A Change of Plans

Hey, hi, hello! I am reporting live from Tyndrum in the Scottish Highlands. This is my second night at By The Way Hostel in Tyndrum and I’m currently soaking my feet in freezing cold water to reduce the swelling of my ankle. Last night I stayed in a wonderful wood cottage called “Ness” and tonight I’m staying in a cute “Hobbit Hut” (see below). It’s so cute!! It has a TV, kettle, mini fridge and bed inside. Plus sockets!! I love electric sockets, they’re so hard to come by when you’re traveling and they are very underappreciated at home.

So to catch you up, yesterday was long and I didn’t feel like writing a post but basically I did the halfway point of the walk from Beinglas to Crianlarich (7 miles) with two other women and then we all caught the train one stop over to the end at Tyndrum, saving us having to do another 6 miles!

The trail followed a river and was full of waterfalls, at least 10. Below was the biggest view IMO:

My ankle was really starting to bother me and I was limping the last couple miles. It is now swollen again, and I’m limping everywhere :/ I decided to stay one more night here in Tyndrum and skip the rest of the trail, arriving at each destination (pre-booked accomodations) by bus or train. It was a choice I didn’t want to make but ultimately it wasn’t a hard one. I’m not that upset either, I’m really proud of myself and I know that if I didn’t have this injury I would have been able to finish it. Also I’ve already walked like 45 miles in 4 days so that’s pretty good by me. Plus I did all that in Edinburgh and the Lake District, so my goal of hiking in Scotland has been accomplished and I’m satisfied with that. There are way worse problems to have and ultimately everything is fine! I’ve walked over 75 miles this month already according to my trackers and it’s only May 10th.

I don't want to overdo it since I still have two more weeks here and I don’t wanna be stuck inside that whole time. Hopefully the few days rest will heal me in time for the isle of Skye and the Moray Coast.

Last night after checking in I hobbled up to the corner store called the Green Welly and then the Tyndrum Inn for some fish and chips with my new friends John (English), Isaac (German) and Adam (English). Then I watched some Bob’s Burgers on TV and iced my ankle and read.

This morning I took the train to Oban (“oh-bin”)! It’s a bay-side town famous for Whisky and seafood! The beauty of this change of plans is that I’m going to get to see more of the places in the highlands than I would have and I’m kind of happy about that.

The train was beautiful - so many views - I’m actually really glad I went on it just for that alone, but Oban was also extremely worth the 1 hour train. I wasn’t going to go there at all so it’s cool I got to see it.

Views from the train:

I walked to this rock because it’s called the Dog Stone and it’s a huge rock formation with a little tree and bushes growing on it!

The port itself is very cute and the weather today was perfect and sunny:

I then walked to the famous Oban Whisky distillery for a couple drams at the bar and then the Green Shack seafood shop for some salmon and took the train back to Tyndrum.

Spirits are high! xoxo