Everyone said to skip Saskatchewan and Manitoba as there was nothing there. But, despite my dad literally being a shepherd, I’ve never been one to follow the herd (if you need proof, look no further than my fashion choices in my early teens). I also wanted to see what the Canadian version of ‘nothing there’ looked like. I didn’t want to skip huge parts of the country by flying over the top of it so booked myself a bus to Saskatoon from Edmonton. This again was a stunning journey. It took me right through the rural farmland to the north of Saskatoon before heading into the city itself.
Actually I’m not sure if Saskatoon is a city or a town. It looks like a city but has more of a countryside town to it. Within a ten minute walk of the downtown area, I was suddenly walking next to the river and what looked like open countryside. Saskatoon hadn’t got as cold as previous winters yet, it was still pretty mild and only a couple of sections of the river were frozen over. The downtown area is very small, and looks like any other downtown area to be entirely honest but I really liked the feel of the place. I was only there for 2 full days but it definitely felt like a small-town community. There were no hostels in Saskatoon so I treated myself to a hotel room for a couple of nights and I have never appreciated having a double bed more. I star-fished the entire time. (For anyone unfamiliar with star-fishing, this is where you lie on the bed and throw your arms and legs out as far as you can reach, therein taking up as much space as humanly possible – very difficult to do on a bunk bed.)
Due to being in a hotel I also didn’t have a kitchen available to me to cook lunch/dinner each day. My first port of call when I got to Saskatoon was to try and find a supermarket I could walk to in order to grab some supplies and some kind of food I could make a dinner out of using a kettle. I had expected my biggest challenge would be finding food I could make just using a kettle but no. No, my biggest challenge was trying to find a flipping supermarket. I eventually managed to find one a 20 minute walk away and once there found instant noodles and instant mash. Perfect. It was going to be a stodge weekend so also bought myself some oranges to try and have some semblance of a balanced diet. I felt like I was living my student days all over again and cannot wait to get some proper food and some vegetables in me again.
Saskatoon is very, very small, and I really only needed one day there, rather than the two days I’d booked for myself. It’s true that there isn’t a lot there but that is no reason to not visit a place. It gave me some time for a social recharge, a change of scenery and to have a look at where my next stop might be, along with logistics of how to get there. Check back soon for what happened next…
Ro Wells Travel 
Leave a comment