it was explicitly prohibited (oops :D). This parking lot is also quite busy during the day because you can also find gold there.

Unfortunately, my camping chair broke during dinner. That was quite annoying, but I heroically managed to save my food. :D That evening, I also had a really cool encounter. Just as I finished brushing my teeth and was about to get into my car, I heard rustling behind me, and when I turned around, there was a coyote running past. It wasn't at all afraid and came incredibly close. It must have smelled my dishwashing water, as it sniffed around there as well. But I still got into my car since coyotes are normally pack animals and I preferred to do without a pack.

The last day in Kamloops was very quiet. That was because the eggs I treated myself to for breakfast weren't in such good shape anymore, and my stomach let me know about that after 30 minutes. Due to the stomachache, I decided to spend the day at the beach. There I wrote the deleted post, slept, and tried to continue reading my English book.

When I returned to my sleeping place, I waited for all the gold seekers to leave, but one car stayed there the whole time. At some point, I thought I had to ask what they were doing there. It turned out to be parents with their son who just wanted to relax a few hours outside of Kamloops. I chatted a bit with the son. He told me that he had been growing his beard for almost a year, and when I told him that I was also going to let mine grow that long soon, he suddenly became "embarrassed," because I had grown my current beard in what felt like three months. :D As the conversation was coming to an end, and I was about to go to sleep (my body was weakened due to the eggs), a car with incredibly loud music arrived. The car hadn't even parked properly when the man, who was not quite in control of his senses, got out of the car and started talking to us. Fortunately, the group quickly dispersed, and I thought that would be the end of it. Wrong thought. Not even ten seconds after I sent a voice message to my family, in which I explained to them that this couple was blasting the whole area with their loud music, the man actually knocked on my window. I didn't want to be rude, so I got out. We talked a bit in front of my car. But since the man was constantly calling out to his wife to bring him cigarettes, I suggested that we could also go to their car, and that was the biggest mistake. Because there I met his wife, who was totally into physical contact. A big hug right away, and then she always stood so close to me that it felt like there was no room for a hand between us. Even when I tried to step away discreetly, she followed me. It was incredibly uncomfortable, especially since this woman was already quite drunk, and her breath enveloped my face. The woman told me things that I didn't want to know. She explained to me that she has ten children and hardly any time for intimacy, which is why they drove out here today to have sex, and I stood there thinking, "Thanks for this information and this picture in my head." She also told me for about 15 minutes that I could shower and do my laundry at her place anytime I wanted. Eventually, I managed to break away from the group and get into my car. Since I claimed that I was going to sleep, I unfortunately couldn't wash and brush my teeth outside, but the couple said they would be leaving soon, so I wanted to sit out this time "quickly" in the car.

Eventually, they both got into their car to... unfortunately not immediately leave. I don't want to go into detail, but thanks to the woman, I was pretty sure that we wouldn't have any wild animals within a radius of 10 kilometers that night. I have never experienced something like that before. Especially since I was still sitting in my own sauna, melting away. It was around 35-40 °C in Kamloops, and my car was even hotter. As an example: When I was outside in the evening, I got goosebumps because I was so cold. But the thermometer showed 33 °C - you can imagine how hot it was in my car. Because of the loud music and other noises, I couldn't even open my window, which was protected by a mosquito net, or rather, I didn't need any additional noise.

After almost exactly 45 minutes, it was finally over, and the couple drove home again. Finally, I was able to quickly wash and go to sleep.

The next morning, I briefly chatted with the young couple (who also stayed there with me on the first evening). They had come back during the night, so of course, I had to tell them what they had missed the previous evening. :D

In Kamloops, there was a proper thunderstorm that I waited out. It cooled down to a pleasant 24 °C before it went back up to almost 40 °C. For some reason, the temperature continued to drop as I made my way to my new destination.

But more about that in a few days.

Samuel