Day 5: Rest Day in Tyndrum

Although it had been suggested that I could go to Oban on the train for the day, I couldn`t see any reason to do so and decided to just have a quiet day with a couple of short walks to explore the town.

Tyndrum (Tine-drum) is a very small village right on the A82 with a campground,

 several large hotels that cater to busloads of tourists, some modest homes

the Inn where I stayed,

a couple of stores:

Brodie`s (on the right side is where the WHW leaves the village)

 

and the Green Welly where all the tour buses and motorcyclists stop, to say nothing of all the WHW hikers. It`s a busy place, with a gift shop, a small grocery shop, and 2 full restaurants.

 

 

There are also 2 train stations. Lower Tyndrum is where to catch the train to Oban and Upper Tyndrum is for the line between Fort William and Glasgow. I walked up to the Upper Tyndrum Station to have a look, since the train I take on the way home will stop here. Getting there means going up a very steep hill but the road was switchbacked to make it easier. Here`s the view from partway up.

I also spent part of the day sitting on the sunny patio at the Tyndrum Inn, drinking copious amounts of green tea, listening to music on my mp3 player. What better than Monteverdi Vespers, Samuel Barber`s Adagio, the exquisite Allegri Misere and Yoyo Ma on his cello - I could almost see his smiling face - while looking at that view!

 

In the afternoon I admired people`s gardens. There were still daffodils everywhere. In Scotland daffodils are abundant, not only in gardens, but along highways, and in common areas.

 

 

These rhododendrons look almost ready to bloom. I saw some beautiful ones in Milngavie.

 

In Scotland, though, rhodos are considered an invasive species and there are on-going efforts to eradicate them.

 

These are some wooden sculptures.

 

In the evening I had a very nice dinner in the Tyndrum Inn bar. In honour of our 47th wedding anniversary today, May 21, I had a glass of wine. Don and I had spoken earlier in the day using our Scottish mobile phones/sim cards to congratulate each other and reminisce a bit.

 

Tomorrow: off to Bridge of Orchy and Inveroran

 

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