Scotland.
Saturday began with a moment's frustration in Leeds railway
station, as on studying the timetable in the station, realised I had misread
it. The timetables here don't have friendly sections for weekdays and Saturdays
and Sundays, but small letters next to various services that can be easy to
overlook. Add to that I was only vaguely aware it was a Saturday! When your
entire week is a weekend, the days don't make much difference. Except when it
comes to railway timetables. The aim was to take the scenic Settle to Carlisle
railway line, a picturesque line with significant history.
Pondering abandoning the plan and heading straight to
Edinburgh, I had the novel idea of asking for information. So far the railways
here have had lots of helpful staff, staff here there and everywhere it seems.
The information desk alone had three railway reps, who were quickly able to
devise a plan for me: take a replacement train service to Shipley, from where I
could get a train to Skipton, and change there for the Settle - Carlisle
service. The plan worked perfectly, and even the bus trip was a welcome
alternative, the chance to stickybeak as we wound through the burbs of Leeds to
Shipley. Then it was smooth sailing all the way to Carlisle. Managed a small
glimpse of the Ribblehead viaduct looking back out the window.
Passing through the Yorkshire dales national park, the
scenery was fantastic. Huge bare mountains, grassy valleys, rock walled fields
with black faced sheep. Brought back visions of James Herriot's veterinary tales!
I didn't see any of Carlisle as I just changed trains ( now
officially on the west coast main line) for a first Trans Pennine Express
service to Edinburgh. This rocketed along, crossing the Scottish border
somewhere shortly after Carlisle I believe, though the change of accent in the
train conductor was enough to convince we'd crossed a border somewhere.
Arrived into an Edinburgh teeming at the seams, the city was
full thanks to the Ryder cup. Golfers and tourists everywhere. The golfers made
obvious by loud golf pants. The Americans even more obvious. I wasn't able to
clone my Leeds hotel luck of a £213 hotel for £69. In fact I wasn't able to
find a reasonable hotel room anywhere. Sights lowered, and even hostels were
full. I found one last bed in a ten room dorm at St Christopher's hostel, which
was excellently located across from the train station, but other than
location... Eh. One plus was the luggage cage provided for each person, which
gave peace of mind leaving my bag there while I wandered up the royal mile.
Climbing up a narrow alleyway with many stairs, I burst into the sunlight of
the royal mile, and was speechless. Hadn't been expecting it and it blew me
away. Amazing architecture, street festival ambience, with cobble stoned
streets leading in one direction up to the Edinburgh castle, and in the other,
as far as the eye could see, reaching the blue water of the Firth of Forth.
First time I've seen the ocean since arriving into the UK, so it was certainly
a "wow" moment!
I ambled uphill to the castle, taking photos like a
non-racially stereotypical tourist. Would have been interested to tour the
castle, but there was only an hour until closing, and £16 entry fee. Dinner was
bad sausages and bad mashed potato in a street side restaurant. Bad sausages
were fairly terrible, bad mashed potato just evoked memories of childhood. When
in Rome, sample the whisky. Tried a few, though nothing crazily unusual. Also
tried a couple of local beers. One, a refrigerated lager that explains why
Fosters actually sells here. Also, a dark ale from the Orkney Islands, that was
cellar temperature and hand drawn from a keg. Interestingly, the fermentation
process is still going on in the keg, which is one reason they don't chill
them, as it would kill the yeast process. The Orkney ale was different, but was
fighting against expectations of cold and bubbly, so warm and flat just seemed
wrong.
The night in the hostel is best forgotten, lights on and
off, people in and out at all hours, and one poor sod vomiting in the bathroom
in the wee hours. (Dodge the spills on the floor in the morning). So up and
early, I was in the station early enough to avoid any chance of missing a
Sunday train! The train to Inverness departed promptly at 09:33, beginning a
three and a half hour journey of non stop jaw dropping scenery. A three hour
train journey at home would instil a sense of boredom and lethargy, and perhaps
it did for the locals here, but I had my nose pressed against the window
(figuratively) for the entire journey. The train soon rattled across the famous
Firth of Forth railway bridge. Alas, all I could see was red steel columns!
Amazing scenery followed for the entire trip, I saw two red
deer bounding away from the train at one point. Seeing the giant mountains
appear on the horizon was like seeing something out of a dream, long imagined,
come true. I was snapping away with the iPhone trying to get photos, but none
convey the sense of awe the landscape inspires. Rivers flashed by, always too
quick to take a photo, but looking spectacular. Wide, flowing over rocks,
winding, framed by pine trees. I think I could happily have reboarded the train
at Inverness and travelled south just to watch it over again!
Inverness itself is a pleasant surprise. Having been through
London, Leeds and Edinburgh, I was tiring of big cities. Inverness is not one
of these! Apparently proud of gaining city status some years ago, it retains a
small town feel and charm. The wide river Ness flows gently through the centre
of town, and when I arrived a marathon was in progress, with several city
blocks closed for runners. The hotel I'd booked was a 10 minute walk from the
station, uphill. Google maps on the phone annoys me - you put it into compass
mode so it is pointing in the right direction on the map, helpful to see if
you're heading in the right direction, but as soon as you try and drag the map,
or zoom out, it reverts back to north. Big heavy bag certainly made itself
known as a big heavy bag on the way up the hill! However the hotel was an
excellent surprise. It was one I'd booked online via the iPad, had some mixed
reviews on trip advisor, but was reasonably priced. Arriving, realised I had
lucked out again! Offered a free room upgrade (from a single room to a twin),
was able to wait until the room was ready in an impressive lounge bar. Room is
excellent with comfortable bed and opening window. Tonight is night 2 here, and
I've just booked another night, at the same rate.
I decided that Inverness and the highlands could do with
some exploring off the beaten (train) track, so this morning hired a car, a
Renault Clio. Small, underpowered manual makes me appreciate my car at home
even more than usual! But it was great to have wheels, and the freedom to
follow my nose. First stop was Inverness airport, to look into booking a flying
lesson over Loch Ness and the Cairngorms. I'd been hoping for a flight today,
but none available, so have booked in for tomorrow at 3pm. Just have to hope the
awesome weather I've been enjoying holds out - mild, blue skies, sunshine, even
the locals are surprised. With the flight booked, I turned left on the highway
with no clear destination in mind other than roughly heading for the Cairngorms
national park, to see some hills. The first town I arrived in was Nairn, where
I followed the signs to the harbour, and found myself standing on a beach
looking out to the North Sea, and more of Scotland across a strait. A cool
wind, but warm sun was shining, and it was very idyllic, with the waves
lapping. Further down this road is Aberdeen, but I turned inland and ended up
in Grant on Spey for breakfast at Maclean's bakery, then on into the
wilderness. Driving across fells and moors, the scenery was amazing. (The word
is going to be overused, but I don't have a thesaurus handy).
Ending up on a main road, I took a random turn off and soon
found myself deep in Scottish countryside, driving on one lane roads through
pine forests, and happening suddenly on tiny villages where the houses come
right up to the road. The one lane roads are a common theme, and can be a scary
one, as they are literally only a car width, with no shoulder. Passing can only
happen in purpose made passing places, which are sign posted regularly. However
if you come head on with a car without a passing place handy, it's the driver
closest to one who reverses out of the way for the cars to pass. Given some of
these roads are driven at 50mph, it can be nerve wracking to have to slam on
the brakes to avoid a head on collision! These roads aren't short stretches
either, they can go for many miles. The B road on the east side of Loch Ness is
one lane almost all the way to Inverness!
I spent a couple of hours on small roads in and around the
Cairngorms, before realising I was heading back towards Aberdeen. Turning
around, I made my way slowly back towards Inverness, where I ended up on the
A9, the motorway heading north. Took a while for the small car to wind up to
60mph! After driving up the A9 for a while, I saw a signpost for Fort Augustus,
which I knew to be at the foot of Loch Ness. What I didn't realise was I was a
long way north already, and this road was more single lane craziness! There was
a bridge closure along the way, which meant a detour a long way round on tiny
tiny roads through farms and little valleys. After an hour on this road, I
decided I wasn't going to make it to fort Augustus, so when I reached Loch
Ness, I turned north up the east side of the loch, stopping shortly in the
village of Foyers. Local knowledge suggested it would be a much better idea to
continue up the east side rather than try and make it to fort Augustus and come
up the west side. Loch Ness is huge. 36km in length doesn't really convey the
size... At Dores there is a south facing beach where you can look down the loch
- it reaches to the horizon and you cannot see the end.
Arriving back into Inverness, the rental car proved very
handy at zipping around town to do some chores like laundry and shopping. I've
got the car until tomorrow evening, so the plan for tomorrow is to drive to
Aviemore and up the Cairngorm mountain. There's a funicular railway at the top,
and also the option of quad biking lower down the mountain. Followed by a
flight in the afternoon, should be a good day! I calculated today I still have
16 days left here in the UK, still a lot to see and do!
