Intro
By Lukas:
Many of you already know us from our previous trip and blog
www.tripeast.eu. There, we drove an old car all across
Russia until the Far East to Vladivostok, via many countries in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan) and Mongolia.
It was great to experience this enormous freedom and the huge distances of the world. However, it took
place in 2015 and a few years passed since then. Therefore, we decided that it really is time for
another road trip to some remote place to make these experiences again!
We chose the Panamericana as our next goal – this famous stretch of road that connects both American
continents (one could argue that they are actually one continent, but this is up for geology-enthusiasts
to discuss). Meanwhile, Tomas and I entered regular jobs, so it was clear that we wouldn’t be able to
get 3 or more months of vacation in a row. Instead, we had to break down the trip into smaller chunks.
For the 2019 summer, we decided to tackle the first part of Panamericana, the Far North with Alaska, the
Yukon Territory, British Columbia, and Washington State. Originally, we wanted to buy a car in Alaska
and drive down all the way, but due to time & logistical constraints, this plan got discarded – instead
we got a rental car.
But the rental car came with one big issue: it was not possible to pick it up in Alaska and return it in
Seattle (or the other way around). Instead, we had to rent it in Seattle and return it there. But how to
get the car up to Alaska?
We found out about the Alaska Marine Highway, a network of ferries that connect Alaska with the
remainder of the U.S. The “Inner Passage” from Seattle to Haines (south of Alaska) is apparently super
beautiful, so we booked a ticket while ignoring the hefty price tag.
In the end, the plan was as follows: Lukas and Tomas meet in Seattle (and can stay at a friend’s place –
Marek), take the ferry north to Haines, drive further north to Anchorage, and then start the drive back
from there. Via Denali National Park, Fairbanks, Dawson City (where the gold rush took place), White
Horse, and the Alaska- or Stewart-Cassiar-Highway, we would reach Vancouver again after 2 weeks.
By Tomas:
Jsme dva, Tomáš Těthal a Lukas Meyer a čeká nás cca 8000 kilometrů autem ze Seattlu na Aljašku a zpět. Poznali jsme se s Lukasem cca před 7 lety, když jsme společně studovali na východě Kanady v University of Waterloo, kousek od Toronta. Lukas bydlí v Mnichově, což je z Prahy docela kousek, takže se párkrát do roka vidíme. V létě 2015 jsme jeli starým Ssangyongem Musso do Vladivostoku přes Mongolsko a státy Střední Asie, kde se projevila naše náklonnost k roadtripům všeho druhu. Více zde. Po letech jsme si řekli, že by bylo fajn podniknout podobné dobrodružství. Bohužel už oba docela hodně pracujeme, takže času není moc. Cílem příštích pár let bude projet Panamerican Highway, což je silnice z Aljašky do Argentiny s chybějícím kusem ve Střední Americe. Jestli se nám to povede, nebo ne, ukáže čas. Teď jedeme první část, Aljaška, Seattle. Máme na to 3 týdny, což je dost málo, ale to nám nezabrání si to pořádně užít.