Okay, so after my rather drunken interlude in Inverness - where I also saw Loch Ness (no monster, though plenty of pics I can photoshop one into) and some of the Highlands (a couple of sword-wielding maniacs, but that's another story, which I can't tell without the pictures) - I finally moved on. I headed further north.
"Why on earth would you want to go further north?" you ask. *Shrug* Why not? I reply. I think the first reason I decided to go up more was because I fell in love with the scenery on the bus ride up, and decided I wanted to see more of it. Then I remembered about all the ancient Viking and Pict sites on the Orkney Islands, so I thought that would make a good end destination. And then I read that it is the right time of year to see puffins. That sealed it!
So I decided to go to Orkney by way of a little place called Helmsdale. I stopped there for no particluar reason - it has a memorial statue to the Clearances - the Scottish Diaspora - which I thought I'd like to see, and that was about it. The train pulled in, and I caught sight of the place from the station. It is this TINY little village with two dairies, five cafes, two pubs and a permanently locked set of public toilets.
The hostel there was little more than a hall with two rooms at one end - one for boys and one for girls. It had a very nice fire, but it doesn't let you stay inside during the day. We were kicked out at 10am, and then not let back in until 5pm! As you can imagine, when I arrived at 1pm and saw that the hostel didn't open for four hours, I was a little miffed. Especially given I was desperate for the loo! It was ok though - it wasn't raining, so I found the library which had a toilet, and then found a nice grassy sward upon which to sit and read my book for four hours. I wasn't able to do much else - like explore, for example - with my 25kg (or whatever it is now) backpack on!
The next day I spent half the morning on the internet, trying to book a hostel in Edinburgh (my next destination after Orkney) and then went for a walk. It looked like a nice gentle stroll on the map, and I thought it would be a pleasant way to spend the rest of the day. Heh. It said it would take two hours but I figured I'd stop to admire the view in a few places. So I set off up this hill, carrying three huge books and the rest of my bag (needed the books for finding a hotsel, and I couldn't drop them off cos the place was closed). It was a nice walk, and I saw some fantastic Highland scenery - heather, hills, glens, rivers... but I had no idea where I was on the map! So after two hours and some images of broken ankles and hypothermia, I decided to go back the way I had come, rather than trying to find the way any longer. Kept me busy though.
The next day - yesterday - I moved on, up to Orkney, where I arrived at 8pmish. I met a nice German couple on the way up, whom I hated because I miss Simon, and then found my hostel. It has free internet! But I have much more active things to do than sit here all day. I am off to the tourist office in a minute to find out if there is public transport to all these ancient sites I want to see. And puffins!
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