feet first

Sometimes when travelling you just land on your feet...

I'm on a fairly fluid leg of my trip with little planned except to get to Glasgow by Monday. After the bunker and Discovery I made my way up towards the central highlands. I stopped in at an information centre at a local town to arrange accomodation for that night at a remote tourist village, Braemen. Two B&Bs apparently had rooms but I decided to chance a booking at one of the hostels and as my call went to voice mail I hit the road with nothing booked.

Some 30 odd miles, an hour and a bit later, and after some of the most awesome mountain scenery I have seen in my life, I arrived only to find there was "no room at the Inn" and they weren't even offering me a barn. I resorted to calling a lodge 25 minutes back down the road at the Spittal of Glenshee, a church, hotel, lodge and three houses. They where happy to oblige me a bed and breakfast so I back tracked past the snow topped mountains, ski lifts, mountain streams and red deer. A warm welcome awaited me at the lodge, which is surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Keen to get a pint and some food I made my way down to the local hotel. Did I strike it lucky or what? While normally this time of year the hotel would cater to a "busload of the blue rinse set" tonight was a reunion for ex-SAS and a birthday bash from Edinburgh so they'd bought their own band and bagpipes. I met Travis and Emma, who have been staff at the hotel for about two years and are about to head back to Australia, and some of the other staff, mostly from Eastern Europe. The pipe music, band, conversation and many pints made for a wonderful evening.

And then to wake up, albeit a little later and sorer than expected, to some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. There will be photos when I can upload them but they won't do the place justice.

Had I turned up on another night; had I organised a place to stay beforehand; had Braemen not been chockers full of walkers; I would never have met these people, had such a wondeful experience and not woken up to such amazing countryside. I'm philisophically opposed to the idea of luck, but sometimes one just strikes it lucky.