Recovered from our long coach journey by having a lye in today. Got up around 09:00 to find that my feet and ankles were still swollen from the long arse coach ride and that I still ached.

We extended our stay here at the Hi Banff Alpine hostel for two more nights, after going to the Castle Mountain Wilderness hostel for three nights as we feel there is alot to see here in Banff. While we booked up another two nights we enquired how to get to Castle Mountain from Banff Alpine. The guy at the desk told us that because it was a Wilderness hostel, there was no public transport provided for that area and that it would be extremely difficult to get there without our own transportation. He suggested for us to hitch hike, as if we wanted to walk there (baring in mind we would have our luggage) it would take us around six to seven hours to walk there!!!

We were both really shocked as to how remote the hostel that we booked was! Amy asked if I was prepared to rent a car and drive there, but I personally felt that that would be too much hassle than it was actually worth, as I wasn't prepared to drive in a foreign country on the wrong side of the road - I wouldn't have been confident at all! Plus Amy has only been driving for a couple of months, so she wouldn't have been able to share the drive.

After talking about it, we decided to cancel Castle Mountain and book up again with Banff Alpine. Luckily, the guys behind the desk were really helpful! We've had to change rooms however, but atleast we have a roof over our heads!

After the headache of the hostel sitaution, we eventually headed into Banff Town by bus (free of charge compliments of the hostel), which I was itching to see!

The sun was shining and we had yet another beautiful day!

We had a quick stroll down the road then stumbled across Bow river, so we walked along the river bank. The views were exactly what I had been expecting of Canada, if not more stunning to see it with my own eyes. We then came across a rail way line and saw a freight train! I was so excited to see this....Was like a little kid jumping up and down! We were amazed at just how many carriages it was towing! I wished I had counted them, as the train went by for atleast three to four minutes! It was ridiculously long! Next time I'm going to count!

On our way back we then see wild elk, which was amazing to see them in their natural habitat!

We then headed towards Bow Falls where we were able to walk along the river bank and on to the cliff tops to view the falls. Also in the distance we could see the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel up in the forrest, where we hope to see more closely, as the architecture looks amazing!

Banff town itself is very original and such a contrast to Whistler, but both beautiful in their own rights. Banff is much more of an older style but has some extremely unique buildings.

Everywhere we've been so far has been noticebly clean - I mean that the streets look brand new - not a single piece of rubbish or chewing gum on the paths! It's so refreshing to see!

I was also taken back with; while waiting to catch a bus at the bus stop, a young girl around our age stopped and offered us and a few others at the stop a lift into town! At first I found this really odd as I'm not accustomed to this back home, but then it just bought a smile to my face as most people here are so much more friendlier and so much more approachable! I think I could get used to Canada's ways of living!