I've always enjoyed train journeys. Given that I take the train to Stirling for work (a 53 minute ride one way from E'burgh), I should be bored of travelling by the iron tracks. Not me!
This week-end, I took the train from E'burgh to Mallaig (a six and a half journey!). Upto Glasgow it wasn't a very inspiring journey, but the section from Glasgow to Mallaig is referred to as the 'West Highland Line' and is one of the most picturesque train journeys in the UK (in the world, some would argue).
The carriage I was in had its usual suspects - old couples, white track-suited (with hoods) youngsters with Irn Bru and beer cans in their hands, and Italian / Spanish tourists adding some colour to the otherwise silent journey. At fist the scenery was not too exciting, but slowly one could see the terrain changing and people started putting their books into their bags and taking out their cameras. But, as anyone who has tried to photograph beautiful landscapes through the closed window of a moving train knows, the moment you click a bunch of trees will materialise and block the view. And as soon as you switch off the camera, the trees will disappear and a clear view will appear - which you could have photographed easily if you had not made the mistake of giving up. After a couple of tries to photograph the turning-even-more-beautiful-by-the-minute scenery, I philosophically kept my camera aside and just took in the scenery.
From Fort William onwards the landscape became even more breathtaking - lochs, bens, glenns, streams, waterfalls, hills, wee towns, rocky inlets, and then as we neared the coast, beaches. Of course, this was enhanced by the obligatory sprinkling of horses, cows, and sheep.
Closer to Mallaig, the train passes over Glenfinnan Viaduct - made famous when Hogwarts Express was shown passing over it in one of the Harry Potter movies. They stopped the train over the viaduct and announced the Harry Potter connection and let everyone take photographs!
Mallaig is on the western end of Central Scotland and is used as a base to explore Isle of Skye and what are known as the 'Smaller Isles' of the inner Hebrides (Rum, Canna, Eigg, and Muck). It is a wee fishing village and there are some nice walks from where one can get dramatic views of the sea and these isles topped by clouds (this is Scotland, remember). Morar, about three miles south of Mallaig, had some beautiful beaches.
At the hostel I was staying in, I met this elderly gentleman who does surveys in the ocean. His job is to spot (and photograph) whales, dolphins, seals, and porpoises. His enthusiasm for his work was so infectious, that I actually enjoyed his monologue on the difference between Seals and Porpoises, Minky (sp?) Whales and Sperm Whales, Bottlenosed Dolphins and Atlantic White-sided Dolphin. He then proceeded to show me videos of the dolphins and whales he had spotted over the last 6-7 years. Inspired by him, on my walks next morning, I kept on looking at the choppy waters to see if I could spot (and identify) some of these creatures I had learnt about. And lo and behold, I spotted a group of seals. Fortunately, no one was around to see the embarassing look of glee on my face.
And then in true Scottish summer style, it started raining heavily and my plans of going on more walks in the area were (predictably) scuppered. I was first forced to kill time by taking a ferry to and back from Skye. Then, I took my custom to the local establishment ('The Marine Bar') where I rubbed shoulders, over a beer, with the fisherman who were engrossed in a game of football which I didn't particularly care about.
The train back from Mallaig was a disappointment as it was raining non-stop (rather heavily, by British standards) and I could see nothing but rain drops and dark clouds out of the carriage windows. So I put my camera in my backpack and took out my book.
