Past Travels

I’ve always thought of budget traveling being something that only happens in places like Southeast Asia or South America, because things are cheap there and their currency is usually valued less, but traveling Canada for 6 weeks on a Southeast Asia budget seems to be working out for me. I love the $0.99 pizza kiosks, dollar stores that sell virtually anything for a dollar, couchsurfing and rideshare networks.

Most people know what couchsurfing is, and rideshare is basically another way for roadtrip travelers to save money: If you have room in your car and want to split gas cost, you offer backpackers or other commuters a spot in your car, or if you are looking for a ride somewhere, you can go on web sites like craigslist and say you need a lift and then people taking that route can offer you a spot for a lot less than even major bus companies like Greyhound.

I took such a rideshare to Quebec City for St. Jean Babtiste day, otherwise known and celebrated as the Quebec national holiday, and also to Ottawa to celebrate Canada day in the country’s capital. Tomorrow I embark on a 1000km trek to Halifax, and of course rideshare pulled through and a ride has been arranged for 60% cheaper than a bus, and a lot less expensive than flying. And besides, the trip is about the journey and not the destination, so driving there seems like more fun. Slow travel is also better for the environment, no use emitting all that carbon on a plane when you can take the scenic route.

Anyway, back to budget travel surprises… I have never had so much free and consistent entertainment anywhere else before Montreal. I’ve seen so many free concerts, including Sarah Maclachlan and Stevie Wonder to name a few, and I’m just missing Ben Harper by a few days. Canadians are also really nice people, they stand by their reputation of being friendly with all the free bbq’s and parties I’ve happily attended. I walked past a restaurant one day last week called Globe, and the manager wanted to commend me for my quebecoise patriotism ( I was wearing a Quebec flag in my hair) by inviting me in for some sangria that turned into a few more drinks and another similar visit the next day. All in all, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the $10 a day I’ve managed to get away with spending, excpet for on special occassions when I feel like splurging and spend a full 10$ on an amazing meal of mussles!

But, to put things in perspective, its difficult to be traveling with the issue of currency exchange, especially if your base currency is Icelandic kroner (now, not accepted anywhere for exchange), and everytime I swipe my Icelandic credit card, I think “imagine if the currency was still worth double that of the dollar?” Things would be a lot cheaper, or I would just live like a queen off double my budget.

Photo from www.bloomberg.com

I’m living in Montréal for a little over a month, nestled downtown where the latin quarter and gay quarter meet, not too far from Chinatown or the old harbour, and every day something interesting is bound to happen. Montréal is a city where french, festivals, sex stores and drag-queens reign, and has been affectionately nicknamed the cultural capital of Canada. Just this month in Montréal, there has been the Fashion & Design festival (think outdoor runway show with a free concert by K-os), L’off Festival of Jazz, the world acclaimed International Jazz Festival of Montréal, a White Night Festival (a night time, outdoor street-art festival), the World Beer festival, and the infamous Fringe Festival where people from the “fringe” of society from all different parts of the world come to perform an art, theatre or music shows that differ slightly from the norm. I went to one such show last night, entitled Perverts!, and it mostly consisted of completely nude performers jiggling around on stage and acting out various forms of sexual affection that would push the comfort limits of any spectator. There wasn`t much dialogue, dance, or decipherable message, but the shock factor alone entertains.

Clio and I at Cirque du Soleil´s Ovo

Montréal is also a place there it doesn´t matter if your male, female, transitioning from one to the other or both, and homosexuals, bisexuals and heterosexuals can all thrive since anything goes.In a lot of newspaper classifieds, the “Escort Services” section is bigger than the employment, housing and cars-for-sale sections combined. Sex shops, strip joints, peep shows, and “bath houses” are everywhere along my section of St. Catherine, the main street through the gay village. Sunday night I went to a bar entitled Mado`s where dragqueens and hopeful transvestites put on an amazing lip sync/dance performance, and if I wasn`t enjoying myself enough watching dressed-to-kill males more beautiful than myself prance around on stage, I was even more pleasantly surprised when the last performer came out and performed Bjork`s “It`s Oh So Quiet.” Iceland represent! The nightlife in general is always entertaining, since I went to the most impressive gay bar I`ve been to yet called “Sky” which consists of 5 different dance floors with their own separate dj`s and bars, complete with a rooftop terrace, a swimming pool and a jacuzzi hot tub that stays open til the wee hours of the morning.

one of Montreals many festivals, Fringe

During the day there is also a bustling underground world, where the subway system and an entire shopping mall of 200+ stores lay underground downtown Montréal. The architecture of Montréal is a melange of old French and English colonial buildings, with more modern glass and concrete sky scrapers around, dwarfing them. There are a lot of old, beautiful cathedrals also scattered throughout, and when I spotted one such church tower in typical gothic style, I walked in through the massive wooden doors only to realize I`d walked into a university building that was built on the site of this church, but kept the tower as its entrance. Very confusing.

rooftop bar with my roomies

Its noticeable how many students this town caters to, with 4 major universities speckled throughout the centre of the city and an extremely friendly student nightlife. From all the parts of Canada I`ve visited, Montréal has by far the cheapest and most accessible alcohol, with every cornerstone selling cheap beer and wine and the province regulated liquor store still boasting comparatively low taxes, great selection and long opening hours. There are a bunch of restaurants which allow you to bring your own wine without paying a corking fee, and last Monday I polished off a bottle of pinot grigio with a kilo of steamed mussels at a white-table cloth restaurant for less than $20 with tax and tip. And when I want to eat a budget meal, poutine is easily and cheaply available 24 hrs of the day within a few blocks from wherever you end up after a night of drinking with the drunk munchies.

Montréal is of course the birthplace of Cirque du Soleil, which is in my opinion the most random but amazing spectacle I`ve ever seen. Even though I`ve been to it in Vancouver and Vegas, seeing it here at their home stage seemed like a necessary thing to do, so me and my best friend Clio went on Tuesday night, their 25th anniversary show. Then, by random chance, a guy asked us for directions to the show tent on our way there, quickly followed by “I have 2 free tickets, are you two going?” We said yes, but that we would take them anyway and called 2 of my roommates who got to come for free. On Sunday afternoon, we went to the base of Mount Royal (a huge park in the middle of town) where hundreds of people come together to play percussion instruments, practice tight-rope walking, or reenact medieval battle grounds complete with middle age wardrobe and plastic weapons. Other random occurrences include a man riding a bicycle with a cat standing on his head, another guy riding past with an iguana on his shoulder, a police horse trying (and almost succeeding) to eat my Guyanese-gold bangle off my arm, and the current top male model in the world staying at my place for almost a week since he just happens to be my roommates best friend. Very, very random.