Tuesday, May 27
i was in scotland for a few days last week.
originally i had intended on going for 7-8 days, but i was at work and couldn't. so i went for 5...
i bought a freedom of scotland travel pass (train, bus and ferry pass) usable for 4 out of 8 days. perfect.
after an early boat out of belfast followed by a bus to glasgow, i got the train to aberdeen. a beautiful trip, with many coastal golf courses. i can see why you'd wanna "spoil a good walk"(Churchill) if you could play on these. got to aberdeen and walked to a friend's house, which was in walking distance from the station. no map, got lost, but i didn't know and got here anyway!
stayed the night (luckily there was someone there and she got back at 9pm) and had some good chats. the next morning i caught he train to inverness, where some of my ancestors are from (the McPhersons, the only clan who survived a certain battle cause they wussed out, ran away and hid...). got soaked in a very heavy down poor, then got the bus to fort william via Loch Ness. i walked up to the start of Glen Nevis, along the waters of Nevis, put up the tent, cooked some chicken and tuna pasta and read a bit of the voyage of the dawn treader. Ben Nevis, just above, wasn't visible due to mist. i felt very lonely, far from home, friends and family, not wanting to be there. so i decided to head home on thursday instead of friday.
the next morning i felt much better, twas still kinda rainy (drizzle) but everything was beautiful and clousy with occasional sun shining through (and rain). got up, had some brekky and headed off for glen coe. i started walking up Ben nevisbut turned off cause there was no sign of any clearing and you couldn't even see half way. next time! in any case i didn't really feel like going up.
got to the station 10mins too late and missed the bus, soi got thetrain to Mallaig. what a trip!! superb!! beautiful!! a must do!! mountains, hills, forests, rivers, lakes, lochs, the sea, islands, cliffs... Mallaig is at the end of the line and from there i caught the ferry to Armadaile on the isle of skye. i set foot on it (next time i'll try to see some of it!!) then back onto the ferry to mallaig and back on the train to fort william. i waited for t he bus for glencoe but when it came i was told the pass wouldn't work for that trip. BLAST!!! so i got the train for Glasgow instead. i decided i'd see glencoe the next time as well, though that was one of the main reason for me going to scotland in the first place!
i was planning to get off the train somewhere along the line and camp the night, getting back on the train in the morning (instead of getting into glasgow late that night). the trip from fort william is magnificent and soooooo worth it! i settled for Rannoch, a station in the middleof rannoch moor, a plain of moorland that took about 1-2 hours to cross in the train! wow, such a beautiful place, but sooooo remote. it felt like a scene out of Willow or Lord of the rings, completely desolate. no one around with hills in the distance (glencoe). i put up the tent, got some water to boil to cook with and to drink. had some supper and spent some time looking at the scenery. wow. an excellent place to get solitude.
hopped on the train the next morning to Glasgow, then another train to Stranraer where i got the ferry home.
a great time to spend soul-searching, talking to God and in solitude. but it got very lonely. i hope to be able to return some day with someone else, any takers?
originally i had intended on going for 7-8 days, but i was at work and couldn't. so i went for 5...
i bought a freedom of scotland travel pass (train, bus and ferry pass) usable for 4 out of 8 days. perfect.
after an early boat out of belfast followed by a bus to glasgow, i got the train to aberdeen. a beautiful trip, with many coastal golf courses. i can see why you'd wanna "spoil a good walk"(Churchill) if you could play on these. got to aberdeen and walked to a friend's house, which was in walking distance from the station. no map, got lost, but i didn't know and got here anyway!
stayed the night (luckily there was someone there and she got back at 9pm) and had some good chats. the next morning i caught he train to inverness, where some of my ancestors are from (the McPhersons, the only clan who survived a certain battle cause they wussed out, ran away and hid...). got soaked in a very heavy down poor, then got the bus to fort william via Loch Ness. i walked up to the start of Glen Nevis, along the waters of Nevis, put up the tent, cooked some chicken and tuna pasta and read a bit of the voyage of the dawn treader. Ben Nevis, just above, wasn't visible due to mist. i felt very lonely, far from home, friends and family, not wanting to be there. so i decided to head home on thursday instead of friday.
the next morning i felt much better, twas still kinda rainy (drizzle) but everything was beautiful and clousy with occasional sun shining through (and rain). got up, had some brekky and headed off for glen coe. i started walking up Ben nevisbut turned off cause there was no sign of any clearing and you couldn't even see half way. next time! in any case i didn't really feel like going up.
got to the station 10mins too late and missed the bus, soi got thetrain to Mallaig. what a trip!! superb!! beautiful!! a must do!! mountains, hills, forests, rivers, lakes, lochs, the sea, islands, cliffs... Mallaig is at the end of the line and from there i caught the ferry to Armadaile on the isle of skye. i set foot on it (next time i'll try to see some of it!!) then back onto the ferry to mallaig and back on the train to fort william. i waited for t he bus for glencoe but when it came i was told the pass wouldn't work for that trip. BLAST!!! so i got the train for Glasgow instead. i decided i'd see glencoe the next time as well, though that was one of the main reason for me going to scotland in the first place!
i was planning to get off the train somewhere along the line and camp the night, getting back on the train in the morning (instead of getting into glasgow late that night). the trip from fort william is magnificent and soooooo worth it! i settled for Rannoch, a station in the middleof rannoch moor, a plain of moorland that took about 1-2 hours to cross in the train! wow, such a beautiful place, but sooooo remote. it felt like a scene out of Willow or Lord of the rings, completely desolate. no one around with hills in the distance (glencoe). i put up the tent, got some water to boil to cook with and to drink. had some supper and spent some time looking at the scenery. wow. an excellent place to get solitude.
hopped on the train the next morning to Glasgow, then another train to Stranraer where i got the ferry home.
a great time to spend soul-searching, talking to God and in solitude. but it got very lonely. i hope to be able to return some day with someone else, any takers?
