http://www.gloria305travels.com/google68e958dd14763a9e.html .

 

 

If you are dreaming to visit Alaska, don’t hesitate and do it now. You’ll never forget such trip and the experiences acquired on this trip. My husband and I went last year and we chose the southbound route from Anchorage to Vancouver. The voyage was fantastic and we only wish to do it all over again in order to visit those places that we missed on our first trip. We went aboard the Carnival Spirit.    This ship has 1062 cabins and capacity of 2124 passengers and a crew of 930. The ship is rated at 88,500 tons and is register in Panama. The captain is Italian and this year (2009) will depart on July 1st, 15th, 29th and Aug. 12th, 26th.  If you can get a balcony, it is worth it for this trip. Seldom we do that, but Alaska deserves this upgrade. We flew to Anchorage and then Carnival drove us to the port of Whittier. To get to the port we went through the Anton Anderson tunnel which is the longest in North America. We started to see glaciers from the bus on our way to the port, so have your camera ready since there are a lot of opportunities to take good pictures alone this trip.

Once we sailed we went in route to Prince William Sound and College Fjord, then it enters Blackstone Bay and stop for a while to view all the glaciers, which are named after different colleges such as Harvard, etc. and then it turned slowly 180 degrees to exit. The beauty of the College Fjord is indescribable, there are blue ice floating everywhere and it is like seeing giant art sculptures in front of your eyes. A heavy coat is recommended since this is the coldest part of the trip and is usually very windy.

The temperature there was in the low 40 F and this was the beginning of August which is the hottest time there. College Fjord glacier photos:

College Fjord

 

College Fjord Glacier

Next stop was SITKA, which is the fourth biggest city in Alaska with a population of 8,835. It was habited by Russians and is only accessible by plane or ship. There is an old Russian church that is now call St. Michael’s Cathedral.

Sitka

We saw a show at the local theater, went to Sitka National Historical Park, where we saw an eagle and saw theTotem poles. The Totem poles were made to tell the stories of their families, ancestors, and sometime politicians, etc.

Our next stop was the Capital of Alaska, JUNEAU, surrounded by the beautiful Gastineau Channel. When Joe Juneau y Richard Harris found gold in 1880, Alaska’s capital encounter a rush of American settling there. At that time up to 20,000 tons of gold were process. Not until 1944, when the gold dropped in price, that the gold mines were abandon.

Thirteen (13) miles from the center of Juneau, you can found the Mendenhall glacier, which is the beginning of Glacier Bay National Park & Tracy Arm Fjord. The tour to Mendenhall glacier is a must. A photo of this glacier is attached.

Mendenhall glacier in Juneau

Mendenhall Glacier en Juneau

We departed Juneau via the Cruise Lynn Canal to Skagway. From 1897-98 Skagway had a population of more than 20,000 people due to the gold rush of that era, but when the mines were abandon the people left town. The town is now small, but it preserves the wooden sidewalks and the building from the gold rush era. Most of these building are now souvenir stores for tourists.

We went to downtown looking for bargains, but returned soon in order to grab our train tour to White Pass in Yucon territory, Canada. The roundtrip took 4 hours and they explained the history of the train construction in 1898 during the “Klondike Gold Rush” and the stampede of new settlers from the mainland to Alaska and Canada. We were very pleased with this tour, and again, a jacket is recommended since the weather and the wind changes quickly in this part of the country. For more information see www.skagway.com.

White Pass

 

Skagway tren

KETCHIKAN is the most southern city in Alaska and is known as the Salmon capital. It’s a colorful small town and conserve many of the original building of the gold rush era. Creek street is one of the most famous part of town and it is within walking distance of the port. There you can walk through the old town and take a funicular to a town museum and also to some totem poles.

Ballena en Ketchikan

 

Funicular en Ketchikan

We took a tour “Totem Bight State Historic Park”, where they show us how they make totem poles and also talked about the life of the natives Tlingit.

From there the ship takes the Inside Passage to Vancouver Canada.

We booked all our tours through the ship office, which are more expensive than if you do it ashore, but you are assured  that the ship won’t leave without you.  That is something you have to keep in mind when you bargain for a tour ashore.

PHOTOS by Gloria & Vily

See more pictures at http://gloria305vacaciones.com/alaskafrontera-de-las-tierras-virgenes/