Randsburg – A Ghost Town in California

No, we were not chasing ghosts in California… or were we?

Wikipedia defined Ghost Towns as abandoned villages, towns or cities after the economic activity that they supported has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods or war. There are many ghost towns in the USA as a result of the economic boom due to gold, coal, minerals mining and their subsequent depletion. Some of these ghost towns are now commercialized and turned into tourists attractions (or some might say tourist traps) like Calico in California and Oatman in Arizona.

Randsburg is a “living ghost town” in California with a population of less than 80 that I think still retains its original charm. We were told that most of the residents are old people who have lived here all their lives whilst their off-springs moved out to the bigger cities in search for work and more vibrant lifestyles.

Randsburg grew to a population of 2,500 when gold was discovered here in 1895 and many amenities including a post office, opera house, grocery stores, bars, barber and even a jail cell were constructed. When the gold was depleted, most of the people left the town, leaving everything behind.

There is a museum for tourists but it was closed when we were there. In fact, except for a bar run by an old man, everything was closed when we visited on a warm Friday afternoon in June. The town was empty except us three and a couple of residents sitting in front of the bar.

As we wandered along the lonely street (with the kind of tranquility you cannot imagine), we saw 2 fire-fighters doing some renovation to their new offices. We chatted casually and they offered to show us the interior of the fire engine. How cool was that! But we didn’t want to hold them back from their work so we continued walking after taking a couple of pictures.

A little humour goes a long way

We then met a retired couple who moved INTO the ghost town after buying an old abandoned house and renovated it. The husband worked on his off-road vehicles in the garage and they would go off-roading in the desert nearby when the weather was right. It was interesting to see how they were unfazed by the many dilapidated and haunted-looking houses around them. They were actually enjoying their stay because the town was so quiet! As people always say, it’s all in the mind and imagination can be very powerful.

At some point, we actually thought the town felt a bit eerie, especially when we wandered near dilapidated buildings and imagined there were people looking at us. IMAGINATION!!!

Before leaving the town, we sought respite from the heat and re-hydrated ourselves at the one and only place open for business that day – the bar. We met the owner and his son who told us some of their interesting life stories. It was heart-warming to hear that the son intended to move back into the town because of his aging dad who lost his other half not too long ago and also because he loved the place. Awwwww……

Bar owner and his son

Randsburg is a pretty fascinating town with its fair share of old and new (modern) stuffs. The fact the ghost town was probably in its most “ghostly” state ever when we were there, i.e. lacking the presence of tourists, it truly exuded an eerily peaceful charm. If you are driving along Highway 395, do turn in and have a look at this Living Ghost Town.

The colourful and somewhat old western texas-movie styled buildings were also great photo opportunities especially since the town is quiet.

It was my first proper visit to a Ghost Town and it is interesting to learn the facts and see what a place can turn into. It was an eye-opener.

Have you been to a ghost town? Also check out what other places to visit in the USA here.

Dariel 3 June, 2014 California, USA 2 Comments

Skydiving From 10,000ft in the Desert Sky

Back when I was living in Dubai, Evan suggested that we go skydiving in Umm Al Quwain (UAQ) after we were bumped off an over-booked flight to Jordan. UAQ is one of the 7 Emirates that makes up the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and was the only place to do sky diving in 2006.

Still pissed over the botched trip, I readily agreed.

We arrived at the Umm Al Quwain Aeroclub, changed into our gear and received our less-than 5-minutes “training” which basically tells us what to do before and after we jumped out of the plane at 10,000ft.

While we were sitting around waiting for our plane, fear started creeping in. Thoughts started running through our heads with things like “What the hell were we thinking??!!” A little too late for that though.

The next thing we know, we were looking at the desert and the Arabian Gulf from a different viewpoint as the plane climbed higher into the sky. The droning of the plane’s engine was relaxing me, hypnotic at times. I was enjoying the view with intermittent disruptions by another sky diver who was taking a video of us.

When the time came, one of the divers (the guy you see at the bottom-right corner of the photo above) walked towards the door and jumped out without hesitation whatsoever. He even turned to face us and gave us the thumbs-up while free-falling backwards! He was so darn cool!

Evan was next in the queue and I was last. All I could remember was the instructor did one big rocking motion at the door and then we were flying! Well, actually we were falling.

That’s my instructor and me jumping out of the plane

It was simply exhilarating and so liberating!

While I was still immersed in the whole free-falling experience, my instructor pulled the parachute and asked “Do you like roller coaster?” After I said “yes”, he started to swirl us both around the sky skillfully, making sure I was enjoying the rest of our way down.

Evan landed safely and with style with her handsome instructor!

Skydiving – it was a ride (jump) of a lifetime and definitely adrenaline-filled! But maybe I will need A LOT of persuasion to do it again 🙂

Have you tried skydiving before? Click here to find out other interesting activities in the UAE.

Dariel 17 May, 2014 Middle East, UAE 7 Comments

Awesome Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt

In my previous post on Egypt, I shared my experiences and thoughts of Alexandria which were pretty interesting. Cairo presented a very different side of Egypt, in fact something closer to what we were expecting – polluted, congested (with people and cars) and a lot more tourists.

Pyramids of Giza

Our first destination in Cairo was the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Our driver drove through the city and the next thing we know, we were standing right next to one of the world’s greatest structures, the pyramids. Everyone knows from books, documentaries, etc. that the pyramids are big. But frankly, you can only truly experience the scale of these giants when you see them in person.

We were absolutely in awe standing next to blocks and blocks of limestone, stacked on top of one and other from about 4500 years ago by manual labour (yes, run the scenes you saw on TV and movies in your head now). It was so cool to be able to touch and even climb them.

The big pyramids are tombs for the Kings whereas the little ones (mini, compared to the Kings’) are for their queens.

Our guide then brought us to a vantage point where we could see all the three pyramids.

The oldest and largest of the three pyramids is the Pyramid of Khufu (also knowns as Pyramid of Cheops). The tomb built for Fourth Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu was constructed over a 20-year period and it is the oldest Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one left.

The Pyramid of Khafre, built for the son of King Khufu, can be recognized by its layers of its original casing stones (the “finishing layer” covering the limestone we see on the pyramids now) still remaining near its summit.

The smallest of the 3 pyramids on the Giza Plateau is the Pyramid of Menkaure, built for Khafre’s son. The three pyramids are collectively called the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Our guide asked whether we would like to go inside one of the pyramids. He added that since the interior of all the pyramids are similar, he recommended that we go inside Pyramid of Menkaure since it was the cheapest (30 EGP or S$6.50 in November 2010). Great advice because there was nothing to look at! Everything is now in the museum.

From the main entrance of the pyramid, we had to bend down all the way until we reach the burial chamber. The passage was narrow, hot, humid and stuffy. It can be somewhat claustrophobic. No cameras were allowed inside (we had to surrender them!) but here’s a shot of what it looked like.

The Great Sphinx of Giza

We also saw the largest and most famous sphinx in the world – the Great Sphinx of Giza. The Sphinx, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and a human head, was sculpted from soft sandstone. Due to the nature of sandstone and the pollution from modern Cairo, the conditions of the sphinx (and the pyramids) have been deteriorating. The nose was almost non-existent!

Saqqara / Sakkara

This is supposedly where it all began – first Egyptian pyramid, the Pyramid of Djoser or Step Pyramid, is located in Saqqara (about 45mins drive from Giza) and is on a smaller scale. Here in the desert, it is where we imagine pyramids would be sited, not beside a KFC in the city where the Pyramids of Giza are!

We had read and heard so much about avoiding the vendors at the tourist attractions and people who want to take pictures with you in return for money. However, we managed to snap a picture with this local (for free) and left without any issue. I guess we were lucky. Or maybe we ran too fast from him!

Sound and Light Show – Giza

There’s a sound and light show at the Giza Plateau in the evening which we wanted to watch but didn’t reserve any tickets. Our guide then gave us some insider tips – go to the KFC (really!) beside the Giza, order some food and sit at the rooftop to watch a free show! When we reached there, there were already groups of people sitting and waiting for the show, mainly locals and probably their guests. Although there were street lamps and lights from advertisement boards around us spoiling the ambience a little, it was a great alternative to watching the show inside the Giza Plateau and it’s FREE!

Our first pyramids experience was truly magical and surreal!

Have you been to Cairo? Also check out Alexandria in Egypt if you are interested.

Dariel 13 May, 2014 Egypt, Middle East 12 Comments

Daytrip to Macau

Recently I made a day trip to Macau from Hong Kong with 3 friends. I prepared a long list of things to do and eat but we didn’t have enough time to do everything. I recommend the following things to do for a daytrip in Macau based on my experience with only 8 hours.

1. Restaurante Fernando

My colleagues in Hong Kong will no doubt bring up the name “Fernando’s” when I mention Macau. Apparently, a lot of people in Hong Kong and Macau know and feel that Fernando’s is the place to go to for delish local Macanese-Portuguese food.

The restaurant is located in Colane just next to the Hac Sa Beach. The beach is right at the other end of Macau which is away from the hustle and bustle from the casino-goers and tourists. According to Google Map, it would take about an hour from the Macau ferry terminal to reach Fernando’s by bus. However, the four of us took a cab and we were there in about 15 minutes with the cab fare costing around 100 MOP.

The design of the restaurant is quite retro and there’s even an outdoor bar for customers to chill.

Everything on the menu looked good. With only us 4, we could order just a few of their popular dishes.

The suckling pig was very tender and the skin was really crispy.

The stir-fried clams we had were fresh and the sauce goes very well with the fluffy home-made bread served and the fried rice we ordered. I usually don’t eat clams but this dish was beautifully cooked.

The fried rice had just the right amount of rice and ingredients. It was fragrant with the “wok-hei” (breath of the wok).

The stuffed-squid with minced meat was served piping hot in a pot and it was very fresh, not over-cooked causing it become rubbery.

Overall, it was a scrumptious meal. Definitely a place worth coming back.

Address: Praia de Hac Sa, No. 9, Coloane, Macau

2. Black Sand Beach (Hac Sa Beach, 黑沙海滩)

The Black Sand Beach in the Island of Colane is the largest natural beach in Macau. Accordingly to CNN, the beach gets its unique colour from minerals in the seabed that are washed ashore. However, because the beach was suffering from erosion, the Macau government topped it up with yellow sand making it look the way it looked today.

The colour of the water is black-ish. But make no mistake, it is not dirty in anyway. Water sports are popular here with people swimming in the sea as well, so don’t worry!

3. Lord Stow’s Egg Tarts

Eat Portuguese egg tarts when you visit Macau!

Lord Stow’s Bakery is one of the two most well-known bakeries serving Portuguese egg tarts.There are a few branches in Macau and we went to the Garden Cafe at Colane Village, just round the corner from its original shop. The egg tarts were served fresh and warm with my kind of crust – flaky and crispy. The caramelized custard in the centre was creamy with the right amount of sweetness. Yummy!

4. Rua da Cunha (The Food Street), Taipa Village

We went to Rua da Cunha in Taipa Village, a little alley which sells a lot of Macau goodies and snacks with a few traditional cha chan tengs selling local delights.

There was a mini flea market in the square in front of the Food Street on Sundays but nothing too interesting.

We were too full by the time we reached so we just bought 2 ice creams from Gelatina Mok Yi Kei.

I thought their best-seller – durian ice cream – was quite good even though KM felt it tasted a bit strange. We were however disappointed with their bird’s nest ice cream because it tasted just like any other vanilla ice cream…Such a waste of calories!!

We then roamed around the old village and took a short walk to the Our Lady of Carmel Church.

Opposite the Church is the Marriage Registry which allow visitors to take pictures when there is no event going on. The best part of the Marriage Registry – it has air-conditioning and free wifi! We were melting under the sun and the chance to hide in the air-conditioned room was a great relief. I think we were in there for a good 30 minutes 🙂

5. 大利来记 (Tai Lei Loi Kei)

After the air-con break, we braved ourselves (and our stomachs) and went in search for the famous pork chop buns by 大利来记 (Tai Lei Loi Kei). Half-expecting an old-school, rustic kind of coffee shop, we were directed to the modern version of 大利来 just down the road from the Food Street. Either we went to the “wrong” outlet, or they recently renovated the place – highly suspect it’s the former.

The pork chop buns didn’t look that appetizing – it was simply a piece of pork chop sandwiched between their home-made bun. They looked different from those you get in Hong Kong.

Do not judge a book by its cover! The succulent pork chop were nicely marinated and grilled just right!

They also have a 波羅豬扒包(pineapple pork chop bun) which we did not try.

Address: Largo Governador Tamagnini Barbosa 18, Taipa

(update April 2017 – this branch closed down. They now have a new shop opposite Gelatina Mok Yi)

6. Ruins of St. Paul’s

No ~~trip~~ daytrip to Macau is complete without visiting the Ruins of St. Paul’s, Macau’s most famous landmark. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site in Macau. Originally built in the 16^th century, the complex of St. Paul’s College and the Cathedral of St. Paul burned down and was rebuilt several times before the third and final fire during a typhoon in 1835 left it beyond repair. Now, all that remains are the iconic stone facade and the grand staircase leading up to it. It was crowded when we went there on a Sunday evening.

There is a museum and a crypt built at the bottom of the ruins which opens every day between 9am and 6pm and the entrance is free. Take a short walk inside, you can read about the history of the church.

7. Mount Fortress

Right beside the Ruins of St. Paul is the Fortress of Our Lady of the Mount of St. Paul, i.e. Mount Fortress. It is the historical military centre of the former Portuguese colony of Macau and also forms part of the Historic Centre of Macau, UNESCO World Heritage site.

At the top of the fort, we had a panoramic view of the mainland area of Macau.

There are also cannons lining the fortress walls.

A peaceful garden housing the Museum of Macau.

Other than those things listed above, there are still a lot to see and to eat in Macau. I will be back to explore more!

USEFUL TIPS for first-timers, especially on a daytrip to Macau:

1) Book Ferry Tickets

It is advisable to book the tickets online with either Turbojet or Cotai Water Jet or buy them beforehand at the ferry terminals If you are planning to take a ferry from Hong Kong to Macau on a weekend morning,.

For those in the mood to splurge or have nowhere else to spend that bonus you just received, you can also choose to take a helicopter into Macau.

2) Road Names

The road names in Macau are pretty confusing because they are in Portuguese whilst the taxi drivers and locals mainly speak Cantonese. Research the names and streets of the places you want to go in both Portuguese and Chinese AND check their approximate locations via google map before arriving in Macau in order to make the most out of your time there.

3) Ferry Terminals

There are two ferry terminals in Hong Kong which you can return from Macau. Ask about tickets for the other ferry terminal if the tickets to the one you want are sold out. Even though one ferry terminal is in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon and the other is in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island, it is still cheaper to take a bus / star ferry to cross to the other side than buying tickets from illegal peddlers who sell the ferry tickets at about 50 MOP more each.

Have you taken a daytrip to Macau? What would you recommend me to do and see on my next trip to Macau?

Dariel 26 April, 2014 Macau, North East Asia 4 Comments

Alexandria, Egypt – The Airport and City

Before the Arab Spring, Egypt was bustling with tourists intrigued by the pyramids, the Sphinx, mummies and beaches (yes, there are beaches in Egypt). Nowadays, this country with a very long history is often associated with protests and violence more than the mummies and pyramids she is famous for.

With the series of posts I’m going to write on Egypt, I hope to revive some of the curious minds out there about this mysterious country to the “outside world” thanks to stories and movies surrounding the pharaohs, Cleopatra and the mummies (especially The Mummies trilogy).

Alexandria International Airport (El-Nohza Airport)

In mid-November 2010, AC and I flew to Alexandria from Dubai. We were shocked by our very first encounter with Egypt – the Alexandria International Airport (I may only be speaking for myself). The airport wasn’t falling apart but the conditions and systems were not the best.

Egypt is one of the few countries where Singaporeans have to obtain a Visa and we knew we could do that upon arrival. An officer told us that we could “buy” the Visa from “that counter over there” – it sounded like a grocery store to me. Anyway, we walked over to the counter and were then told to pay US$15 each, after which the man behind the counter passed us a sticker. This was THE Visa. He literally just sold the sticker to us with no checks or questions asked! I was shocked to say the least.

Walking back to the immigration counter, we were told to “just stick the sticker on a blank page then pass your passport to the immigration officer”. Hmmmm… ok….. Anyway, we did as we were told then just stood there with the rest of the people who were surrounding the immigration counter, waiting for something to happen.

I don’t know how long we stood there for then all of a sudden we heard names being called out by the immigration officers; to hand back the chopped passports to the respective owners. It felt like teachers marking attendance in a class, a really strange thing to do and see in an airport. I wish I had taken a photo or even a video then but that could also possibly mean you won’t be reading my blog right now.

Being the only 2 Chinese girls in the sea of Arabs (95% of them were men), we stood out quite prominently. When it was our turn to collect our passports, the immigration officers insisted on pronouncing our full name and getting them right before reaching over to us. It was funny how they tried and I guess that’s probably the highlight of the day for these friendly but stern-looking officers.

City Half-Day Tour

We collected our luggage and met our Guide who then brought us around Alexandria for a half-day tour. We went around a few of the famous tourist attractions and to my surprise, the city was clean and the drivers were not as crazy as I thought they were (sadly this was only true in Alexandria). The roads were spacious and it was not crowded.

Pompey’s Pillar is the only know free-standing Roman triumphal column in Roman Egypt. It is also one of the largest ancient monoliths ever erected

Ancient Roman theatre set right in the middle of the city

Bibliotheca Alexandrina is the Royal Ancient Library of Alexandria. Even though we did not manage to see the interior (it was closed), the facade and surroundings of the building are gorgeous.

The Royal Ancient Library faces the Mediterranean Sea

Montaza Palace and Park – also facing the Mediterranean Sea

The streets of Alexandria

The day ended with our bizarre but interesting experience at the airport, beautiful sceneries in Alexandria and a 3 hours’ drive to Cairo with our trustworthy driver.

Do you have any peculiar experiences at the airports? Tell me about it. Read more about my trip to the Pyramids here!

Dariel 12 April, 2014 Egypt, Middle East 5 Comments

Exploring the Highlands of Scotland – Reindeer Trekking

Besides driving along the Glen Etive, which I highly recommend, there are other things to see and do in the Highlands of Scotland including visiting churches, castles and… reindeer trekking.

St Conan’s Kirk

Our Highlands of Scotland road trip continued with a visit to the St Conan’s Kirk. It is a relatively small church (compared to those in the big cities in Europe) designed and built by a self-made architect for his elderly mother. The church is medieval-looking from the outside and include many different styles of architecture, quite confusing but beautiful at the same time.

Kilchurn Castle

Nearby the Kirk lies the Kilchurn Castle, a ruined structure built in the 15^th century. For some reasons there were no signs whatsoever indicating the location or even the direction to the Castle. It actually was situated off the main road A85 and off the beaten path. Can’t remember how many times we drove up and down this road trying to find the Castle. We even tried asking a shopkeeper nearby, who was surprisingly, not very friendly. (Note: when we were there, the trees and shrubs were overgrown and the side road was not obvious at all!)

Taken from google map

It wasn’t until we randomly saw a few cars turned into the side road that we suspected it could lead to somewhere/something interesting. So, we followed those cars and turned into the road with caution, not sure what to expect. Fortunately, we were right to follow our guts. We parked the car, walked through this stretch of footpath and went past what looked like an abandoned railway track. We were a little skeptical about where the path was leading us…

… but soon we saw the Castle.

The Kilchurn Castle was originally a tower house and later converted to a barrack. It was badly damaged by lightning in 1760 and abandoned since. The castle is now under the care of Historic Environment Scotland and is open to the public during summer. It was free when we visited in 2011 and from the Historic Environment Scotland website, it appears to have remained the same.

We did not spend a lot of time at the Castle since the compound was quite small even though I would say the driving up and down road A85 trying to find this place was still worth it. But there were A LOT of small flying insects which were annoying and getting in the way of us enjoying the beauty of the surroundings.

Loch Ness (Monster)

No trip to the Highlands of Scotland would be complete without the Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) would it? The following day we drove ourselves from Fort William to Drumnadrochit, looking out into the Loch Ness in a quest to spot Nessie.

There were 2 Loch Ness Monster exhibition centres in Drumnadrochit and we went to the Original Loch Ness Monster Visitor Centre.

We watched a short documentary about the discovery and sightings of Nessie. There were also exhibitions of photographs, articles of Nessie and interviews of people who claimed to have seen the dinosaur. It was quite interesting.

Urquhat Castle

Our next stop was the Urquhat Castle, one of the largest castles in Scotland in area, which sits beside the Loch Ness. It is another Castle ruin but this time, we paid entrance fees to enter. The Castle has a very turbulent history so I won’t bore you here. It is located in beautiful surroundings which allows visitors to get a chance to find Nessie in action!

Highland Cows

One of the “perks” for driving in the Highlands of Scotland was the opportunity to see the Highland Cows face-to-face! They are one of the cutest (big) animals I’ve seen and I’ve always wondered how they see with their long fringe covering their eyes. So cute!!

MUST DO: TREKKING WITH REINDEER

The other MUST-DO activity when travelling in the Highlands of Scotland, besides driving on the Glen Etive Road, is trekking with reindeers! Yes, REINDEERS!!

Whilst researching for something different and more interesting to do than visiting castles, I came across The Cairngorm Reindeer website which says they organise reindeer visits and treks! The money collected for these activities go into the upkeep of the Reindeer Company that looks after the reindeers roaming and breeding in Glenmore. You can also choose to adopt them online if you simply feel like helping the reindeers.

SO, we drove for about 1 hour to the Glenmore Forest Park and arrived at the Reindeer Centre. After completing the paperwork, our guides passed us a backpack and a bag of reindeer snacks each, then brought us on a little hike up the mountains to where the reindeers were.

After about 10mins, we arrived at the mountain and saw herds of reindeers spread out in different areas. We were very excited!

They brought us to a little shed to meet the 2 reindeers trekking with us, Congo and Viekker. We were taught how to hold the reins and how to lead the reindeers. Actually, time they were leading us most of the time! .

The wind was particularly strong that day (we were told) and we had some difficulty trekking across the open plain. We were struggling a little since the reindeers were not exactly following our instructions. But the guides were always there to help and give the reindeers a little nudge when needed.

Our guides then led us to a forested area where Congo and Viekker could take their snack (from the ground) and take a break from the trekking. They were just so beautiful to look at. The fur were soft to the touch too. Simply adorable!

Viekker (L) and Congo (R)

By the time we returned to where we started off, many reindeers were back / out for the visit session. We were allowed to feed them with our hands this time. Their lips were so soft and tender that when they touch our hands it actually tickled.

Greedy Congo looking for more snacks

The whole trekking exercise took about 4 hours and it was one of the most amazing experiences we had! If you are in the region, please try this and I promise you won’t regret it.

Trekking with the reindeers was an awesome experience and a fantastic way to end our Highlands of Scotland tour!

Have you visited the Highlands of Scotland? Have you trekked with reindeers? Tell me about your experiences.

Dariel 1 April, 2014 Europe, Scotland 6 Comments

Exploring the Highlands of Scotland – Glen Etive

My road trip through the Highlands of Scotland was one of my best trips so far. The people who have been to this part of the world will definitely agree with me that it is a beautiful place. And Glen Etive, even more so!

MJ and I rented a car from Kendal and drove up to Fort Williams then back down to Edinburg.

Driving Route

We started driving from Kendal, passed through Glasgow for lunch and arrived at Loch Lomond. The drive to Loch Lomond was picturesque with a lot of trees (or forests) and mountains in the line of sight. Definitely a big difference from either Dubai or Singapore!

We took a break from driving by visiting the Balloch Castle, which I have to say, wasn’t that impressive. It is not a big castle and visitors are restricted to only the public areas. The park in which it is situated overlook part of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. So it was a good spot to stretch the legs before we continued to Fort William.

The scenery driving towards Glencoe and Fort William was amazing! The car travelling on a single-lane traffic each way, curving along the contours of the mountains gave me a sense of peace and happiness at the same time.

At times, we see trees lining along both sides of the road or look out to the lake on the other side. Some other times, the views open up to mountains right in front of us. It was like a scene taken out of the movies and it was surreal. I was literally going ‘wooowwww……’ as I was driving!

We drove pass Glencoe….

…before arriving at Fort William where we based ourselves here for 2 nights in Rustic B&B. The host was a very sweet lady who lived in the same house upstairs. The B&B was very clean, has a very cool greenhouse and cute planters everywhere. The Fort William Town Centre is just 5 minutes drive away and there’s some shops about 5 minutes walk away. Would definitely recommend to anyone.

MUST DO: GLEN ETIVE DRIVE

I did a lot of research before the trip and found a website which talked about the Glen Etive Road which seriously intrigued me.

The next morning, we back-tracked onto main road A82 and came to a small junction to turn into Glen Etive. We were almost immediately greeted with the beauty of undisturbed nature.

The single lane road caters for cars driving in both directions so drivers have to keep a lookout for each other. We were lucky as there wasn’t much traffic the whole time we were there.

Along the way, we parked our car at a corner and ventured beyond the road.

At some point, we crossed a bridge and wandered into the wilderness where we found 2 men fishing along the river! We chatted with them for a while. They were very friendly and mentioned that we should have stayed in the area longer, like for a week or even a month to truely enjoy the nature. Well, maybe next time!

The Glen Etive road stretches for about 22km to the head of Loch Etive where it ends near a pier. That’s it. It is literally a road that leads to nowhere. We parked the car and took a walk. We saw people camping out here – it was so cool!

The Glen Etive drive was a very different experience and absolutely beautiful! For people coming to this region, I highly recommend taking this little off-the-beaten path.

Will I come back again? Definitely!

Have you visited Glen Etive? Would you like to take a drive on the Glen Etive Road? Check out where else we visited in the Highlands of Scotland here.

Dariel 27 March, 2014 Europe, Scotland 1 Comment

Where's Dariel? – Travel Blog

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