From the Top of the World road we began the long winding descent, catching sight occasionally of the Yukon river snaking far below. We eventually reached the river itself, but not on the Dawson City side, so took a ferry across in the blazing sunshine.
We’re here till midnight, after which we do the night ride, with Sully driving (sleeping in the bus at the moment) and the rest of us, 17, sleeping like sardines on the bus. Should be fun! We’re going to Diamond Tooth Gertie’s tonight at about 8.30. Well, most of us are. She was a local Madame, ran a house of joy, I believe.
It’s now a casino and they do can-can dancing and all the other stuff you would expect from a frontier town like this. They also serve food there, and of course drink. I’m on the wagon afer seeing a pharmacist in Anchorage who recommended pain killers but warned that with my medication for other conditions, I must lay off the alcohol. So, knees come first and I’m the teetotaller on the trip. The only one. Apart from Andy, 19, who was forced on the ship and in Alaska to give up drink as it’s not allowed till 21. We’ll be a merry bunch when we board the bus at midnight!
I’m sitting in a great cafe (Pat knows which one!), ice cold Coke and access to their computers. It’s hot, hot, hot…. Going to get another cold drink as the heat is getting to me. By the way, did I mention it never gets dark here? On the ship we were disorientated by the absolute darkness of being in an inside cabin. Now we have no darkness, wake at 1.30am to light you can read by. Crazy. My sleep patterns are awry.
INTERLUDE…….
By the way, I posted a parcel home from Seward, Alaska on 20th May and one of the others who did the same has just found out that hers has reached home already. We were told it would take 41 days…! So Marilyn, if you’re reading this, I addressed it to you at No. 31 and if you’re not at home when the postman knocks, it’ll have to be picked up from the post office. Sorry! I expected to be home by the time it arrived! Victoria – can you phone or text Marilyn in case she doesn’t see this post? Ben, can you contact Victoria in case she doesn’t look either? Have I covered all bases now?! I addressed it to Marilyn as the post office in Seward had problems with me putting my name as both addressee and sender… I also gave the address of Leeza next door in case of non-delivery. Have I made it complicated enough?
BACK TO DAWSON….
Well, we’ve now left this northern city, so here’s an update:
After the TastyByte Internet Cafe (where Pat shamelessly posed for a photo with the Tasty Proprietor) we walked around the city (!) which didn’t take too long, before finding a saloon and getting cool drinks. Not a big place, Dawson, but oh so important. It sits snugly in an almost right-angled bend in the river – so plenty of frontage there for boats in times gone by. A bit of history now:
The version I like best is that Mrs Carmack, a First Nation lady, was doing her non-First Nation husband George’s washing in Rabbit Creek, later renamed Bonanza Creek, when she came across a nugget. The claim, however, was registered in George’s name and together with his friends Dawson Charlie and Skookum Jim (one of them was Mrs Carmack’s brother), they set to work getting as much gold out as they could. That was 1896, and it launched the great Klondike Gold Rush. It took a while for word to get out, and for people from all over the world to sell up and make their way to the Yukon in the hope of finding gold, but by 1898 there was a dramatic influx of people to the area, with Dawson City as its new heart.
Around 30,000 pick-and-shovel miners, prospectors, storekeepers, saloon keepers, bankers, gamblers, prostitutes and con men descended on the city to try their luck. So the city grew rapidly: theatres, hotels, brothels, bars, gambling dens – you name it, Dawson City had it all. And still does, almost. Bombay Peggy’s one-time brothel is now a pub and hotel; very tastefully restored to its original splendour. There’s a great museum and lots of hotels, bars, photo parlours, a mortuary (facade only – not enough business now), jewellers, gold shops. And a beautiful river frontage with a paddle steamer!
Everywhere you look, there are beautiful restored buildings – and a few tumbledown ones as well – and murals on walls, depicting the golden age of Klondike gold. It’s a fabulous place and still attracts tourists who don’t mind getting off the beaten track.
Diamond Tooth Gertie, so-named because she wedged a diamond between her two front teeth to make her stand out from the other Ladies of the Night, came here to make her fortune, and did. The building now houses a casino with can-can dancers who put on three shows each evening. We watched two of them but missed the third – the most risque apparently – because by that time we were aboard the bus for the overnight run to Whitehorse.
A couple of the guys had headed to the Jack London bar to test the famed Sour Toe Cocktail. Absolutely gross. It purports to be the toe of a miner which dropped off due to gangrene after severe frostbite. You place it in a glass topped up with rum and drink it. Apparently as it hits your lips it has the consistency of an olive; I’ve seen the photos and it looks horrendous, black with a manky, ragged, yellowed old nail. It may not be the original as the story goes someone swallowed that. So where did they get a second gangrenous, frostbitten old toe??
The bus ride from Dawson City to Whitehorse was interesting: 17 of us spread out on the cushion slabs which covered the bus from side to side, and with some people in overhead bunks usually filled with our bags. It was actually very comfortable and you soon get used to the roll of the bus. I was just behind Sully, our driver, and tended to drift off to sleep and wake when his music changed or when he made a comment. So that’s how I was the only one to see the moose with two babies cross the road in front of us. A lovely sight!
We parked up at the visitors’ centre in Whitehorse and after a spot of breakfast with Pat and Linda, I went off to explore for a few hours. The best part was the McBride Museum of Alaska. Lots of great exhibits and a very interesting film about the area, the goldmining, the First Nation people and their culture. One of the best museums I’ve ever seen.
I am so interested in the people who have lived for thousands of years in this part of the world, from the Aleuts in the west to those who spread across Canada and down to what is now the USA. That’ll keep me busy when I get home, just surfing the internet for more info! In the meantime I have handfuls of brochures, pictures etc to send home. I’ve forgotten how to travel light!
Our bus ended up in a garage getting the aircon sorted – essential in the current heat – so we left Whitehorse later than expected. Some of us used the time back at the visitors’ centre to plug our phones, camera batteries and laptops into any socket we could find. Then we were off, just a short distance to Takhini Hot Springs where we set up camp for the night. And played Arsehole. A game of cards, for those who are uninitiated. 
I love my tent – a great way of getting a bit of privacy for the night, and getting fresh-air-filled sleep! Linda has also bought one – a tad smaller than mine. How I envy her on her knees!
The next morning we drove across to Haines Junction – so small we almost missed it, then down through the Kluane National Park Reserve. One of the stunning journeys of this trip!
We stopped for a picnic lunch at Kathleen Lake which was just beautiful, with green-aqua coloured water topped with ice and surrounded by snowy mountains. Lots of mosquitoes though. And we had to take care of food remains on account of the bears. I gathered a few more stones and took lots of photos.
Shortly after we found the Million Dollar Falls which thundered down a narrow ravine. A magnificent area.
Our last stop before Haines was on the top of the Alaska Highway/Haines Highway where we crossed over from the Yukon Territory to British Columbia and had a photo shoot at 1,070 feet.
Michele, our Ozbus leader, carved the name of our trip into the snow – OZBUS L2NY – for all passing traffic to see. Then we descended into Alaska again, another border post, and finally into Haines, at the top end of the Inside Passage. A great little place, with sailing boats, fishing boats and a ferry which runs daily in the summer months. But in winter, fairly cut off and isolated, with the sea freezing at the shore line and beyond. We got the best of it, arriving in brilliant sunshine and warmth, which made our campsite in amongst the shady trees a welcome sight.
Patamateria 