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Roy Bridge
Waitin outside the hostel while the owner figures out our reservationsGeo: 56.8165, -5.11208
Okay, so we didn't actually stay IN Fort Willliam... we actually spent the two nights in Roy Bridge. And we didn't actually stay IN Roy Bridge either... it was two miles down a rainy highway AGAIN. And we didn't actually do ANYTHING I had hoped or planned to in this part of Scotland. Just shows I can plan all I want... sometimes things just don't go my way. Sometimes, something better comes along, too. =)
How did this happen? Well you see.. millions of years ago... not really, more like a couple weeks ago, when I booked the hostel, I didn't realize it wasn't actually anywhere near Fort William, even though it's listed under Fort William. Tricky bastards. Roy Bridge is 17 miles east of Fort William, which is not a problem at all if you have a car to get you around. I've realized that that is the best way to get around Scotland. Cars. Screw trains. Screw hiking down scary highways in the rain. Anyway, thankfully the train stopped at Roy Bridge. There weren't any buses going up and down that highway. Which meant, if we wanted to go anywhere, it was by foot. And there was nothing
Roy Bridge
Me in the rain while we check in close by. I had wanted to do the Hogwarts Express (better known as the Jacobite Steam Engine) in Fort William. It would have been tricky as hell with walking to and from the hostel to the train station, and then hopping a few trains... but I discovered much too late that the Hogwarts Express doesn't run on the weekends. What the hell. Isn't that the busiest time for tourists?! But, those two days were the only two days we could book up near Fort William. It's a "bank holiday" in the U.K. but I have yet to find a local who knew exactly which holiday that might be... It meant everyone was travelling. I had also wanted to go hiking, but there was no public transportation to get us to the trails. Also lame.
We picked up groceries in Roy Bridge, and then hiked two miles down the highway in the rain to our hostel. It was a wooden building sitting next to a really cool rock gorge with rushing white water. We were planning on exploring that the next day, as well as the surrounding hills. I had asked the hostel owner (a very nice thin middle-aged man with long
Roy Bridge
A bit o sun! This is a shot of the tracks, the top of the gorge and the hills we thought we would be exploring the second day gray hair tied back and a hook instead of a prosthetic on one hand) if there was any hiking nearby. I was hopeful dammit. He laughed and said no... but we could explore the hills if we wanted. This is a strange concept to me. Back home, everything is owned by someone. There's no free land for you to roam unless you want a farmer chasing you with a shotgun. Apparently nobody owned the surrouding land... or they simply didn't care. Neat. We did manage to get a little lucky... the owner had written down our arrival date wrong. He thought we were actually coming the following night. I was a little worried we'd have nowhere to stay, but he managed to squeeze us into a different, bigger dorm room.
We were cold and wet and tired of the rain for the day. I'm Californian... I can only handle so much rain, lol. I did my fair share of walkin through it the past few days... So we just hung out in the hostel reading our books. We were both dreading walking back to the train station in the rain in a couple days. "..We need to make some friends," I
Roy Bridge
Lil red car we road-tripped in told Chris. lol... friends to give us a lift.
The next morning I woke up and refused to get out of bed. I was bummed- stupid rain... I was in no hurry to go outside and get soaked again. While I lied in bed moping, a nice Parisian girl (who oddly spoke English with a British accent) started up a conversation with me. Some of the other people in the hostel were really noisy when they left early in the morning. I guess it woke everyone up, but I somehow managed to sleep through it. =) I asked what she and her cousin were up to for the day, and she told me they were probably going to head over to some Highland Games. ...Whaaaaaaaaaat? Highland Games?! I hadn't thought they were starting this early! I had really wanted to see some this trip, but nearly all of them weren't starting til midsummer. She asked what we were doing. I explained our screwing up and bookin a hostel in the middle of nowhere with only our feet to transport us. She seemed scandalized that we planned to spend the day at the hostel. "We can take you somewhere. We have two
extra seats, and we're already headed out, so its not a burden at all." At first I told her it wouldn't be a good idea (a couple German guys offered to drop us off somewhere as well) because we still wouldn't have any way of getting back to the hostel. She said they were staying a second night at the hostel, so they had to come back anyway. It really wasn't a problem. ...Wow. Talk about luck. Hell yes we were coming, and she didn't have to drop us off anywhere because Highland Games sounded effing amazing.
So, we spent the day roadtrippin with a couple Parisian girls, Delphene and Emily. They were super sweet and friendly, and Chris enjoyed making fun of someone besides me all day. lol. We stopped at several places along the highway to take pictures of the beautiful scenery. We stopped first at Bruar, which had an awesome walk/hike up along a canyon with waterfalls. It was so pretty, and it was the only Scotland hiking I got to do, so even if it was short, it was something. They had planned to drive much further, but our going was slow... so they ended up just
going to Blair Castle instead. They were set to have Games the following day actually. When we drove up to the kiosk to pay, we were surprised at how expensive it was. We sat there thinking it through... if we really wanted to pay 10 pounds a person to see the castle. The guy at the kiosk saw our hesitation, and offered us a huge discount. He let us pay the family rate, which was only 3pounds per person! SCORE. Even better, was that even though the Games didn't start until tomorrow, they were still having a parade that day. And Scottish parades mean bagpipers. =)!!!! We ate lunch, walked along the gardens, and then watched the Highlanders (the only private army in the U.K.) march along with the pipers. They were in full traditional uniform, kilts, tartans, socks, everything. Even the sprig of juniper in their hats. It was so badass listening to the music. I was just mesmerized the entire time. =) They played five or so songs, interspersed with inspections, a huge cannon (the ground shook like an earthquake when they fired it), awards, and speeches. After we figured the rest would just be speeches, we slipped
away before the ceremony was done. We headed down the road to a whiskey distillery, hoping to catch a tour. Unfortunately we missed the last one by a mere 15minute. Argh. We wandered around the gift shop, though. After that we headed back towards the hostel, but via a different route up crazy hill mountains. Delphene kept stalling the car and we kept laughing at her. =) The rest of the night we played this crazy game at the hostel called Jungle Speed. It's a lot like Slap Jack... was stupid hard. Crazy French games. It was a lot of fun, though.
Anyway, that entire day was just awesome. Its another one of those experiences that I never expected to have and certainly didn't plan for. I thought it was going to be a quiet couple of days reading... but I got to go on an awesome road trip instead! Just when I think my luck has run out, it still manages to surprise me. =) Oh, and the next day, we didn't have to walk back to the station in the rain. The owner came up to us- "What time yeh guys headed out?" I told him, and he replies,
"Right. I'll drive yeh." YES!!!! Even better, was he took us to the next station down the line, to Spean Bridge, where we had more food choices for lunch. We dined on fish 'n chips in a glass enclosure while waiting for the bus. We bought it from the most adorable old Scottish cople. lol. SUPER cute people!
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billy
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"DUDE LET'S JUMP I- ew, the water's brown... ... ....