My rail journey to Scotland begins

After two weeks in London doing nothing but pure relaxation, catching up on Netflix,  meeting friends and dancing in the woods,  it was time to do something. 

Had a lovely Indian fusion dinner with Silvia at the Cinnamon Bazaar in the Covent Garden neighborhood. The yummy food and engaging conversations made the evening so much more memorable. 

Decided to travel from Mid-July to Mid-August all around England and Scotland by train, buses and ferry. After two days of research, reading guide books and asking friends for advice, I finally figured out my travel plan. I’ve to say it was like a full time job and more challenging because most of the hotels and vacation rentals were fully booked. I had to workout a plan based on accommodation and transportation availability first while keeping the cost low. 

Night before my adventure, I was able to meet my friend Silvana, who I had met at the Yoga teacher training in Goa, then we met again in Mumbai at the Taj Hotel and now we were meeting at the Renaissance St. Pancras Hotel for “out of the world” cocktails. The vibe here is pretty cool as the lobby lounge is in the converted old railway station. It was really nice to reconnect and share our ups and downs as we navigate through life to figure out what our next step will be. I guess there is a reason we meet people in life, what was really beautiful is how synergetic our life path has been. Later, we walked around and then ended up at a local pub. We could talk for hours but it was around 11pm, and it was time for me to catch the train back home before the tube stops working. 

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Woke up early morning to do a quick meditation and stretching (sadly my back pain is going haywire and stretching is the only way to keep it in check) before getting ready to take the train from Greenwich to Euston train station. 

Picked up falafel wrap at the train station and boarded the Virgin train heading towards Manchester, where I’ll spending the next two days. I’m excited because I’ve never been here and the 2 hour ride through farmland and small towns is so relaxing. 

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My England and Scotland travel plan so far –

(1) London to Manchester (2 days) 

(2) Manchester to York (4 days) 

(3) York to Edinburgh (4 days) 

(4) Edinburgh to Pitlochry (2 days) 

(5) Pitlochry to Inverness (3 days) 

(6) Inverness to Isle of Skye (3 days)

(7) Skye to Fort Williams (1 day) 

(8) Fort Williams to Oban (3 days) 

(9) Not sure where I’m going next after Oban…. May be Glasgow or back to London