Loch Lomond

 

I’d been wanting to visit Loch Lomond for far too long and I’d never had the opportunity. Well, I’ve finally done it! I don’t think I would’ve ever gone there had it not been for Paulinka and Paweł. They took me there on the a few days ago, we spend the night and went back home the next day. That’s in short. The longer version goes more or less like this:

We agreed to go on Wednesday, 5th May. The day was pleasant with occasional spells of sunshine, I took the underground to meet them in the West End and from where we drove (in Paweł’s car) to Lidl to get some supplies (food and cheap German beer). Not long after we’d left Glasgow, the landscape became charmingly Scottish: vast open space with narrow, meandering roads and dotted with old houses.

Scotland on a sunny day

After a not so long journey interrupted by one stop at a bank and another at a shop, we reached the loch. At first it, the shore looked terribly crowded. There were a few campsites, yacht marinas and what not. We drove a bit further north along the right (eastern) shore until a suitable parking spot could be found.

No parking? So what?

So, the plan was that Paulinka and I would continue the route on foot and Paweł would go to the hostel by car as he needed to be there earlier because he was working. We only had several minutes before Paweł would leave us but before that happened, we all drank some beer and spend the time sitting on the rocks and talking.

Paweł’s last piece of advice was that, to find the hostel, we just needed to made our way along the shore. And then he drove off.

No later than after 10 or 20 minutes did it turn out that he should’ve said ‘follow the trail’.

It was the first out of many times that found ourselves in a difficult terrain. A huge rocky wall loomed out of nowhere in front of us, forcing us to climb up a steep hillside.

But it wasn’t too bad ‘cause the view from the top was, yet again, beautiful.

Yes, the scenery was really nice and for this (and some other) reasons, we took a break far too often. One time as we were resting, a duck came towards us. It probably wanted to be fed but we had nothing to give it except for crisps. I guess Paulina thought it was a good idea to feed the duck with crisps and that’s exactly what she did. More birds soon joined the feast.

Loch Lomond ducks enjoy crisps

The views were simply breathtaking (am I repeating myself?)

After walking for another hour or so, Paulinka announced that she knew where we were and that it was very close to the hostel. Without hesitation, I smoked a ‘victory cigarette'. Afterwards, the road got almost impassable. The footpath had disappeared and because it was very difficult to go on, we were forced to climb up a steep slope while avoiding getting caught in thorny bushes. At the top, we realised that we had no idea where were were and how to get back on the trail. The only way out of there led several metres down again onto a flat area which then turned out to be a bog. Our feet got wet and muddy but we kept up our spirits (we even made some silly video clips but I’m not going to publish them!). We reached the shore again and though it best not to lose sight of it ever again. It was time for another break, especially that it had got colder and we needed to put some more clothes on and to have something to drink and eat. If I now remember correctly, there was only a can of beer and some crisps, which Paulina ,thankfully, hadn’t given to the ducks, left.

As we were sat there, we saw something we’d never expected to see in that place. A human being! My initial thought was that we weren’t lost after all and that that route was frequented, albeit not very often. So I quickly rose to my feet and ran to ask him how to get back on the footpath. He said he didn’t know ‘cause he was lost too! Although he looked a bit Spanish, he turned out to be a German guy travelling around Scotland, mostly on foot. We offered him some beer and together headed in the direction of the hostel. The conversation went quite nicely and it wasn’t long before we started seeing first sings of civilisation.

After what was almost 5 hours since Paweł dropped us off, we finally managed to find the hostel. And even though we were really tired, we knew that the next day was going to be even more exhausting.