For Indonesians, a few will visit this side of Canada, the most wellknown I guess will be The Niagara falls. I got a few comment that they didn't know Canada has this scenic places, but it's a huge country that full of wonderful landscapes with the rockies and wildlifes, made it best road trip after New Zealand
Thanks to the travel facebook group that made me drooling on a a lot of amazing posts, in locations that never appears in my mind. Special thanks to Henny, a friend that I got to know from my Finland trip. If not for her, guess I will not put Alberta as my bucket list for this year, many that read my blog has known that I have a very limited leave days *sigh*
Here are some saving money tips if you would like to visit Alberta on SUMMER:
Plan ahead which mean you book all the accommodations ahead (maybe half year or even a year ahead) as this is the biggest cost after all due to high vacancy of most motels and hotels, and the flight as domestic flight is very expensive, the price of flight from Vancouver to Calgary costs IDR 1.4 million a month from departure but costs IDR 3 million 5 days before departure. Not to mention the flight ticket from Vancouver to Toronto that bought by ranselahok which costs a lot because of kept postponed.
Travel in four so you can share the cost of rental car and accommodations, the accommodations in Canada mostly can fit up to 4 persons because it comes with 2 queen beds.
Rent a car its pretty hard to get around without car, the option is by foot which made us walked 10 km to go to Alta Lake in Whistler from our hotel, public transport is limited, to travel around province you can take greyhound or you can fly but the cost is similar with driving car. Of course for driving you will need to get your International Driving License (costs IDR 250,000 for 3 years) and they drive on left, so might need to get used to it on arrival.
Cook yourself, of course this is not always an option but some lodges offer small kitchen area like what we found in Calgary and Lake Louise, but you can bring your rice cooker so you can cook simple food without kitchen set, a meal in the restaurant will cost you 10 - 35 CAD plus the "compulsory" tips.
Make friends in Canada so you can stay in their house haha, for us normally we would like a freedom so this is not really an option but at least these friends can recommend you cheap places to eat great foods, thanks to Chris.
Buy your CAD in Indonesia or bring your credit card, the exchange rates of USD to CAD is absurd even more expensive than exchange rate of credit card, 1 CAD = IDR 11,915 with USD exchange and 1 CAD = IDR 10,890 on CC. All the places (at least that we visit) accept credit card payments even for a bottle of coke.
Added bonus, Alberta has the lowest tax in Canada as its subsidized by the country, only 5% while other is 12% (British Columbia). Visiting Canada for your first time? my itinerary collection can help to decide on where to go and what to see. The beauty of Alberta has left me speechless, an impression on my imagination that never fade and after all is a paradise for photographers, you can take in any angle and the result will turn out amazing.
