Denali to Anchorage.

Around mid-day we reboarded the McKinley Explorer train, bound for Anchorage - estimated time of arrival 8:45pm. Lunch and dinner were both served en route in two sittings in the very luxurious dining car. This train is a double decker, with all services plus dining car on the lower level, passenger seating in the domed carriages on the upper level. Not all carriages have the full dome, however Holland America with whom we are travelling have the entire compliment of domed carriages - about six in all of the total of twenty carriages making up this train.
Upon arival in Anchorage we were transpoted from the rail depot to our hotel - The Hilton in the heart of the downtown area. A brief narrated tour of the city on the way to the Hilton enabled us to get our bearings of this large modern city of 320,000 - the largest in Alaska. Saturday morning we went on an optional tour - "City Highlights". Unfortunately this tour was a disaster - suffice to say bad enough for quite a number including the Hunters' to submit a written complaint to Holland America, claiming a refund. Such a shame as everything else to date has been absolutely first class in all respects. We put this down to the incompetance of the driver and the dumb-arse attitude of the local Holland America staff. Enough said on that, no time for such trivia.
During the afternoon we went to the weekly Summer markets in a huge open-air carpark across from the Hilton. This market has about 350 stalls, selling everything from food to household items.
Saturday was a free day in Anchorage, so we made the most of this time in general sightseeing, plus went to dinner downtown with a couple from Adelaide.

Kevin & Gail.

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