点评:While visiting Alaska, we rode the Alaska Railroad several times. The hype was over following the first ride.
We rode as gold star ticket holders. This allowed us, as tourists, to sit in the 2-story forward car with the scenic panoramic windows. Along the entire route, each time, we had a hostess that incessantly repeated herself! While this may be her job, eventually passengers began to hear, ‘whah whah whah whah whah whah (imagine Charlie Brown!) So tired of hearing ‘chug chug chug or chuck your adult beverage’ each time we stopped to load/unload people or ‘the train doesn’t leave people, people leave the train (to stretch their legs or take a smoke break!’
Breakfast was provided for our first ride! Half of our car’s passengers were directed to a separate dining car down stairs of our 2-story car. We were given a choice of 4 options for breakfast (as well as 4 different choices for lunch when lunch was served.) None of the choices received overwhelming applause from the passengers. It seems as though we all just muddled through in order to have SOMETHING in our bellies!
Our first two rides were part of tours in which we were to see several types of wild animals. Between the two rides, we saw a plethora of beluga whales, several trumpet swans, dahl sheep, 2 osprey, several juvenile eagles, a few salmon, and a single moose. We’ve heard about the earthquake of 1964 and the pickled trees it left behind too many times to count!
While the railroad is a unique way to get around, I feel once is definitely enough to experience the landscapes of inland Alaska. The mountains, rivers, and other terrain covered by the Alaskan railway really aren’t different enough from one another to warrant additional trips.
The train station & gift shop was more interesting than my successive excursions on the actual train. The cautionary safety speech followed by the ‘ALL ABOARD’ call was entertaining. The children’s toys & books, postcards, ornaments, and other knick knacks/collectables in the gift shop drew large crowds before the train left the station, as well!
翻译:在游览阿拉斯加期间,我们多次乘坐阿拉斯加铁路。不过第一次乘车之后,那种炒作的热度就消退了。
我们持有金牌票。这让我们这些游客能够坐在带有全景观景窗的两层列车前部车厢里。在整个行程中,每次都有一名女列车员不停地重复同样的话语!虽然这可能是她的工作职责,但后来乘客们听到的就只剩“哇哇哇哇哇哇”(想象一下查理·布朗的场景吧!我们每次停车上下客时,都听腻了“嘟嘟嘟,不然就扔掉你手里的酒水”这种话;也听腻了“火车不会把人甩下,是人自己离开火车去伸伸腿或抽根烟啊!”
第一次乘车时还提供了早餐!我们车厢里有一半的乘客被引导到两层车厢下方的独立餐车里。早餐有4种选择可供挑选(后来提供午餐时也有4种不同的选项)。这些选项都没有赢得乘客们的热烈掌声。看来我们大家都只是勉强应付着,只求能填饱肚子罢了!
我们乘坐的第一次和第二次游览车,都是用来带我们观赏各种野生动物的。在这两次行程中,我们看到了大量的白鲸、几只号角天鹅、达勒羊、两只鱼鹰、几只幼鹰、几条鲑鱼,还有一只驼鹿。我们听过太多关于1964年地震以及地震后出现的那些“腌制过”的树木的故事了,简直数都数不过来!
虽然乘坐火车是一种独特的旅行方式,但我觉得只要体验一次就足以领略阿拉斯加内陆的风光了。阿拉斯加铁路沿线所经过的山脉、河流及其他地貌其实彼此间并无太大差异,实在没必要多次前往。
相比之下,火车站和礼品店倒比我后来几次乘坐火车的经历要有趣得多。那段带有警示意味的安全说明,随后是“全体上车”的广播,都相当有趣。列车离站前,礼品店里的儿童玩具、书籍、明信片、装饰品以及其他小玩意儿/收藏品也吸引了大批人群呢!