Leeds - Edinburgh - Inverness

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!