Backpacking in Britain

Loch Ness (2)

2006-05-29T18:10:00.000+01:00

The Loch Ness (literally Ness Lake) is well known - but in me opinion, for the wrong reasons. No monster there - well, we din see any! But the scenery was truly lovely.

The lake is huge - long and thin. Fort Augustus markes its sounthern end while Inverness is at its tip. It is the biggest body of fresh water in the UK.

The distance to drive around the lake is 70 miles!!!!!! The Lonely Planet Guide advised us to drive in the anticlockwise direction. I realised later that that was common sense, actually - if i had used mine! In the UK, cars go on the left side of the road - so if you go in an anticlockwise route, you'd be driving right next to the lake!

Urquhart Castle is there - but there's really nothing much except a total ruin and a very impressive looking trebuchet (see pics below)!

We went during winter - try not to. It got dark at 3:30pm and we were rushing around the lake to beat the sunset. If one would go in the summer, one could spend more time just sitting by the lake and taking in the wonderful atmosphere. Hey, maybe Nessie might make a guest appearance!

Here are me pics:-

Loch Ness (1) - Edinburgh to Inverness

2006-05-29T17:53:00.000+01:00

We started our journey to Loch Ness from Edinburgh early Christmas morn. I was hoping to reach one of the small towns for a quiant Christmas service.

The journey up north was wonderful. The morning mist was still clearing when we crossed the Fife Bridge - surreal! It was like the bridge was floating in the clouds. As i was the driver, me passengers took the pics - and until now, i still haven't obtained teh pics from them yet!!!! :-(

But here are some of the pics i took at the many stops we made:-

Edinburgh (3)

2006-05-20T21:23:00.000+01:00

Down the Royal Mile we go!

Be careful, tho - esp if you are wearing heels!

Don't forget to stop by the Writers' Museum (free again!).

It houses manuscripts and memorabilia belonging to Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Quotes are inscribed on the pavement outside!

Further down the road, you'll come to the Parliament Square - there you'd see the majestic St Giles Cathedral (with a statute of John Knox inside - u'd have to pay to take pics, tho), the Mercat Cross. Behind the Cathedral are the High Courts.

Don't miss the cobblestoned Heart of Midlothian - but keep your distance! Traditionally, people spit on it for luck!

Further down, you come to the City Chambers. I saw this memorial there which was similar to the one at the Taiping Lake Gardens back home!

There was this mime along the Royal Mile performing

John Knox's house is along the Royal Mile too.

There are also many shops selling nice souvenirs and oso value for money backpackers' inns along the Royal Mile.

At the other end is the Scottish Parliament. By the time i reached there, it was dark and closed. But it looked really impressive. Well, it should be - it cost in excess of 430 million pounds!!!!!!! It was a fiasco but no one was found to take the blame!

There are many other sights (like the one below - the tiny statute of Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye terrier who from 1858 to 1872 maintained a vigil over his master's grave!). Spend a few days at Edinburgh to take in all the sights. It's worth it!

Try to climb... err, walk up to Arthur's Seat just outside the town area. The pic taken above is by me old Nikon film camera in 1994. Lovely views of the town and the sunset!

Views of the Edinburgh skylines (did some effects thingy for the last 2):-

Edinburgh (2)

2006-05-20T20:36:00.000+01:00

The old part of the town is where the "fun" was for me! Lovely!

On the Lonely Planet's recommendation, i covered the main road in the old part of town - The Royal Mile!

It starts off at one end with the imposing Edinburgh Castle.

Edinburgh Castle

It would have been difficult for invaders to try to get into the castle from the side or the back.

As i've been in there before, and we din really have much time, we gave it a miss. But if you can afford it (time and money), spend at the very least half a day there!

From the Edinburgh castle, you can have some pretty nice views of the town, the old buildings. Loved it! :-)

Just outside the Castle, as you start to walk along the Royal Mile, there are many sights to see - the Camera Obscura, the Scotch Museum, the Highland Tolbooth Kirk. There was also this Tartan Weaving Mill and Exhibition - it was free! ;-)

There were mannequins on display...

...and real people doing the weaving!

And loads of cool stuffs on sale!

Oh, keep an eye open - you'll never know if you miss anything unexpected and interesting!

Edinburgh (1)

2006-05-20T16:38:00.000+01:00

Edinburgh is a beautiful place. A definately must-go for any travelers to the UK. It has everything - history, art, culture, shopping, food, sceneries and wonderful people speaking in lovely Scottish accents!

Unfortunately for us, the welcome was far from warm. We arrived by train at the very central ly located Edinburgh train station on the evening of Christmas eve. The train station was crazy - people were all getting ready to leave for their Christmas holidays, to return home or to visit some other place. Everything had that "last-minute" feel. After all, the place will "close down" for the next few days - some places even closing until the new year!

We went to get our reserved car from Europcar. Want some advice? Dun ever get your car from them. In spite of having proper reservations made weeks ago, i was told by a most unhelpful staff (his name is Barry) that there is no car for me! He was neither sympathetic nor apologetic. He just basically told me "Tough". Too bad. Yes, we know you have a reservation but sorry, we dun have a car for you! All they had for us is a Wolkswagen Transporter - a huge van without any windows on the side or back! Take it or leave it, we were told.

We had no choice. If we din take it, we'd be stuck in Edinburgh for a few days and that would ruin our plans completely - my travel mates had flight tickets booked out of Edinburgh in a few days time! Under normal circumstances, being "stuck" in Edinburgh is not a bad thing - but we were there on Christmas Eve which was a Friday and everything will be closed for the weekend and Christmas.

We took the van - reluctantly, of course. I've driven vans before but this is the biggest and broadest van i have ever driven. Take a look at it:-

I couldn't rely on the rear-view mirror since there is no rear windscreen! Parking was an absolute nightmare - thank God for patient people at Perth (that's another story).

But in the end, it din turn out that bad. I felt a little safe driving in the highlands cuz i know that the van was tough. It was powerful too - and it ran on diesel which prolly save us quite a bit of money.

So dun ever go to Europcar - altho when i returned the van, the staff was really nice and helpful - and he apologised for Barry's behaviour!

Anyways, Edinburgh. One of its uniqueness is the lay-out of the place. There is the old town and the new town - and u'd know which part of it you are in! And it is conveniently divided by the railway lines.

For the new part of town, there'll be all the nice new buildings and shopping areas. The girls had a nice time doing their post-Christmas sale shopping when we got back!

Here are some pics of the new town:-

There was a carnival-feel like atmosphere as everyone was ready for Christmas. A little ice-skating rink was set up along with a ferris wheel!

The railway lines which divides the city - bright lights of the new town on the left!

View of the new town from the old part.

One of the bridges across the railway lines to take you into the new town.

To be continued...

Bath - 23rd December 2005

2006-05-14T11:58:00.000+01:00

Bath is a lovely place! A must-go on my list if you are in the UK. And it's not just for the famous Roman Baths there. I just love the town of Bath - ironic since in the past, it was famous - or infamous - for being a pretty dirty place!!! No thanks to the amount of soot and dirt which comes out from the many chimneys - look out for them (you can see a pic of them below).

I love just walking around the town, in it's narrow alleyways (when i was there, it was close to Christmas so the decors were all up), the old buildings, the cobblestone lanes, the Pulteney Bridge with narrow shops on it, the Grand Royal Crescent!

Here are some pics of the town - this time round, i din get to hang around the town for long (as you can tell from the date of visit, it was a busy day - going to Windsor, then to the Stonehenge and finally ending at Bath) and it was getting dark when we arrived there.

Bath Abbey at dusk, chimneys, signs to main tourist attractions and the Abbey again!

Of course, the main attraction is the Roman Baths. I dun normally do this but i must strongly recommend Premium Tours if you want to go to Bath. You see, they have this special arrangements where they bring you on an exclusive guided tour around the Roman Bath Museum after closing hours!!!! Yeah, we had the whole place to ourselves - and seeing the baths lit up in the dark nite is truly special! Check out the pics below.

For those who wants to know more of the history or take a virtual tour (meaning see pics and read more about it) or just get more info, you can go here.

Stonehenge - 23rd December 2005

2006-05-06T23:10:00.000+01:00

To be honest, i wasn't really keen on going to Stonehenge. I've been there before and i din really think much of it. It's just some stones in the middle of nowhere - and the thing that irked me most is that (as the pamphlet say) "it is forever a mystery".

I guess that makes it attractive - it allows each individual to come up wif their own conclusions. Some say it is a "gargantuan astronomical calender" while others think it is a place for Sun worship and ritual sacrifice!

In any event, i would strongly recommend anyone who has not been there to go. It is after all "Europe's most famous prehistoric site" (Lonely Planet Great Britain).

The stones are arranged in 2 outer circles and 2 inner horseshoes - the inner horseshoe being aligned along the sun's axis on rising in midsummer and setting in midwinter.

I must confess that being there did evoke some sort of emotion in me. There was this feeling that i was in a place of great significance in prehistoric times, treading on ground which perhaps was once considered as hallowed!

Some might just say that i ahve a good imagination. Oh well...

Here are some pics - it was a nice and sunny winter evening when we were there!

Sun setting

Close up on some of the stones

Dusk

Self-potrait!

Sheep grazing nearby

Windsor Castle - 23rd December 2005

2006-04-30T16:33:00.000+01:00

It is known as the Official Residence of Her Majesty The Queen. And when u r there, look out for her flag - if it's flying, then she is in!

Here is what the website says about it:-

Windsor Castle is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world. A Royal home and fortress for over 900 years, the Castle remains a working palace today.

Visitors can walk around the State Apartments, extensive suites of rooms at the heart of the working palace. For part of the year visitors can also see the Semi State rooms, which are some of the most splendid interiors in the castle. They are furnished with treasures from the Royal Collection including paintings by Holbein, Rubens, Van Dyck and Lawrence, fine tapestries and porcelain, sculpture and armour.

Within the Castle complex there are many additional attractions, including the Drawings Gallery, Queen Mary's dolls' house, and the fourteenth-century St. George's Chapel, the burial place of ten sovereigns and setting for many Royal weddings.

Windsor is not far away from London. You can take a train there. But we went there as part of a tour (along with Stonehenge and Bath) so we went there by coach. The coach dropped us off at teh train station and we had a nice walk thru the town (the famous registrar's office where Elton John and Prince Charles got married - not to each other - was pointed out to us)!

The Castle is huge and interesting but the best bits are found in the inside. We were given almost 2 hours to wander aroundinside and we were shocked to find out that time just flew pass by! Lovely and lavish rooms! A pity they didn't let us take any photos of the inside.

Check out my pics of the exterior:-

For further information and for pics of the interior, go to the official site here.

Are your bags all packed?

2006-02-26T13:41:00.000Z

I love travelling - that's no secret! In the past couple of years, I've been privilleged to travel to many places. These trips have been most unforgetable. Admittedly, there has been low points and discomforts - like waiting for the bus which never came while being eaten alive by mozzies at the Miri bus station, the toilets at.... erm... nvm, the disagreements wif travelling mates, living off a back-pack etc. but these are just part and parcel of travelling and back-packing.

Waiting at King's Cross

It certainly does not take the gloss away! Travelling gave me the opportunity to see sights which are simply breathtaking! Sumtimes, looking at me old pics, it seems hard to belief that those pics werer taken by me - that i was there! It seems like a dream!

Then, there's the food! No secret oso of my love of eating - and my adventurous streak too! Yup, have eaten locusts in Bangkok, endangered terrapins in the jungles of Pahang, black pudding (made of pigs' blood) in Scotland (and haggis too! lovely!) etc.

Travelling oso has given me the opportunity to meet so many people - to me, this is one of the best things about travelling. There seems to be this comradeship among travellers - and strangers from different corners of the world can be the best of frens after just meeting for a short while.

Finally, travelling has made me discover more about myself!!!!

So this blog is meant to chronicle my travels while i am here in the UK. Each post (it'll be on a weekly basis - got too many blogs to manage!!!!) will be about a place that i've visited. I'll talk a lil about the background of the place, then go on about my personal experiences and this will be accompanied by lots of pics. I'll oso try to put in tips and advice for potential travellers (the kinds that you dun get from guide books!!!!).

p/s: This blog does not however include London or Colchester (i have photoblogs on those places - see links at the side).

p/p/s: for those who wanna fund me for more trips - so that i can blog more - lemme know! ;-P