And, where are you from? My long term travel experienced friends already told me – if you are on a longer trip the moment is coming where you don’t want to hear that question any more.

While I had real fun during my first week at the hostel meeting new people and going out with them tonight, I secluded myself more and more during the second week. Despite amazing weather outside I started reading, watching movies, went to bed early and – you won’t believe it – stopped smiling. No wonders – I obviously got hostel cabin fever.

Already in China I had this feeling of being in a bad mood and annoyed about everything without any reason. Obviously I have to change scenery again. As the Filipines with its yoga and meditation retreat are too far away I am heading to day trips – Ottawa and Québec will be my target cities.

It is great to be tourist again, have dinner at a restaurant instead doing cooking at the hostel kitchen.

With a bus ride of 2-3 hours Montréal is pretty close for a day trip. As the only North American city with a proper fort Québec presents itself very charming as a melange of French and English mid-age towns. Everywhere you can find small little cafés, Québécoise restaurants and the “sitting-outside” mentality I really love. Just the spoken language, the Québecoise, is a bit confusing for me having learned French French at school.

As a mixture of nature, traditional sand stone houses and broad panoramic view I really enjoyed my visit and are able to smile again. I am curious about Ottawa –the capital of this huge country.

Saturday my time in Montréal is over and I am going forward further west. In Calgary Carrie, the girl I met in the hostel shower in Taipeh, will be my host for a few days. Looking very much forward to meet her again.