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I didn’t get to see much of Glasgow unfortunately, as I was too tired to wake up early, and I’m leaving this morning. But the few streets I’ve seen were beautiful!

Today I’m taking the train to the great North, well, to Inverness. However, it so happens that the railroad goes through the western perimeter of Cairngorms NP. We got some wonderful sights, and the more we climbed, the whiter the scenery got. Indeed, when reaching the highest point of the trip, all the hills around where covered in snow, offering majestic views of snowy wonderland.

On a side note, I’m amazed at how quick Brits will connect with total strangers, especially in the train. For the whole trip, I had in my car two women who never met before, but here they were, telling their entire life stories and some random anecdotes about their family. And it’s not the first time I hear that kind of conversation. On the negative side, this being a normal thing here, they were talking quite loudly, and the entire carriage could here them. It sometimes make for very noisy travels (the Dublin-Belfast train I took a few days ago was the loudest shit known to mankind I swear.)

I got off the train in the small town of Aviemore, which is nothing more than a mountain resort, but is conveniently located inside the National Park. I went for a quick easy hike to a viewpoint. However, I had my entire backpack on me, plus the daybag full of food, and I wore a thick sweater, my coat, and a thermal underpant. Needless to say, I struggled a lot. Despite the snow on the ground (and the fact that Aviemore is the coldest destination of the tour so far), I was suffocating, and soon enough I was covered in sweat. I reached an early panoramic view over Aviemore’s valley and the white Cairngorms in the distance, that was some truly awe-inspiring moment.

I get back down and get a drink. By now I was cooling down, and the sweat made me freeze while waiting the train. Lesson learned: don’t go hiking with the full gear. Either do a day-trip, or find a locker.

The sun was setting in a pink-orangey sky while I ride the lightning-fast (compared to earlier) train to Inverness. The hostel is close to the station, and is very cosy. I found some cheap but tasty food and got back. So far I really like this town.

Oh yeah, and I tried to edit a video on phone, the result is absolutely terrible. Check it out: