Wales Day 3

Unlike the first two days, this day started off relatively early. We were ready, all breakfasted and out of the hostel by 9am. We had a 1-hour drive to the station and had to take the 11am train up the hill. The train was expected to go only 3/4th of the way up the hill and we had to walk the other 1/4th, about 45 minutes.

We got there with enough time to spare and decided to get something to munch on. By the time we finished the food and got to the train, the coach was very full and we struggled to find any place to sit. After packing us all in like sardines, the train started on the slow ascent up the mountain. A really really slow ascent. The train journey was a bit of a letdown. Although it was sunny at the base, it was cloudy, cold and raining at the top. After a fairly boring 45 minute journey, we got off at the station. Instead of making our way up to the summit in the rain and cold, we decided to head down the trail to the base of the mountain.

The path was slippery and rocky and quite steep in places but was an amazing trek down. With amazing views all the way down, I kept on clicking pictures.

The weather improved with the decreasing altitude and it got more sunny and warm. Smita trotted (literally like a horse) her way down the steep incline. She seems to think this reduces the stress on her knees and reduces her health insurance premium. All I know is that we had a good laugh at her expense. A couple of hours after we had started on our trek down, we found ourselves back at the station cafe feeding our even increasing appetites.

Waving our goodbyes to Wales, we started off on our 5 hour return drive to Hitchin. All I can say about the drive is that, 5 hours in the backseat of a car sucks big time especially when all you want to do is get back home, shower, get a good cup of chai and go to sleep!

I would classify Wales as a poor man's Switzerland. My summary is that it is a good place to go for hiking and camping etc. in pretty surroundings, provided you have a better way to incorporate weather predictions into the holiday planning model.