After my first frustrating night in England, my travels here have been delightful, interspersed with wonder at the sheer beauty of the landscape. I spent a couple days visiting a friend in Nottingham, then northward to Glasgow where I stayed in a hostel for a night, ate haggis, drank Scottish ale and slept well.
The next day I pointed myself toward Oban, with a constant palette of cool and gray and drizzly . I took the A82 up past Loch Lomond and Trossachs Towers National Park. Despite the rain, this was a glorious drive. The loch road is very very twisty and narrow, making for a very fun morning. Once I passed the loch itself and started up into the Highlands, the terrain grew rougher, wilder, more spartan. Rivers and streams crashed and trilled down the hillsides, filling the air with the music of water.
On the recommendation of my friend Iain, rather than picking up the A85 route to Oban – which would have been more direct – I continued on A82 up to Glencoe and Ballachulish. Simply gorgeous countryside, rugged and green in a sparse fashion.
I spent the night just outside Oban, couchsurfing with a fellow named Leo who lives in a WWII era signal station on the hill above Ganavan.
The next day, I headed south back into England, this time to ride through the Lake District. When I mentioned this route to Leo, he said “It’s like Little Scotland”, and I would have to agree with the sentiment.
In fact, the route I took through the Lake District was so lovely that (after another lovely night couchsurfing in Ulverston in the South Lake Peninsulas, with a charming British woman named Katie) I decided to retrace it the next morning, despite the several hour backtrack. For the return trip, I set up my GoPro camera and created a little time-lapse of the trip. Warning, it might be a little dizzying!
[vimeo clip_id=25859142 width=590]
From the Lakes, I headed south and west into Wales. I stayed the night in Newtown, in a charmless but functional guesthouse – part of its functionality was having a pub downstairs serving a perfectly acceptable bitter. The following day I rode south to Brecon, through Brecon Beacons National Park, and then on into London where I am now.
A few times already I’ve found myself regretted the whirlwind nature of my first few months in Europe stemming from various plans and meetings and rendezvous at far-flung points across the continent. Now is definitely one of those times. I’ve already decided that I’m going to need to return to the UK in the future, with hopefully a month or two to ride around at a more lesiurely pace. I didn’t have time to make it to Jura, I’d love to explore the northwest of Scotland, and want to revisit the Lake District and see more of Wales.
Comments
3 responses to “Beauty of the UK Countryside”
Holy cow it is kind crazy to watch that video. Very strange to see what you have seen. But you are correct, that is some pretty country!!
Kay, it is a little crazy. I want to figure out a better way to capture video. I’m thinking helmet mount, but fear that will only be feasible at lower speeds – too much additional wind drag, I fear, at higher speed.
Yep that video was a little chaotic :) and such gorgeous scenery. I am envious!