We arrived at 10 p.m. and this time we went to the Spenard hostel. I did not like this one as much as the charming 26 Street hostel, but that doesn’t mean Spenard isn’t good. It’s just bigger. Because it’s bigger, of course you have the chance to meet more people. And it has good facilities. I was happy to be able to use the laundry facilities here for just a few dollars. There is 24-hour internet at $1 per 10 minutes.
I did not do all that much these last few days in Alaska. On the first day I was helping the guy with whom I had travelled from Seward arranging all his gear to start his cycling journey. In the evening I walked to the bar of the Millennium hotel with a few girls that I had met in the hostel and had dinner there. The place was allright, nothing spectacular. After that we walked (for about an hour I think) to the Taproot which I did find spectacular. There was live music going on and after that the DJ played really good music. People were just hanging around, having dinner, talking, drinking beer, all in a very relaxed atmosphere. I thought this place was really nice.
The next day we went to the zoo and made a stupid mistake. Not wanting to take the bus to the town center, where there would be shuttle buses taking tourists to the zoo, we took the bus to Dimond Center and walked towards the zoo. This turned out to be a much longer walk than we had expected and, more important: a boring walk. We were just walking along busy roads for at least an hour and a half. Don’t do this. Just take the shuttle.
The zoo was very small but nice. At first I was shocked by the very small bird cages, but later I heard that these were wounded birds which couldn’t fly anyway.
Most impressive animals in this zoo: the two grizzlies (who were having an argument when we arrived, which was quite intense) and the polar bear.
In little over an hour we had seen it all and took the shuttle back to the town center. We had Italian food in some restaurant (outside, on a heated terrace), then went back to the hostel, where I got my stuff and went to the airport to catch my flight. That was the end of Alaska for 2010 for me, but I hope to return some day.