Yurtin' It Up in the Yukon

Yep, a yurt, which my father informs me is a Mongolian roundhouse. I LOVE it! I will of course post pictures at a later date (posted!). The yurt (fort? hostel? establishment?) owners, Marcia and Sylvaine, are incredibly awesome. They’ve only been open a week, but everything is really well planned and taken care of. I really like them and their establishment (yep, that one). And their dogs are really, REALLY cute too. They have a pretty cool bathroom with a vacuum toilet (something I had not had the pleasure of experiencing before) and a shower stall. And of course since everything is brand new, the whole place smells like fresh cut wood, one of my favorite smells. (For those of you in the know, the only good thing about my apartment in Pasadena was that it was across the field from a lumber yard. And a water treatment plant, but we don’t discuss that.)


Back to the yurt fort.


After leaving hell… I mean Watson Lake… this morning at 0dark30 (as my Tia would say) we drove through some more (monotonously) pretty scenery until we arrived at the Yukon Hotel & Restaurant in Teslin. We ate at the restaurant (I ordered a buffalo burger and it was great) and then took a little tour down to the gift shop/wildlife gallery. Unlike hell (WL), the Yukon Hotel was clean, well-kept, good, and busy because of those reasons, not because it was the only thing in town. The woman at the gift shop was incredibly friendly and chatted with us like we were old friends. She, and the Yukon Hotel, restored our faith in the Yukon Territory somewhat, which had been drug into a back alley in Watson Lake and beaten within an inch of its life.


The drive from Teslin to Watson Lake was even prettier, mostly because it was even shorter. Upon arriving at Whitehorse and realizing that at 3pm we still had another 9 hours of sunlight left, we decided to find out more about the next leg of the journey. Our options were to try to find a room in Whitehorse or continue on to Tok and our last border crossing day (thank God). So we went in search of somewhere with wi-fi. Starbucks in Whitehorse, alas, does not provide wi-fi, just good coffee. So, with drink in hand, we walk the two blocks to the Yukon Information Centre, whereupon our faith in the Yukon was restored even more by the lady at the information desk, Jeannie. God bless Jeannie. She was hysterical. When we asked her how long the drive was between Whitehorse and Tok, she said 9 hours. Google said five. (As I’ve said before, the internet lies.) After taking in our horrified expressions, she then proceeded to tell us that she had already called 6 hotels for some people before us and that they were all full, but that she’d be happy to call a few more. And she did, and they were all full. All the while she is regaling us with one-liners and little tidbits. I really liked Jeannie. She has definitely been one of my favorites so far. After she reaches the last hotel on her list, she asks us if we wouldn’t mind staying in a yurt. She actually turned away and bent over laughing at our combined looks of intense bewilderment. Jeannie tried to explain to us that it’s like a tent cabin. Or a tent with a wooden frame. Or… And then she gave up and just called them. They had one left, and we took it. She then explained to us how to get there. It’s just 4 miles up Long Lake Road. What she failed to mention was that Long Lake Road becomes a gravel road after just a km (mile). Gravel has been a recurring theme on this odyssey. So we bump along this gravel road until we see the sign for Boreale. We hook a left and continue down a dirt road. We pass a turnoff and look at it, wondering if that was it. We keep going until we decide that was indeed it, so Amanda (the fabulous driver) finds a place where she can turn around, and does so, without mowing down any of the lupine or trees. We drive back up the turnoff and take it. The road actually is a cliff path that ends up in front of the communal lounge yurt. Everything looks so nice that we’re wondering if this isn’t someone’s house when Marcia steps out. I roll down the window and ask I this is her home, and she says no, this is our business. Fabulous! We explain that we’re the Texans Jeannie called about and she says at her cell phone is with her boyfriend in town and she had no idea we were coming. She made us feel more than welcome. I HIGHLY recommend Boreale. She showed us around, told us the fee (which was incredibly reasonable) and told us about a little Mexican place downtown. Being the adventurers we are, we decided to check out the Mexican restaurant. It was actually pretty good. Baja, I believe, but still really good. I splurged and got the guacamole (for $12 you could get a tiny thing of guac, a tiny thing of fresh salsa/pico, and about 6 chips). I hadn’t had guacamole since Montana, which was about 8 years ago. What can I say? I need my guacamole. I think that’s probably going to be the first thing I make when I get to Anchorage. Guacamole, and maybe some real quesadillas. I already miss Mexican food. Why am I moving to Alaska again? Oh, right. Cuz I felt like it. Me and my good reasons.


Anyway, we come back up after dinner and Marcia tells us to just make ourselves at home. They have cable internet here. Cable internet! No wi-fi yet, maybe that’s coming later. But it was WAY better than the other places we’ve been. An actual solid connection. After checking in with our parents (still no reception), we head to our yurt to read. It’s pretty fabulous. It has a huge queen bed, a twin bed, and a gorgeously comfortable red couch that folds out into another bed. There’s a skylight in the center of the roof that lets in a lot of light, as well as three or four giant windows. As it doesn’t get dark in the Yukon until almost midnight right now, that’s a lot of light. So worth it. And the view! We look right across to the mountains. It’s pretty gorgeous. Yes, I’m posting pictures, don’t worry. Just as soon as I take some… Anyway, I really like this place. It’s simply amazing. I think yurts are my new favorite thing. It’s like camping, only better. If you’re ever in Whitehorse, you should definitely stay here. Just bring lots of bug spray. The mosquitos up here are pretty humongous. The only good thing about mosquitos is they’re slow fliers. Makes them easier to kill.





The communcal lounge yurt.

Our very own personal yurt.

The most comfortable bed ever.


This incredibly comfortable red microsuede couch also folded out into a bed. That makes 3 beds in our own personal yurt.



The skylight where we got most of our light. There is no power in the personal yurts. None needed.
And this was our view from the front of the yurt fort encampment. That's Whitehorse down there.
Two more days.