3 of the 3 Niagara Falls, Canada — Recreating our moments 16.0 !!
Witnessed the unbelievable — 1st November 2022
After a long round of discussions and debating whether to do it or not, finally we decided that we were going to Niagara Falls before our first winter in Canada.
Sachin took care of reserving the train. For a change, we woke up early to leave, got ready, and ta-da, here we go on our first waterfall visit in Canada!!
We took 1 bus and 2 trains to get to the Union Station from which the ‘Via Rail’ train starts to Niagara. We got there on time, and Anupa being Anupa didn’t have her identity card when the officer asked. But I managed to get past that as he was not strictly checking everyone. But I got an ear full from my beloved for which I was angry with him for a while.
This is the same train that goes straight to the US, so passengers had different cabins. I would say, the train was equal to a flight, with so much leg and cabin space, we have the option of buying a coffee or a snack too.
The plus point is, you get to enjoy the scenery all the way on a train.
I tried my best to stay up as much as I could, but I had not had much sleep for consecutive days, and I couldn’t hang on. We got another ‘We Go’ bus from there to get to the falls and it was so nice to see the lady operator explaining all the stops and the area, it was much like a city tour.
It didn’t take long for us to get a view of this gigantic waterfall, and in an instant, we realized why this is an attraction to the entire world. For a while, we couldn’t directly look at the water and its full height because the water stream was that powerful.
I was so happy that this waterfall is so beautiful that we ended up taking video calls to everyone at home to show it live and sent photos.
We spent hours looking at the waterfall from all possible angles and then started walking towards the other end. We could see the bridge connecting the Canada and US border and I was over the moon to realize that I could meet my friend and ex-coworker Nipunika from there. Lol, impractical plans.
With the intention of getting to the edge of the bridge from the Canadian border, we started walking. But we soon realized that even though we see the bridge as close, it is actually very far and we can’t walk that much. And obviously, we would need a visa to get to there.
When you walk towards that side, you start seeing the 2nd waterfall in the area. At first, I thought it is the continuation of the Horseshoe Falls, but no, my expert husband told us that it is called the ‘New York Falls’. But later when my sister wanted to upload a photo to her insta feed and add the location, it was corrected to ‘American Falls’ and the small one you see in the right corner is the ‘Bridal Veil Falls’. As the name implies, it looks like a veil.
Next goes the debate between me and my sister whether to do the ferry tour that they offer. As much as I liked to try it, I was not sure because of the fear of any accident plus the fact that we are on strict budgets these days. But having that sister’s responsibility in my mind, I wasn’t ready to let her go alone. So having convinced Sachin, there we go to try the boat cruise.
We were given a raincoat sort of a piece to wear which ensured that we were going to get badly wet which we anyway saw earlier from the wet full people who were coming out.
I took my instax camera out for the 1st time. And we started recording the full tour, and Sachin started clicking shots from his camera. First, we went towards the bridge and then took a turn to move toward the waterfalls.
No matter how much I try to put our thoughts at that moment into words here, it will always be a failed attempt. Because it is beyond words, equally beautiful, both waterfalls are magnificent. Let the photos speak for themselves.
No sooner than we started passing them, we got wet from the water sprinkles coming. I would say, those few minutes were one of the best we have ever experienced in our lives. That is a feeling that we will cherish forever. I thank my sis for persuading me to come with her.
We spent these beautiful few minutes getting wet, running up and down the deck, and looking at the falls. And before we realized it, this trip came to an end.
We grabbed a quick lunch from the cafe just outside the cruise. We had the option of collecting the pictures the photo booth captured of us but decided to let go of it this time.
We spent about 1 hour more staring at all 3 waterfalls in turn. I would be lying here if I say I didn’t tear up not being able to believe how beautiful and massive Niagara is, and not being able to leave the place.
We would have done the biggest mistake of our life if we hadn’t gone to see Niagara at this point because we would never know what we had missed here.
We have already planned when we are going next, but next time with ample time to try both the boat cruise again and the zip line which I can’t believe what an experience would be. There is so much more to explore in the area. So again soon.
The ride back was not the smoothest as our train had got late to leave from the US (which is a common scenario, just that we didn’t know). So we took a ‘Go bus’ to Burlington and took a ‘Go train’ to Union Station from where we followed our usual route back home. And next time we will meet my ex-colleague Ayesha who lives in the neighbourhood.
Let me quickly tell you a few tips for first-time travellers.
- If you have a vehicle, it would be a faster commute. ‘Via Rail’ to Niagara will be about 2 hours in total
- Have an identity card with you
- ‘Via Rail’ train might get late to come back, so have backup options checked. You can get a refund.
- Plan to stay for a few days if you want to explore the area
- Don’t miss the boat ride
Niagara Falls, more specifically, is the name of three waterfalls — the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. The Canadian side of Niagara Falls located between Goat Island and Table Rock is known as the Horseshoe Falls. With the highest flow rate and beauty, Horseshoe Niagara Falls becomes a holiday spot for millions of people every year. Niagara Falls is the biggest waterfalls in the world by the volume of whopping water siphoned at an average of 750,000 gallons each second.
