In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
May peace be upon you. :)
It's been a while since I wrote a post in this blog and Alhamdulillah (thanks to Allah), I got the chance to write a new post - some sort of travelogue, I think (hahaha...). I haven't write English posts for a while, so, I hope my fellow readers will forgive my grammatical errors throughout this post/essay/etc. Oh, this will be my first post in 2015 (hooray!!!).
Few days before Christmas, my friends and I have decided to travel within Scotland. While most of Malaysian students prefer to spent their holiday/winter break travelling to European countries (this is just an opinion), we decided to stay and spend the rest of the time in Scotland - searching for the snow (T_T we didn't got any chance to see snow properly - playing with snow and stuff.. - in 2013).
The reasons why I wrote this post are because I want to share my experience on travelling as a backpacker (low-cost trip) and I LOVE SCOTLAND. Subhanallah - praise be to Allah, Scotland is blessed with B-E-A-UTIFUL places and it has never failed to made me feel amazed with its' beauty. How can I not be convinced that only a Mighty Creator can create this beauty? Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest). Aaaaand I hope that you guys might want to visit Scotland after reading this post (ceh..wah.. perasan betul).
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Salisbury Crags & Edinburgh town (Lowlands). You can see Edinburgh Castle from here (at the centre of this pic).
Credits to Ms Z. |
By the way, A' Ghàidhealtachd and a' Ghalldachd means Scottish Highlands and Lowlands respectively in Gaelic. There will be more Gaelic names in this post along with their Anglicised names :).
Highlands to Lowlands Trip
Sunday, 21st December 2014 - Glaschu => An Gearasdan
My friend and I departed from
Glasgow Queen Street Station at 6:20 pm by train. It was dark and we couldn't see anything throughout the journey. We ended up spending our time inside the train by sleeping and eating instant noodles (I brought a thermos bottle and use the hot water to cook the noodles inside a plastic container - yup, we were starving at that time). Alhamdulillah, we arrived at
Fort William (in one piece, of course..hahaha...) at 10:06 pm. Then, we went to
Fort William Backpackers (a low-cost hostel), checked-in for 4 person (even though only 2 that showed up) and spent the night there. Another 2 of my friends were expected to arrive on the next morning,
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| They even gave a bed card to each one of us. Every bed has its' own name and every name has its' history or legend. Mine was Fairy Flags of Dunvegan - I can't remember the tale of the legend but it's definitely about fairies having their own flags and something to do with Dunvegan Castle that is located in Isle of Skye. One of my friends got Nessie (the famous Loch Ness monster). |
Monday, 22nd December 2014 - Around An Gearasdan (Caisteal Inbhirlochaidh, Slighe a'Ghlinne Mhòir & Meadhan a' Bhaile)
We were planning to go skiing on this day since we already booked the beginners package. Unfortunately, the weather was not suitable for skiing and there were not enough snow on the mountain. But, Alhamdulillah, we believe that everything is according to Allah's plan and there's nothing to be worried about. Another 2 of our friends arrived from Glasgow by bus at 10:00 am. We brought them to the hostel for check-in and went out to explore places in Fort William. One of the hostel staff recommend us to visit Inverlochy Castle using the Great Glen Way.
Info : Scotland is famous for its' walking trails including the Great Glen Way (Fort William to Inverness - 79 miles/127 km long), West Highland Way (Milngavie, Glasgow to Fort William - 96 miles/154.5 km long) and many more. You can visit this website http://www.visitscotland.com/see-do/activities/walking/scotlands-great-trails for more information.
And so, the three musketeers (one of our friends was not feeling well at that time) starts off their journey to Inverlochy Castle, walking along the Great Glen Way without no maps, weak internet connection (Google Maps can't be used) and depend solely on Allah in finding the right path (the only clue/hint that we had was a symbol that kept appearing in the path, showing left/right).
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| As you can see in this pic, there are 3 signs of direction; two of them (below) are the Great Glen Way signs and another one (above) is the normal sign that usually can be found in walking trails. By the way, the distance is in miles, not km. Credits to Ms Z. |
After minutes of walking and taking pictures, we finally found the castle. Surprisingly, it was not as what my friends and I thought it was. It was an
ABANDONED CASTLE!!!.. More like a ruined castle, actually. Well, some parts of it may have been destroyed in wars but its' remains are protected under HISTORIC SCOTLAND, an executive agency of the Scottish Government focusing on conserving historical sites and stuffs that are related to Scottish history.
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| The parts of Inverlochy Castle that survived throughout the time. There's a river (River Lochy) at the end of the pathway - behind the castle. Sorry for the human interruption in this pic. Credits to Ms Z. |
After a tour around the ruined castle and as the day was getting darker, we decided to left the castle and went back to the
Town Centre by bus (of course, we have to go to the main road to find a bus stop as there are no bus stops along the walking trail).
Fort William memang kampung habis.
When we arrived at the Town Centre, it was almost dark. We decided to walk along the High Street - main shopping street in Fort William. Obviously, it's not the same as Oxford Street in London or Princes Street in Edinburgh or Buchanan Street in Glasgow, not to mention Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur. Most of the shops closed early but luckily, they were still open during that time. We even managed to book the skiing class for the next day, Alhamdulillah.
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| You can find lots of streets with their Gaelic and Anglicised names. High Street is one of them. |
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| A picture of a girl sitting next to a statue of an old man looking at the sea. Credits to Ms Z. |
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| At the end point of the West Highland Way. Fáilte means welcome in Gaelic. Credits to Ms Z. |
All of us (including the one that didn't go to the castle) went for dinner in an Indian restaurant - there were two or three halal restaurants in Fort William - and return to the backpackers hostel.
Note :
It is preferable to bring instant foods such as noodles rather than eating in the restaurant, especially for the low-budget type. The backpackers hostel provides kitchen and all of the appliances can be used if you guys want to make a meal.
Tuesday, 23rd December 2014 - Skiing at Aonach Mòr, Monadh Nibheis => Inbhir Nis
Alhamdulillah, the weather condition on this day was suitable for skiing. Firstly, we checked out from the hostel and left our baggage there (the check-out time was in the morning and they were kind enough to let us leave our belongings in the hostel - at the lounge). We went to the base station of Nevis Range, a mountain resort (the name can be quite misleading as the resort is located on Aonach Mòr, not Ben Nevis, another mountain located near to Aonach Mòr). It took 15 to 20 minutes to reach the base station from Fort William Town Centre by cab.
Then, we went up to Aonach M
òr by cable car (they called it gondola) with the ski equipment. It's only £56 for a ski beginner's package (it includes a day pass for the ski site and the gondola, ski equipment hire and a 2-hours ski lesson).
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| View of Aonach Mor from the top gondola station which is 650 m above ground. |
I don't want to ruin the surprise for the readers (and also because I'm too lazy to write all the details about my first-time ski experience). So, we were skiing, playing with snow (more like ice...), taking pictures until 4:00 pm. Here's a picture of me trying to ski like a pro (
bajet habis...).
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| "Stay there. I got this." said the girl to the ski instructor (most left in this pic). Credits to Ms Z. |
By the time we reached the base station, it was already dark and we called the cab driver to picked us up (there was a bus stop but we didn't want to miss the bus to
Inverness). We took our stuffs at the hostel and went straight to Fort William Bus Station. Alhamdulillah, we arrived there 30 minutes before the departure time.
The bus depart to Inverness at 6:15 pm and the journey took around 1 hours and 45 minutes. We arrived at Inverness at 8:01 pm and checked-in at Inverness Backpackers Hostel. Since Inverness Backpackers Hostel is in the same company as Fort William Backpackers Hostel, each one of us also got a bed card. :) Oh ya, it's really near to Inverness Castle (1-2 minutes of walking).
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| This time, the category of the bed names is plants. Thistle is one of the Scottish symbol, other than tartans. |
We were so hungry at that time - we cooked instant noodles as soon as we finished settling our stuffs in the allocated dorm. After the dinner, the three musketeers (the same three girls that went for the evening walk at Fort William) went for a night walk around Inverness. Just when you thought Inverness was a countryside just like Fort William,
BHAMM!!! Nope, Inverness was..well, kind of modernised countryside. It's a B-E-A-UTIFUL city. After all, it is the capital of Scottish Highland. It has to be a standout, distinguishing itself from other highland towns.
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| A multi-coloured light-decorated bridge across River Ness. Credits to Ms Z. |
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| Inverness Castle at night. Credits to Ms Z. |
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| Another bridge across River Ness. Credits to Ms Z. |
We also walked along the High Street in Inverness and take few pictures as well. Here are some pictures that Ms Z took:
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| High Street, Inverness at night. Credits to Ms Z. |
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| It means "Haste Ye Back" = come back soon in Gaelic. Credits to Ms Z. |
Then, we return to the hostel and Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....
Wednesday, 24th December 2014 - Inbhir Nis => Dùn Èideann
In the morning, all 4 of us went for a
self tour (read: travel without a tour guide) around
Inverness. The weather was kind of a mix of rain and sunshine. Subhanallah, we saw a rainbow across the bridge.
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| The same bridge (the one that look like mini San Fransisco bridge) that we went on the night before. B-e-a-utiful rainbow, eh? Credits to Ms Z. |
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| Here's another shot of the rainbow from different angle. Credits to Ms Z. |
Since it's Christmas Eve, most of the small shops were closed (even the post office was closed early - open at 9, close at 12). We were hungry at that time and nowhere near to the hostel. So, we decided to eat in the restaurant (Alhamdulillah, there were halal restaurants in Inverness too).
Note :
You can use this website http://www.zabihah.com/ to find halal restaurants in the area you are visiting or even in your neighbourhood. As for most restaurants that we found so far (in Fort William and Inverness), the opening times are 12-2 pm and 5-10 pm (they don't open at normal times - or maybe it's normal for them but different for me? -.-''). So, plan carefully or at least, make sure your stomach doesn't cry at the wrong time. :)
"Never judge a book by it's cover". Yup, even though we realised that Inverness was as interesting as Fort William by the time we arrived at Inverness, unfortunately, we didn't planned to spend time in Inverness as much as we did in Fort William. Dear readers, take my advice, it's better if you stay at least 2 nights in the place where you are visiting. It'll be worth it, Insya Allah. There will be lots of things to do, especially in Scotland where you can go for a walk around the city/using the walking trails or ride a mountain bike or visit museums/castles and stuff. Nevertheless, Insya Allah, I will visit Inverness next time. :)
The next destination was
Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland and second most populous city after Glasgow (Go Glasgow!!! Hehehe...). Edinburgh is pronounced as "ay-din-bereh", not "ay-din-berh" (yeah, I know, Pittsburgh is pronounced as "pits-berh" but sorry, pal, this is how the Scottish pronounce it). We departed from Inverness at 3:51 pm by train and reached Edinburgh at 7:21 pm. It was dark and we can see nothing T_T (probably would've been better if we'd travelled in the morning on the next day). Lesson learned. Oh ya, one of our friends went back to Glasgow as she have to go to London on 26th December. From 4 to 3 person - the three musketeers continued on with their journey.
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| That's me in the train to Edinburgh. Credits to Ms Z. |
As soon as we reached Edinburgh, we searched for the backpackers hostel (it's quite near to Edinburgh Castle and also the train station - Edinburgh Waverley), checked in and put our stuffs in our room. At first, we decided to go to a fun fair near to the train station but we were late (it closed at 8:00 pm and won't be open on Christmas Day). So, we walked along the Princes Street and return back to the hostel.
Thursday, 25th December 2014 - Around Dùn Èideann (Holyrood Park - Arthur's Seat & Salisbury Crags)
It's Christmas (wished it was white Christmas, though - so that I can play in snow). Almost every shops were closed except some cafes and small shops (
kedai runcit). We were planning to climb up
Arthur's Seat at first, but then, we decided to have breakfast or at least, fill our stomach with something (just in case so that we didn't ended up starving on the way up climbing Arthur's Seat or
pancit/tak cukup tenaga).
After that, we started to climb and it was pretty hard at first. I felt like climbing a never-ending stair that's getting more and more steeper as I went higher. There are lots of paths that you can use to reach to the top of Arthur's Seat (I realised this as we went down the hill using another path which is located on the other side of the hill). The path that we used was the path along
Salisbury Crags (a steep path at first, followed by a long, straight path) until we reached the base of Arthur's Seat. From there, we climbed up until we reached the top of Arthur's Seat. There were few people that we met along the way though.
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| Two lovely couples. Credits to Ms Z. |
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| On top of the Arthur's Seat. Credits to Ms Z. |
We spent three days in Edinburgh (too lazy to describe it in detail) and went back to Glasgow on 27th December. Overall, Alhamdulillah, it was a great experience travelling with friends, learning how to plan - always have a backup plan and the most important lesson that I have learned in this journey was always have faith in Allah' plan. After all, Allah knows best.
Travelling is one of the ways you can observe human's real behaviour, not just yourself or your friends, but people that you will encounter during your trip. The beauty of nature will make you feel that there are lots of things to do in life rather than repeating the same cycle every single day.
Get out, get some sunlight, sweat, breeze or whatever that'll make all your senses alive. Look with your eyes and with your heart of what Allah has created around you, May Allah guide us all to the straight path, insya Allah.
I apologise for any spelling/grammatical error that you may find in this post and for mistakes that I may have made, also in this post.
May peace be upon you.
Assalamu'alaikum.
Insya Allah, bersambung dalam coretan esok.
