As our Rocky Mountaineer train winds through the spectacular scenery, I fall into chatting with the woman standing next to me on the open-air platform between carriages. She tells me she has been on this journey many, many times. When I ask her why, she gestures towards the mighty Rocky Mountains that surround us and replies: "Just look around.
This never gets old." She's right. Like the Alps on amphetamines, being in the presence of the Canadian Rockies is an awe-inspiring, exhilarating business.
The colours are off the charts, too. The summits are coated with attractive striations of snow that make the mountains look like giant liquorice allsorts. The trees have terrific names as well – I particularly like the Trembling Aspen.
This is a truly epic, widescreen landscape designed to put us fundamentally unimportant humans in our place. The Rocky Mountaineer Founded in 1990, the Rocky Mountaineer takes passengers on four beautiful routes through the Rockies: our route takes us from Vancouver to Banff on a 25-carriage long train staffed by 100 people, with an overnight stay at a hotel in Kamloops. Opting for the premium GoldLeaf service puts you in a luxury double-decker carriage whose upper deck boasts a vast domed roof and windows, giving you unimpeded, panoramic views of the majestic mountain range and its wildlife, including eagles, ospreys, elk, bighorn sheep and the occasional bear.
The lower deck of the GoldLeaf carriage is an upmarket dining car. The food, which is al.