Saturday 15 May 2010

25th March, 2009 – Traveling from North Wales to Amsterdam via London Euston (Day 14)

This morning, after packing my luggage, I had a long breakfast while listening to the radio. Then I went for a leisure walk to the other side of town. It was just too cold out there I can't stand it. So I went back to hostel to watch TV (one tree hill and Gilmore girls) and had hot tea. The hostel owner was doing his cleaning and maintenance so we had a lovely chat.

Around 12.45pm, I grabbed my luggage, went to get a subway sandwich and head to Bangor. Took the 1.10pm bus arriving at the Bangor train station at 1.45. Waited at platform 1 for my virgin train from Bangor to London Euston. My pre-booked seat is backwards facing... bummer. While having my sandwich, I noticed there are small LCD displays on top of the seats stating if the seats are available or had been reserved. I found 2 forward facing seats nearby which were not reserved and move over. Much better now. Use the traveling time to read up on my LP guide, jotting down some places of interest in Amsterdam and Belgium.

Arrived in London Euston at 1745pm and walked to the Euston Square station and took the tube to Liverpool Street station. Then I went to pick up my pre-booked 'rail and sail' ticket. The 'rail and sail' from Stena Line's dutchflyer service provides city-to-city travel for passengers wishing to travel from Britain to Holland, where you pay just one price for your travel from London to the Harwich International by train, then board the ferry for an overnight sail (in private en-suite cabin) to Holland, and then again take a train to any of the dutch train station. A paper is given to me as proof of my rail ticket from Liverpool Street station to Harwich International station. There are 2 trains I could take, first one at 2018pm (final station at Harwich town) but I decided to take 2038pm train which terminates at Harwich International station. While having my dinner at Burger King, there's a group of Asians there, listening to their voices and conversation, I know they should be Malaysian. (hehe just entertaining myself)

I board the East Anglia train to Harwich International at platform 9, arriving around 2200pm. The train station is just next to the ferry terminal. Went up the escalator to the ticket counter to pick up my second half of ticket, my boarding pass for the ferry and also the rail ticket from Hoek of Holland to any dutch train station. All passengers waited at the waiting lounge for 5 mins before we were allowed to board the ferry. It was a very huge ferry with a total of 10 decks. I am in deck 8, room 8213, a single cabin inside (meaning no window). It's a great cabin all to myself, there are 2 bunk beds, a sofa, a toilet, a table, and one huge mirror. All these for just £57, well worth the money. The boarding pass also acts as the door key which has a bar code on it. After putting down my stuff, I went down to deck 7 for a little exploration tour. There are café, restaurant, game area, casino, cinema, duty-free shopping to keep you entertained if you are not sleepy. Went back to my cabin, showered and laid down to sleep after this very long traveling day.

Photos of Wales,UK

24th March, 2009 – Caernarfon, North Wales (Day 13)

I woke up at 7.45am today; Sarah told me that they are leaving the hostel this morning to Chester for another game. At breakfast table, I was joined by the team's coach and also some of the Rugby boys. The boys are ever so lively and loud. After breakfast, I walked to the tourist info center to get some inspiration on what to do today. The counter is not opened until 10am so I just took some brochures and walked to the bus station. I originally wanted to head down to Porthmadog and Portmeirion as I was attracted by the great photos of Portmeirion on the brochures. Portmeirion is a village on the Snowdonia coast which was built by Clough William-Ellis between 1925 to 1972 and was the location for The Prisoners in the 1960s. From Porthmadog, there is the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway, a small friendly railway where you can ride on the vintage train, climb up the steam and diesel locomotives during the stop at the Engine Shed. It sounds pretty interesting but sadly it is not open until 28th March. Looking at the bus time-table, the bus to Porthmadog doesn't leave until an hour later. So I changed my plan to first go north to Conwy since the bus no. 5 to Conwy had just arrived. Again, I bought the Red Rover ticket to cover my transportation for the day. From Caernarfon, the bus first goes to Bangor where the bus driver change shift before continuing to Conwy. The entire journey takes a little more than an hour, passing by several small villages. The weather is really good this morning, blue skies with the sun shining brightly.

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Conwy can truly lay claim to being one of the finest remaining medieval walled towns. Upon reaching the town, the first glimpse of the town reveals the majestic ramparts of Edward I's imposing castle, built between 1283 and 1287. Alighting at the bus stop, I make my way to the tourist info center at the castle entrance. The kind lady there gave me a map of Conwy and also showed me how to go up the walls and also the location of the Britain's smallest house. I bought 4 very beautiful postcards of Snowdonia and North Wales for £1 and post one of them before walking the walls. The walls retained three of the original gateways and make an exciting walk with spectacular views to the quay and the pretty yacht-filled harbour beneath. A verdant mountainous backdrop complements the scene. From the highest point at the wall, the whole Conwy town comes into sight. I went round the walls that are opened to public (some parts are not accessible) taking lots of photos.

After I'm done with the walls, I went down to visit Britain's smallest house, which faces the harbour. Unfortunately the house is not open at the moment so I could only take photos from outside. Then, I bought myself a Chicken Salad sandwich from the 'Spar' shop and had it by the harbour. A few seagulls and pigeons loitered near my bench, hoping to share my sandwich. Well, I know I shouldn't feed the birds but then one of the seagulls 'calls out' to me... I'm not kidding you, the seagull looked straight at me with its small innocent eyes and squawked! I gave in and shared a little bit of the bread with him. After that, I went through the bus timetable to find that the last bus that runs between Porthmadog to Portmeirion is at 3.50pm. I doubt I could make it there in time and back. Hence I alter my plan, intending to go for this walk near Ryu Du, in search for fairies in the woodland. However, the tourist info lady told me that it is a little difficult to get me there and I would have very little time there before dark. Changing my plan again, I decided to go to Llanduno, a seaside resort town nearby. I took bus no. 19 and the journey only took about 15-20mins. The wind has picked up quite a bit now and the sky turned grey again. The town is pretty crowded with tourists. After alighting at the bus stop, I head straight to the Great Orme Tramway leading to the Great Orme Summit for views in North Wales.

To my delightful surprise, the tram up the summit is operational (coz the lady at the tourist info told me the tram is not running). So I bought a single way ticket (£4, return £5.40) and board the tram. The Great Orme Tram is Britain's only cable-hauled street tramway, comprising of four of the original Victorian Tramcars. There are 3 trams running every hour and mine started just 8mins later. The ride up is pretty smooth. as compared to the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Going up, Llanduno's sweeping bays is in view. There are residential houses along the tramway. Soon we arrived at the Halfway Station, where we changed to another tram to continue on our journey up to the Summit Station. The higher we climbed the windier and colder it got. Next to the summit tram station is The Great Orme Summit Complex and also there is a garden beside the station. Then there is nothing else but vast green lands and the open sea. I braved the very strong wind towards the fields near the summit complex. Tears filled my eyes as they were pierced by the cold winds. Behind the complex is the Cable car center which is closed at the moment. Then I fought my way opposing the wind towards the other side of the field. Going up a slope, it was so hard to walk in a straight line as the wind is pushing me aside and I tried my best to fight back. So strong is the wind I sometimes had to just stand still to steady myself. Good thing this is not at the cliff edge else I might just be blown down the cliff into the sea. It's just too cold and windy up here and the view is very blurry and misty I could not see much except for the sea hence I quickly came back down and started descending towards the town. I purposely bought the single way ticket as I wanted to walk back down hoping to have more photography opportunities.

I followed the trail next to the main road. Soon, I come to a farmland where there were sheep with long pointy horns grazing at the grass. It is the first time I see this species of sheep. There were 2 shepherd dogs noticing my arrival hence watching me closely and even barked at me warning me not to try something funny (what would I do... steal the sheep? hahaha). Next to the farm is the Great Orme Bronze Age Copper Mines. This is the oldest metal mine in the world which is opened to the public. I just looked from the outside and continued on descending. After the Halfway Station, the descend became very steep road. I carefully walked down afraid of injuring my knees. Finally I made it down to the main station and walked to the promenade and around the town. The wind has turned down a notch down here but it is starting to drizzle. I quickly make my way to the city centre to get a bus back to Caernarfon. It's another 1.5 hours back to Caernarfon via Bangor. While munching the ginger biscuit I bought the other day, I noticed the time displayed on the bus is an hour later than my watch. Has the time changed (due to the day light saving)? Oh dear, I must clarify this either tonight or tomorrow morning else I would miss my train back to London tomorrow.

Back at the hostel, it is back to quiet and relax mode since the rowdy rugby team has left the venue. I cooked myself the remaining beef and salad I had left last night. Over dinner, I switched on the cd player with some light & easy music while reading a magazine. Loving this moment of relaxation. Tonight I have the room all to myself. Yippie!!! I paid the hostel owner £30 for 2 nights so instead of the original £45 for 3 nights, I am just paying £34.50 (£4.50 paid for deposit), a savings of £10 !! Double yippie !!!