Back to Inverness, Onward to London

I ascend a spiraling staircase of our hostel in Inverness, triumphant from our recent campaign up Ben Nevis. We have again arrived at Inverness, via bus ride. Here at Highlander Hostel we came back to recharge our batteries and prepare for the journey to London. We take it easy for the day and enjoy another group home cooked meal; this time it was tacos. We all ended up staying in that night playing poker. Using puzzle pieces and connect-four chips and drinking Stella from wine glasses we start a series of games. I ended up going out on an ace high flush to a four of a kind.



The next morning we leave mid afternoon for an overnight bus ride to London. It is one of the uncomfortable situations I have been in. No only are the seats uncomfortable but the bus ride in general is jaring. The seat recline about 1 degree, just enough for them to add a lever specifically for this 1 degree of decline, which does nothing for one's comfort level. With the bus ride we also got a little kids that like to use the back of my seat as a punch device, a mom that has no control over that kid and a dad that is passed out snoring loudly. In addition there are two more kids in the back of the bus yelling and giggling the entire trip. We get to London at 7:30am, I've had roughly 2hours of sleep in 5 and 10 minute intervals. I am exhausted.

Wei: 1, Ben Nevis: 0

Standing in the first corner hailing from Wichita, KS USA with no previous mountaineering experience what so ever, a limited arsenal of budget winter gear adapted to mountaineering, and standing at 1.75meters (5ft 9in) is the challenger Wei Hu. In the second corner hailing from Lochaber, Scotland standing 1,344meters (4,000 feet) the undisputed tallest mountain of the United Kingdom, Ben Nevis. This clash between David and Goliath is probably not that uncommon as Ben Nevis attracts over 1,000 people annually. But before I reveal the outcome of this battle, I must first disclose the nature of this adventure and how it came to be.



The spark of this idea ignited in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. While shopping for Gene's boots in various adventure stores, we were told of a land rich with outdoor adventures. Naturally we were intrigued by such an idea and with no real deadline to get to London we further researched this initiative. Gene and I had to gather additional gear if we were to survive the summit attempt. Lacking in long underwear and gloves, I set out on a quest to buy those essential items that would allow the realization of such a summit. After checking with several outdoor stores, clothing stores and any stores in general that we thought might have long underwear, we discovered that items we were looking for were well out of season, it is spring here in the highlands of Scotland. The only sizes I could find were XL and XXL. I decided to wait and hope that Fort Williams would have our much needed supplies.

Following Loch Ness and Loch Lochy southeast of Inverness brings along the small town of Fort William. About an hour's hike southwest of Fort William is the smaller town of Glen Nevis. It is there where we set our scene. We booked a hostel that claims to be at the base of the trail leading to Ben Nevis, perfect. In Fort William, Gene and I were finally able to come across affordable gloves and long underwear that were not two sizes too big. With our new found budget gear, we came to a conclusion that we would camp at the lake, a little under half way up to the summit. The next day we would tackle the summit.

On April 20, 2008 9:30am, we head into town with the minimum of camping supplies and photography gear. At the Morrison's, local grocery store, we buy £18.36 ($36.72) which gets us two day's supply of mackerel, cheese, bread, raisins, and snack bars. From the town of Fort William, 40 meters above sea level, we hike towards Ben Nevis, 1,344 meters above sea level. It is about an hour hike from Fort William to the foot of Ben Nevis, with fresh legs it's cake.




The base of the trail starts near a farm where goats scatter across the landscape. We are greeted with "blaaaahs" as walk by the grazing animals. The ground is rocky but the rocks are similar in size and create a nearly level walking surface. The trail gradually climbs up the side of the mountain via switchbacks, zig zags. The farther up in elevation we climb the rougher the terrain. The trail, outlined by rocks, differ more and more in size as we ascend. Large boulders and smaller rocks slow our ascent. The sound of trickling water appears around every bend and small waterfalls breakup the trail. Selecting our footing carefully we scale side of Ben Nevis and run into several other hikers that are on their way down. Amongst them was a local with his dog. Apparently the townies that hike Ben Nevis all know each other and we easily stood out. Two more trips and it would his dog's 200th climb to the summit. If his dog was about to hit number 200 it was clear that he knew the mountain like the back of his hand. He greeted us and questioned our intent with concern. You don't have a cell phone? No real compass except for your GPS? no crampons? He shared several good tips and even gave us a small maps of the summit. We took pictures and continued up.


We reach the lake around late afternoon. At roughly 600 meters (2,000 feet) above sea level we setup base camp and retired for the day. Nate and I setup our sleeping bags and bivy sacks while Gene setup his new tent that he got from his hiking shoe purchase. We watched as the last of climbers descended the mountain and tired from our climb we fell asleep pretty quickly.

The temperatures dropped below freezing and I awoke to a sound of a distant goat "blaaaaahh". I quickly unzipped my bivy sack which happened to face west. It was around 8pm, the sun was just setting and entire valley slowly darkened. At the edge of the mountain as the half oval sun made its departure two shadows appeared. As the sunset became less intense I could make out a better outline of the two silhouettes. It looked like a pair of deer, but I am unsure. They moved towards our camp putting the lake between them and us. The skies darkened even more to where I had no interest. I re-zipped my bivy to conserve heat and attempted to go back to sleep.

The winds seem to pick up at night. It almost seemed like someone was shaking my bivy sack. The gusts came and went suddenly and abruptly. There would be long instances of peace and quiet between strong gusts. I fell alseep for a while and then awoke again as a strong wind shook and whipped the fabric of the bivy sack across my face. Again, I un-zipped the bivy and peered out. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness and the sky was crystal clear. The stars had come out, but I noticed they were fading. To the east a strong orange glow was emerging from the side of the mountain. I watched as the light became more and more intense to where it eventually drowned out the sparkle of the stars. It was the moon, a full moon in fact. I was so bright that it seemed like a light bulb in the sky.

April 21, 2008 we awoke with the sun and packed up camp around 9:30. Carrying only food and storing more of our other equipment in Gene's tent we departed to tackle the larger half of the summit. The paths are even steeper and more uneven. Snow begins to replace the ground we walk on. When we started our journey there were several hikers that had already reached our altitude. They passed us with great velocity with their snow ready shoes. The snow trails are much harder to navigate. The snow itself is hard and additional strength is needed to dig in for proper footing. At this point I am walking on the edges of my boots. In order to achieve proper and safe footing you much angle your step into the mountain, much like how a snowboard or ski cuts into the mountain.

The snow gets harder and harder the further up we ascend. At the snow line where the rock steps stop and the snow trails begin, I start to see people turning around. The hikers who passed us with great haste are now turning around claiming that the snow is too much. The view from here is amazing, our tent at base camp is now a tiny dot while squinting. We continue our trek upwards. At this point the wind starts to pickup. Strong gusts warrant a 45 degree lean into the wind just to maintain safe footing. We dig deep and continue onward taking breaks and shelter amongst the few rocks that inhabit this altitude. The mountain slopes inward and upward at this point to where we can no longer see our base camp.


At the top and wind is blowing my hood so loudly that I can barely hear Nate who is about an arm's length away. A whiteout occurs to where the ground and sky blend together in sheet of whiteness. Following the trail of footprints in the snow we finally make it to the summit where after a series of cliffs, sits an emergency shelter. The joy of making it to summit was quickly ends as the weather gets worse and we decide that its better if we depart from the peak. The visibility at this point is about 10feet. Small birds fly around in this weather which absolutely amazed me. They were getting tossed around at the mercy of the winds; Nevertheless they seemed content on staying. After taking several pictures we walk by the cliffs yet again. At this point a group of four ice climbers are just now reaching the summit. With crampon's and an ice axle in each hand, they tell us that the climb was pretty quick at 4hrs 35mins. That duration on a ice seem insane to me.

We had conquered the tallest peak in all of the United Kingdom, now the tough part is getting down. The once tough to climb snow is no problem on the descend. We take short cuts from the switchbacks by sliding down on the snow. The weather warms with each step I take and the layers of clothing starts to come off. There are many grooves in snow where people had already slid down. We make it back to the base hostel around 5pm and pack up all of our gear that we left at the hostel. Once again fully loaded with our equipment we trek back to Fort William. That hour walk was killer on the knees, but we managed to make it to town Fort William and find a room around 6pm. After a much deserving shower, we decided to treat ourselves for our conquering of Ben Nevis to a steak dinner around the corner. Tonight I will get the best sleep I've had in a long time.

Inverness

Inverness is located in northern Scotland proclaimed the capital of the Highlands of Scotland. Our bus journey from Edinburgh was a slide show of forests, streams and snow caped mountains. Green moss covers much of the ground and epiphytes cling to every nook and cranny. Inverness has a small town feel. It reminds me of Dingle in Ireland, only slightly larger.

Our hostel here is top notch and upon our arrival we meet Jamie, a Hawaiian working at the hostel. She tells us that there will be a group dinner tonight and the sound of a home cooked meal sounded delicious. We walked around the town during the day and finally found spare fuses for my power adapter. That night several people from the hostel gathered for a chilli and nachos.

The next day we take a boat ride on Jacobite's Reflections Tour. The journey crosses the Caledonian Canal into Loch Ness and to Urquhart Castle. The main reason for this tour was Loch Ness. With our cameras ready we stayed on top of the tour boat ready to shoot. Unfortunately, Nessie did not make an appearance and to my disappointment it was not the promised ultimate magical Loch Ness experience. I have yet to examine all my photos. Perhaps a glimpse of the beast will be found in my many photos that I took.



That night we went on a pub crawl with the people at the hostel. Jamie the Hawaiian, Jamie number 2 the Aussie, John, and Tim, two Canadians, and a Brazilian whose name I forgot all went out. We started a pub where a live band played. It seems that there are more live bands in bar here in Europe than in the states. The bands kind of reminds me of the bar atmosphere in Austin, the live music capital of the US. We ended up going to a club where they had mechanical bull riding. We each took turns trying to set a record. I was only able to get 27sec before being thrown off. It was a good time.

Exploring Edinburgh

The proper way to say Edinburgh is Edin-bra. Just below Glasgow in size she is the second largest city in Scotland, but its character is far more interesting than her bigger sister. As I have mentioned before the views are so amazing and dramatic that it is difficult to imagine that all this could all be located in the same city.

Today we decided to explore some of the farther attractions that the city had to offer. The weather was again flaky. The sun dictated the climate hiding behind clouds, followed by a short appearance and then hiding behind clouds again. Rain trickled down every once and a while, but it never lasted very long. Edinburgh has a much smaller town feeling then Glasgow. The traffic is not as thick and the building are quite a bit shorter.

Our first destination is the Royal Botanical Gardens. It is about a 20 minute walk from our hostel and initially the weather is sunny. Gene and Nate rejoice in the good weather.



The season here in Scotland is still early spring. Most of the plant life were in the early budding stages. If our visited would have been a little bit later I am sure our views would have much more spectacular. Nonetheless the gardens were well groomed and purposefully crafted. The land acreage is huge and we are only able to explore a small portions of the landscape. Waterfalls and ponds hide around every corner.


On our way back from the gardens, we stop at various shops to see if there are any affordable meals. The dollar is worth half a pound and everything seems expensive. I spot Desi Sandwiches, a small shop on the corner of the street we were stopped at. Upon entering we speak to an extremely talkative Pakistani. After learning I was from China, the smile on his face grew even wider. "Pakistan and China are very close friends. If you go to Pakistan everyone will like you". He even offered us a discount on our lunch and threw in extra sides for us to try.

I decided to get the Chicken Kebabs with free sides of Chick Peas and Lentos. He explained that Lentos were probably one of his favorite sides. This was probably the first time I had lentos. We continued to talk about the international relations between China and Pakistan. He says that China is probably Pakistan's best friend. I had no idea that their relationship was so great but apparently China has had a guiding hand in the economic growth of Pakistan and much of the investments are coming from China. We continue to talk politics and slowly conveys his idea that the past decade it was all about America while this coming decade will all be all about China. It still amazes me how politically involved people outside the US are. It makes me feel like I need to read up on more issues.

We are offered tea and end up staying longer. More "regulars" of the store come in and it is obvious that this guy has a outstanding rapport with the locals. His father walks into the shop and he quickly jumps into the conversations. We continue to talk about politics and then more on to religion. Once again Osama Bin Laden's name is mentioned. He tells us how Islamic views are now generalized by American media. He tells us that every group has extremists and that the Islamic faith is no different. The people that commit the terrorist acts are part of a small extremists group and that their views in no way depicts Islamic views. He continues to tell us about the Qur'an and how similar it is to the traditional Christianity views. It was probably one of the most enlightening conversations I've had.

The next attraction on our agenda was to visit the Palace of Holyrood House. This palace is the Queen's official residence in Scotland. The tour price was kind of steep, but with nothing else in that area we decided to take it. A lot of history is given, but again photography is not allowed inside the house. There is much history in the house and a lot of the original furniture and household items are still intact. One tidbit of information I thought was pretty interesting is that the Queen's bodyguards were a group of skilled archers and that they were the oldest form of bodyguards ever used. They still use the gardens to practice their archery skills. It was an interesting exhibit, but if I had to do it again I probably would have skipped it.

Edinburgh Castle

The city of Edinburgh lies just east of Glasgow. Buses leave from Glasgow to Edinburgh roughly every 15 to 20 minutes. Leaving by foot from the etap hotel from across the river, we caught the 9:15am bus in the city center. The ride was quick and upon entering the outskirts of the Edinburgh the views became intriguing as old structures from the past come into sight. These enduring relics litter our journey into the city center. I am teased with glimpses of all the history that Edinburgh has to offer. We arrived to Edinburgh just before lunch.

I asked a couple of smokers on break outside a nearby store. "Excuse me, do you know of any hostels near by?". The routine is by now second nature. Luckily one them knew of hostel of that sort. Europe has a ban on indoor smoking and because of that it has been extremely easy to find people to ask questions.

A short walk later we found Edinburgh Tourist City Hostel. For a 10 pounds a person we were able to have a 4 bed room to ourselves. Luckily enough there was a nearby wifi source which was open. This was incredibly good news as the internet has been difficult to come by recently. After dropping off our main bags we left to grab food and explore the city.

The hostel is located pretty much in the center of the city. Upon exiting the hostel, I was immediately able to see several historic buildings. Every direction I turned another uniquely distinct building towers up over the the other structures. The main attraction, Edinburgh Castle, is massive and sits atop of a mossy green cliff over the city center.

Gene and Nate stopped for lunch. And upon exiting the grocery store some how we lost Gene. Nate and I returned to the store to wait for him, but he never showed up. The park is directly across Princess Street, a main road in Edinburgh. The park dips below street level where skillfully groomed landscape flows along the rectangular shaped park. Instead the park there is a water fountain, church and even an amphitheater. I eventually met up with Gene inside the park while Nate ate his lunch on the bench. Reunited once again we walked towards the Castle.

Once we reach the Castle gates it became pretty obvious that this was a huge tourist attractions. Buses are parked all along the road leading up to the front gates. Eleven pounds later we entered the front door and explored the wide views of Edinburgh city below.

Below is an HDR image of one of the view points.

The Castle itself is composed of many different museums. Most of the exhibits are about the history of the Scottish Army. All the little entryways lead to another themed museum including weapons, history, medals, etc.


The cobble stone streets spiral upwards to flat terraces of the castle. Canons line the edges of the walls. Each circle brought us higher to the peak and rewards us with a much wider view of the city below. At the very top of the Castle is a square. A church surrounded by more plainly looking structures. The church housed much of the Castle's history and the building along side it were more museums capturing various roles of the castle; from housing prisoner's of war to sheltering wounded Scottish soldiers.


The main attraction in the Castle itself was the crown jewels. A brief walk through several rooms gives the history of the jewels, how they were smuggled, hidden and once again found. The last display houses the actual jewels. To our disappointment most of these museums did not allow photography, so most of our shots came from outside the Castle.

Lazy Sunday in Glasgow

It is Sunday. I'm feeling lazy. There is no plan. We got up and just started wandering around the city. It seems like everything is shut down. All the attractions are unavailable. Here are some pictures of what we found.


This is called the Armadillo. It kind of reminds me of the Sydney Opera House. Mama Mia was playing there at the time.


The structure below rotates with the wind. I was actually able to step onto the base of it as it swayed slowly with the winds.

Glasgow, the Most American City in Scotland

A plane ride from Belfast to Glasgow is less than an hour. We did not plan ahead and got stuck paying full price for a RyanAir fare, never again!

Upon arrival to the Prestwick Airport we took a coach to Glasgow which was actually a descent ride away. It began to sleet during the ride over. The city rose into view slowly as skyscrapers emerged in the distance. The building of Glasgow are the tallest yet on this trip. We are dropped off at the bus station in the center of the city amidst a unfamiliar but typical urban environment.

Immediately we do what comes natural, we find the first affordable place to eat. We ask the owners if they know of a hostel near by. He points us on a heading towards the river. "There is a cheap one right down by the river, 10 pounds a night I believe" he explained.

With the weight of all my belongings and a freshly eaten meal I drag my feet towards the general direction of the hostel. The entire time I think to myself that I've packed too much. Never do I think this while I'm sitting in a cozy internet cafe or a hostel surfing the web, updating my blog, or chatting with friends. But right in that instance with each step I vowed that I will send home some unnecessary items as soon as I reach a large city.

On our journey towards the hostel we hopped over to a pedestrian street. This street is free of automobile traffic and is full of stores and people. Glasgow officially became Scottish in my mind when I saw some kilt wearing street performers.

We arrive at the hostel only to find that it is once again full booked. If we are having this much luck finding a place to stay during the off season I wonder how difficult it will be once the weather warms up. Thankfully the receptionist was able to call around and find a reasonable hotel.

Across and south of the river is the Etap Hotel. At 32pounds for a room, we found a bunk bed and a twin bed. The rooms come furnished with plain white walls, blue steel railings that weld together for form the frames of the beds and a brightly colored yellow door. A single 12 inch LCD TV sits at one corner of the room and a small single glass panel window sits opposite that corner. A piece of wood is secured to wall adjacent to the bed forming a small table and night stand and a single plastic chair placed next to it. Besides that there is no other furniture. The bare minimalism of the room instantly reminded me of a prison cell.

That night we ventured out to the pub and club district of the Glasgow. The hostel receptionist had given me a map of the city, with a large pen drawn rectangle box in the middle. "That's where all the pubs and clubs are, you'll want to go there tonight" she replied while pointing to that general area.

Nathan picked out a pub. Two elderly ushers opened the brass double doors letting us in. Immediately after making our way to the bar I noticed that the average age of the clientel was probably the combined age of me Gene and Nate. I suggested another venue which we all quickly agreed upon.

We arrived at the Revolution Vodka Club which was more our style. On the left was the bar and on the right up 3 steps was the dance floor where the DJ was spinning, as Nate called it, "good techno music". I would consider this venue as more a pub than a club as no one was really dancing.

I noticed a group of girls all wearing pink cowboy hats and started talking to one of them who was standing next to us. It turns out she had just moved to Glasgow from South Africa. Her last name is of Scottish descent and by that merit alone she is able to claim a status equal to our equivalent of a green card; Able to work and stay in Scotland without the limitation on time. I think to myself that its too bad China doesn't share the same policies, as I will undoubtedly have to apply for a visa down the road.

The pub was getting ready to shutdown and the girls told us that they were all going to a club called ABC's. "Its located on Sucky Hole Street" she yelled into my ear over the DJ's "good techno beats". "You can just ask anyone. Everyone knows that street" she continued.

The girls left and we stayed to finish our beers. I knew that Nate might have a hard time getting into the club with "trainers", what they call athletic shoes, but the idea of a street with that name was good enough for us to at least check it out.

After asking several pedestrians where Sucky Hole Street was, we arrived at Sauchie Hall Street. We were vastly disappointed with this discovery, but we continued to explore all that Sauchie Hall Street had to offer.


At first glance, it reminded me of Mass Street in Lawrence, KS. However I was quickly redirected to that fact that it was not; Cars were driving on the wrong side of the road, the street stretches farther than Mass St, and there were exponentially more people out walking around than Mass.

This street is littered with late night food venues, clubs and pubs. Lines, or as people here call it queues, of people distinctly identify where the clubs were. ABC club was easily found as the queue was so long that it looped back around to where the end of the queue was at the same position as the start of the queue. We decided to walk the length of the street before committing, but eventually we came back and waited.

Five pounds later I walked into the first floor of the club, where I was met with queue for coat check. ABC club was huge. It has two dance floors. The larger one on the top floor is connected to a bar area. Techno spins on the first floor's smaller dance area and what I could only describe as a cheezy mix of rock and oldies, filled the top floor. It was a good night!