West Highland (part)Way!
Here's the emails I've been sending in my short little times on the internet in the last week and a half: I went on the West Highland Way!
-April 22: Ok, I'm walking the West Highland Way after all. I'm in Glasgow right now, with my tent set up north of town. From here I head north. I'm planning on probably staying at Cashel Campsite in Balhama, then Inversnaid Bunkhouse in Inversnaid, then hopefully Tyndrum, and on from there. I'm hoping to cover quite a bit of distance each day, and that might not work, so I've no idea where I'll end up each night or how long it'll take to get to Fort William. I'll get online whenever I can along the way to keep you updated-I know that at at least one place there's internet, and I can probably get into town at various times. This site has the route and the campsites and hostels I'll be staying at (I'll be at whatever the cheapest option is at each place, but I won't stop in every town.
http://www.west-highland-way.co.uk/
-April 24: Oi. The way so far has been rough and weary, with many wrong turns and almost as many moments of regret and indecision. But my first night on the trail brought me back, and I'm enjoying myself at last, although I've still three miles to go today and the soles of my feet are about to fall off. My shoulders, on the other hand, are stuck fast on either side of my neck, and the whole area is pretty damn sore. But there's been no shortage of sights, from the vast fields of sheep, cows, and horses; to the Garadhban Forest where I could look out onto the gorgeous Loch Lomond.
Tonight (Monday) I'm staying at Cashel Campsite on the banks of Loch Lomond. Tomorrow I'll walk only five miles to the Rowardennan Lodge and camp there, and then go another seven miles to Inversnaid, which the guidebook says has a HOT TUB! That's my final destination, I think. I'll probably stay there for a couple of nights and relax, and then walk the last six miles on to Inverarnan where I can catch a bus, probably to the far North of the Highlands. Eventually I'll head back down to Glasgow, where I'll hopefully be taking a plane back to Ana in Norway! It's possible that I'll get to Inversnaid and decide to just continue along the way... but not bloody likely.
By the way, I currently have £40 in my pocket, and as far as I know that's all the money I have access to until I get my bank account number! Not to worry, campsites so far have costed about £4-5 a night, and I've been eating food I brought along (bagles, peanut butter, mac n' cheese, fruits and veggies), which has been fine, although it does way me down even more and cold bagle sandwiches are getting boring. Since leaving Glasgow I've spent a total of £9.
April 27: Well, I'm here at Invernaid, about a third through the Way. I might end up staying here for a couple of nights, hard to say. I stayed in an amazing little cottage out in the woods last night--a bothy, an abandoned building that's been restored for travelers to stay for free in--which was free and incredibly cool. There way no bathroom, electricity, running water, etc. but it was just down a little path to Loch Lomond, so I had everything I needed. I promise I'll write more later, and maybe even post some pictures, but for now all I've eaten today (right now being 6pm) is half a bagle with peanut butter, and soup's calling my name....
April 28: Ok, so I'm staying at the Inversnaid Bunkhouse, the one with the hot tub, and I'm feeling mighty dissapointed. I don't know where I'm going from here, but they're kicking me out in about fifteen minutes, so I'd better just go and figure it out when I get to the next town with a bus station. Maybe I should just go back to GLasgow... I dunno. Anyway, here's some pictures. They're not of the West Highland Way though, 'cause I forgot to bring the cord to connect my camera.
I stayed at a way cool cottage in the woods last night, but I'll have to tell you about that later I guess.
May 1: I'm in Inverness, "The Capital of the Highlands!"
Ok, where did I leave off last time... Oh, yeah, the hot tub place. Well, ok, the reason I was dissapointed was just that I'd been looking forward to it the whole time, and then I get there and the hot tub wasn't just, like, part of the deal, it was something you had to like, rent for £5. And they didn't have a kitchen or anything and the prepared food was way overpriced and it wasn't right next to the trail so we had to get a ride to and from, although I discovered the next day that I could in fact walk, after I was rather rudely told it was time to check out at 10am. And then there was the stupid internet thing, but anyway....
From their, I walked to Inverarnan where I decided to stay the night as my last stop on the West Highland Way because there was a famous bar built in 1705 called Drovers, which was supposed to have been frequented by Rob Roy, and they had a live band that night. I'd run out of food the day before other than mac n' cheese, and I didn't feel like setting up my camp stove at the place where I was already feeling very unwelcome, so I didn't eat anything except a powerbar until Drovers, where I had a Scottish classic meal of Mince and Tatties, which was DELICIOUS.
After camping that night, I decided to hitchhike to the end of the WHW, Fort William, and after a while was picked up by this awesome couple who were English Hippies living in Scotland. They turned out to be going to the west coast, where there are ferries going out to the Islands, so I rode with them all the way, and caught a ferry to the Isle of Skye. The first night there I got stuck in this little nothing village, but the next day I went to a castle and museum all about the MacDonald's history, and that of the Isles where they ruled for several centuries. Then I caught a bus up to Portree, the closest thing the Isle has to a city, and then rode all the way to Inverness, except not really, because I hopped off early at Loch Ness, where I camped out right next to the water (possibly illegaly; not sure). No Nessie, though. But, I did go to a cool Loch Ness Multimedia exhibit and bought some souvenires (sp?).
So that gets us up to this morning, and from there there's not much to tell. I hitched a ride up to Inverness with this guy who it turned out was from the Isle of Skye and spoke Gaelic as his first language. I haven't done much here yet, but tomorrow I will before bussing back to Glasgow to fly back up to Norway. So these are my last few days in Scotland until who knows when. My only real plans now are to hopefully get drunk with some Scots tonight and try some HAGGIS!
-April 22: Ok, I'm walking the West Highland Way after all. I'm in Glasgow right now, with my tent set up north of town. From here I head north. I'm planning on probably staying at Cashel Campsite in Balhama, then Inversnaid Bunkhouse in Inversnaid, then hopefully Tyndrum, and on from there. I'm hoping to cover quite a bit of distance each day, and that might not work, so I've no idea where I'll end up each night or how long it'll take to get to Fort William. I'll get online whenever I can along the way to keep you updated-I know that at at least one place there's internet, and I can probably get into town at various times. This site has the route and the campsites and hostels I'll be staying at (I'll be at whatever the cheapest option is at each place, but I won't stop in every town.
http://www.west-highland-way.co.uk/
-April 24: Oi. The way so far has been rough and weary, with many wrong turns and almost as many moments of regret and indecision. But my first night on the trail brought me back, and I'm enjoying myself at last, although I've still three miles to go today and the soles of my feet are about to fall off. My shoulders, on the other hand, are stuck fast on either side of my neck, and the whole area is pretty damn sore. But there's been no shortage of sights, from the vast fields of sheep, cows, and horses; to the Garadhban Forest where I could look out onto the gorgeous Loch Lomond.
Tonight (Monday) I'm staying at Cashel Campsite on the banks of Loch Lomond. Tomorrow I'll walk only five miles to the Rowardennan Lodge and camp there, and then go another seven miles to Inversnaid, which the guidebook says has a HOT TUB! That's my final destination, I think. I'll probably stay there for a couple of nights and relax, and then walk the last six miles on to Inverarnan where I can catch a bus, probably to the far North of the Highlands. Eventually I'll head back down to Glasgow, where I'll hopefully be taking a plane back to Ana in Norway! It's possible that I'll get to Inversnaid and decide to just continue along the way... but not bloody likely.
By the way, I currently have £40 in my pocket, and as far as I know that's all the money I have access to until I get my bank account number! Not to worry, campsites so far have costed about £4-5 a night, and I've been eating food I brought along (bagles, peanut butter, mac n' cheese, fruits and veggies), which has been fine, although it does way me down even more and cold bagle sandwiches are getting boring. Since leaving Glasgow I've spent a total of £9.
April 27: Well, I'm here at Invernaid, about a third through the Way. I might end up staying here for a couple of nights, hard to say. I stayed in an amazing little cottage out in the woods last night--a bothy, an abandoned building that's been restored for travelers to stay for free in--which was free and incredibly cool. There way no bathroom, electricity, running water, etc. but it was just down a little path to Loch Lomond, so I had everything I needed. I promise I'll write more later, and maybe even post some pictures, but for now all I've eaten today (right now being 6pm) is half a bagle with peanut butter, and soup's calling my name....
April 28: Ok, so I'm staying at the Inversnaid Bunkhouse, the one with the hot tub, and I'm feeling mighty dissapointed. I don't know where I'm going from here, but they're kicking me out in about fifteen minutes, so I'd better just go and figure it out when I get to the next town with a bus station. Maybe I should just go back to GLasgow... I dunno. Anyway, here's some pictures. They're not of the West Highland Way though, 'cause I forgot to bring the cord to connect my camera.
I stayed at a way cool cottage in the woods last night, but I'll have to tell you about that later I guess.
May 1: I'm in Inverness, "The Capital of the Highlands!"
Ok, where did I leave off last time... Oh, yeah, the hot tub place. Well, ok, the reason I was dissapointed was just that I'd been looking forward to it the whole time, and then I get there and the hot tub wasn't just, like, part of the deal, it was something you had to like, rent for £5. And they didn't have a kitchen or anything and the prepared food was way overpriced and it wasn't right next to the trail so we had to get a ride to and from, although I discovered the next day that I could in fact walk, after I was rather rudely told it was time to check out at 10am. And then there was the stupid internet thing, but anyway....
From their, I walked to Inverarnan where I decided to stay the night as my last stop on the West Highland Way because there was a famous bar built in 1705 called Drovers, which was supposed to have been frequented by Rob Roy, and they had a live band that night. I'd run out of food the day before other than mac n' cheese, and I didn't feel like setting up my camp stove at the place where I was already feeling very unwelcome, so I didn't eat anything except a powerbar until Drovers, where I had a Scottish classic meal of Mince and Tatties, which was DELICIOUS.
After camping that night, I decided to hitchhike to the end of the WHW, Fort William, and after a while was picked up by this awesome couple who were English Hippies living in Scotland. They turned out to be going to the west coast, where there are ferries going out to the Islands, so I rode with them all the way, and caught a ferry to the Isle of Skye. The first night there I got stuck in this little nothing village, but the next day I went to a castle and museum all about the MacDonald's history, and that of the Isles where they ruled for several centuries. Then I caught a bus up to Portree, the closest thing the Isle has to a city, and then rode all the way to Inverness, except not really, because I hopped off early at Loch Ness, where I camped out right next to the water (possibly illegaly; not sure). No Nessie, though. But, I did go to a cool Loch Ness Multimedia exhibit and bought some souvenires (sp?).
So that gets us up to this morning, and from there there's not much to tell. I hitched a ride up to Inverness with this guy who it turned out was from the Isle of Skye and spoke Gaelic as his first language. I haven't done much here yet, but tomorrow I will before bussing back to Glasgow to fly back up to Norway. So these are my last few days in Scotland until who knows when. My only real plans now are to hopefully get drunk with some Scots tonight and try some HAGGIS!