Posted on 09/06/2009 7:52:54 PM PDT by Wardenclyffe
It could be all that fresh mountain air. Or maybe it's the altitude, a different time zone or even jet lag.
Otherwise there's no excuse for what makes tourists ask the dumbest questions.
There are some real gems, and it happens all the time. Just ask the patient and good-natured folks who make a living showing tourists around Banff National Park.
"We get a broader range of people (in summer)," says Daymon Miller, general manager of Discover Banff Tours. "They're coming from a broad range of urban centres with generally no concept of the wilderness."
When the speak-before-thinking zinger is uttered, tour operators try to have a little fun, Miller says, without embarrassing them.
From an unofficial survey of Banff tour operators, here are the top 20 outrageous questions, some with answers in case you've wondered the same thing. As for the rest, well, they stand on their own.
1. Are the animals with collars tame? (These animals have been fitted with tagged collars because they have had incidents with people. It is important to stay a safe distance away from wildlife.)
2. We are going into British Columbia. Do we need to change our money into Euros?
3. Can we drive our car onto a glacier anywhere?
4. Do we need snow tires or chains to drive to Lake Louise in July?
5. Where are the igloos and the Eskimos?
6. If the Columbia Icefield melts before we get there, can we do a different excursion?
7. Can you see polar bears at the Columbia Icefield?
8. Can I walk around P.E.I. in a day?
9. Can I get from Vancouver to Toronto by driving in a day?
10. At what elevation do the deer turn to elk?
11. How much does that mountain weigh?
(Excerpt) Read more at canada.com ...
12. Is this all natural?
13. While working at the (Banff) Gondola on a rainy day I was asked to turn the fog off at the top so they could see.”
14. While working at the Gondola, I got asked when we release the animals so they can start feeding them. I had to remind them that this wasn’t a petting zoo, the animals are wild and come out when they please — and please don’t feed them.”
15. Where’s that place where I can see the bear in the cage? Can I get a photo with him?
16. If I see a bear when I’m hiking, can I just keep walking past it?
17. Can you guarantee wildlife sightings?
18. Where is the rocky mountain?
19. What’s the best trail to take a bike on to see a cougar?
20. Where are the animals kept at night?
.
Ping!
It’s like the European questions on American travel forums.
What’s the best way to take a day trip from Las Vegas to Yellowstone?
How much would it cost to rent a motor scooter for a trip from Chicago to New York?
Is the water in Las Vegas safe to drink?
My favorite question asked by Hearst Castle visitors:
"What time is the noon tour?"
One man even followed up when told the noon tour was at 12, asking, "Is that in southern California time?"
LOL!
Wasn’t Lucky Pierre Agarniere, the Burglar of Banff-ff??
(obscure F Troop reference)
How old are crows when they grow into ravens?
I’ve been there, nice trip and a great place to visit. Just FYI.........relationship failed... but the memories are great.
Banff is spectacular. I’ve been there twice, and it was awesome.
We have heard some of these in Lake Tahoe.
Too funny
Too Stupid
Went to Jasper National Park this summer and it was tops! Once we drove from Glacier National Park in Montana up to Calgary and over to Banff and on to Lake Louise. I told my husband on the road leading from Calgary to Banff and on I felt like I was overdosing on beauty. The Canadian Rockies are ten times more spectacular than the Colorados.
I agree.
“4. Do we need snow tires or chains to drive to Lake Louise in July?”
Well, I don’t know about chains, but I’ve been in the mountains of Colorado in July when it was sure nice to have snow tires! What elevation is Lake Louise?
I used to work on the Tahoe Queen.
One tourist asked me if the glass bottom was on the 2nd deck, or downstairs on the first.
Another one asked me if it was real snow up on Mt. Tallac, and I told her it was concrete the Parks Department painted white, and she believed me.
Another one asked me if the boat “went all the way to Reno”.
When I worked in a clothing store in Waikiki, newly arrived tourists from the mainland USA would sometimes ask me if we accepted US dollars.
This can't end well...
I was going to chime in my stories of dumb people but, yours are enough.
“I didn’t know snow was so wet!”.
I usually wait for them
at the end of the bar
So Cal time.
LOL. Too funny. I think that is actually true
I don’t know but wouldn’t that make them Craven?
Lucky you. ;-)
Another one asked me if the boat “went all the way to Reno”.
LOL You could have told the last one that you'll know you're getting close when the boat pulls into the Carson City Harbor! heh
I can't believe someone is dopey enough to think the snow was painted! Oh my goodness...(shakes head)
It’s amazing, or maybe just pathetic the contortions people will come up with to make themselves feel superior. A few of these are silly, but most are just uninformed questions. Maybe travel agents should recommend an informational course on Banff so these poor canucks don’t have to feel they are mingling with the great unwashed.
While I was a zookeeper I was lucky enough to field several awesome stupid questions and comments from the public:
Do hippos lay eggs?
How much does the 300-lb. tortoise weigh?
And I actually heard one public school teacher explain to her group of students that, are you ready?
PENGUINS ARE THE ONLY FISH WITH FEATHERS!
Years ago, I spent about a week in Ravelstoke.
Indescribable!
“Turn off the fog”? “TURN OFF THE FOG”?!
Feathered Fish ping!
There was a school-book, put out in, I believe Kansas, that stated that we had fresh-water whales here in Lake Michigan.
Apparently, they migrated down (somehow) from Hudson Bay to here during the winter.
They then defended the assertion because it was in a school-book.
My sister does historic reenacting. Sometimes I’ve gone to visit her at these reenactments and it’s been quite interesting and informative. But the questions the “tourons” ask can be hilarious. She will be giving a demonstration of cooking and people will want to know, “Is that a real fire? Is that the kind of fire they had back then? Why did they have the battle here in a national park?” or “Why did they have the battle here where there are all these monuments? Didn’t they get in the way of the fighting?”
I would sit behind the palms in the main terminal. The United passengers would ask me where the phone was. I would point 10 feet to my left and say “under the phone sign”. That would be broken up with “where is gate 39”. as if airports all over don’t have signs. That sign was just past the phone sign.
The really sad thing about this was the tourists were from Redwood City, California, a little over an hour away...
I was helping out with the family business in Hope, Alaska, when a bunch of army guys got off the bus going to Seward and asked if they could “pet your bear”.
Ummm, what bear?
The one right behind you!
Cue lots of scrambling for the rifle........
At our Chamber of Commerce it is "when do the deer turn into elk?" I suppose the other variation has been asked. lol
4. Do we need snow tires or chains to drive to Lake Louise in July?
I don't think that is such a dumb question. It has snowed, blizzarded even, in July here at only 8,000 ft much less what can happen at 12k. It's smarter than people who know nothing of an area and just take off over a mountain pass or through a desert unprepared and don't ask anything.
This can't end well...
LOL It might be better put to say the best way to see a cougar on the trail is to take a bike.
Like dragging yarn past your cat.
yer welcome.
At the back of the hotel, everybody has a camera.
I watched a bus load of Japanese. They spent a great deal of their alloted time organizing the pose for large group pictures and then small groups of two or three. It was a comical event.
With the spectacular mountain and lake views, they were intent only on each other.
They came and then on command....whisk, they were all gone.
Cute. That makes me think of a “Cheers” character.
I’ve heard that some questions posed to rangers in Yellowstone are (1) what time do the animals get let out? and (2) what time do they turn on the geysers?
How many sunsets do you have today?
Can you dive under the island?
And my favorite ....
Does the water go all the way arond the island?
.
funny, when I wrote I thought of Cliff, as well.
OMG! I actually heard that a restaraunt with the giant fish that goes through it.
Dumb!
I like Zelda’s but the question doesn’t surprise me. Most of our neighbors, in the Bay Area, are such fake intellectuals.
They are called cat fish. LOL
LOL!!!
Q: How much are these?
A: $12 a dozen.
Q: How many is that?
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