The Postbus Always Drives Twice ...a-day to Killin

 Adventures by postbus

          

This trip started out as a mission to get up to the Highlands and see some snow. But, of course, we picked the rainiest weekend of the year. We also picked the most difficult town to get to in all of Scotland! Not on purpose, but as soon as we realized that it was impossible to get there - we had to go! And how were we going to get there? By postbus... which is British for mailtruck.

Falls of Dochart

Roughly four hours after Rachel landed on UK soil, Laura and I abducted her and dragged her north with us on a weekend adventure. We took a bus from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and from Glasgow to Tyndrum, where we spent our first evening watching a marathon of Dr. Horrible, and singing along. The next day we hopped a ride on the postbus to Killin. We explored the Falls of Dochart by walking out on the slippery rocks as the rapids swelled with the rain. Then we set out to find the circle of standing stones, which was in the middle of a field surrounded by sheep. Our evening was spent in the warm Braveheart Backpacker's Hostel by the "open fire" with the four other people staying in the hostel, cooking dinner, playing cards, listening to Jack Johnson, playing the guitar, and watching movies on my laptop. It was really chill and relaxing.  

Circle of standing stones in Killin

The owner of the hostel, Peter, had a friend visiting named George. George was a character. From the moment we walked in and he referred to us three as "Charlie's Angles", I knew I liked him. I wish he had stayed, because I would have loved to listen to his stories, but he was off to find an apartment in Glasgow. George used to be Tom Hanks' butler, and Julie Andrews' as well! He's writing his memoirs about the experiences, so hopefully one day I'll come across his book.

        

Loch Tay

Day two in Killin, we hiked up along the River Lochay to Loch Tay. It was rainy and muddy, but it was still beautiful with the Ben Lawers disappearing into the fog. We met a lot of Scottish people out with their dogs. As if climbing on the rocks of the falls the day before wasn't dangerous enough, the three of us proceeded to climb up into the ruins of Finlarig Castle and Mausoleum in the rain.

      

 Rachel and Laura exploring the ruins of Finlarig Castle

The sun came out the morning we left Killin. We saw some beautiful rainbows and even some snow on the distant peaks of the bens. The postbus brought us back to Tyndrum where we camped out inside the Green Welly Stop watching "Clue" on my laptop, waiting for the bus back to Glasgow/Edinburgh. The Green Welly Stop, (the only place to go in Tyndrum), is merely a rest stop on the side of the highway with a charming name. But it served its purpose - a place for us to rest between bus rides.      

The postbus in front of the Green Welly Stop