Alone in Scotland - Exploring central Glasgow and the town of Oban

Glasgow is the largest of Scotland's 32 administrative districts, and the third largest city (after London and Birmingham) in the United Kingdom. I planned to visit Scotland to find Fingal's Cave, explore an old malt distillery, and search for an ancient castle where young men still wear kilts (knee-length, pleated, checkered wool skirts). Anyone familiar with the "Queen's Piper" will recognize this attire. I've known about it since I was a child, first reading Kyoko Mizuki's manga "Candy the Orphan." However, Glasgow is an industrial city with medieval churches. To visit these places, I had to stop in Glasgow, so I decided to spend a day exploring Glasgow city center first.

Glasgow and the things you don't know

Our first stop was Glasgow Cathedral – the city's most important historic building, dating back to the 12th century, also known as St. Mungo's Cathedral or High Kirk of Glasgow, and the only surviving medieval Scottish cathedral from the Protestant Reformation. Inside, the vast cathedral boasts characteristic Gothic architecture; the largest chamber contains the tomb of St. Mungo's, the founder of the episcopate, buried there in 603 AD. Behind the cathedral is the Glasgow Necropolis, containing the tombs of several famous figures. Seeing many people going up to the necropolis, I was curious and followed them, then walking alone at noon felt a little eerie.

On my way back, I passed by several city landmarks such as the William III statue (King of England, Scotland, and Ireland), the Merchant City clock tower, St Andrew's Cathedral, and the Doulton Fountain… What impressed me most about Glasgow were the giant murals near George Square.

While I was still busy exploring the city, my colleague unexpectedly announced he had to return to Vietnam early. With my plans suddenly changed, I was scrambling to explore Glasgow while trying to figure out which tour to take. Things became difficult when 3-4 day tours no longer fit my limited time, so I had to look for day trips, and then book trains to the towns before starting my day tour. It wasn't until 4 pm, while I was having lunch and browsing online, that I discovered a 6 pm train to Oban, from which Staffatours offered a day tour to Fingal's Cave. So I quickly booked the tour, ate a quick meal, and rushed back to check out in time for the train.

The train station wasn't far from the hotel, but the drizzling rain and the chilly early autumn air made the walk take much longer. Navigating through the rush hour crowds to reach the station, I encountered a problem with exchanging my physical ticket: after booking online, you have to use the same credit card you used to pay to exchange it at the station, but I had left my card in my suitcase at my friend's house in London. After much pleading and explaining to the ticket-issuing staff, their manager finally agreed to use my personal card to process my request.

In my haste, instead of going straight to the bus station as the manager instructed, I asked a passerby again, thinking that a long journey required a train, not a bus. I was directed back into the train station. After waiting a while, I saw an electronic sign indicating that I needed to take a bus before transferring to the train, but I couldn't find the bus stop, so I went back to the ticket office to ask for information. Carrying my 7-8kg backpack, I walked back and forth several times before finally finding the bus stop outside the train station. However, I couldn't find the bus with the route number, so I had to walk back a few dozen meters to ask an employee for confirmation before boarding another bus called an "open bus." If I had been a little later, there wouldn't have been any buses to Oban that day, and waiting until the next day would have meant missing the tour, making me late for the trip to Skye afterward.

From Glasgow to the town of Oban

From central Glasgow to Crianlarich, the drive passes through the picturesque Loch Lomond & Ben Lomond National Park. It would be fantastic to rent a car and camp there if you have the time! Sitting next to me was a woman in her 60s. Seeing me traveling alone and occasionally taking pictures along the way, she struck up a conversation, pointed out some famous landmarks, and urged me to take photos.

It was past 8 PM when the bus arrived in Crianlarich early, but instead of stopping right at the train station, it went uphill for about 500 meters. Seeing a woman carrying a backpack and pulling two suitcases while waiting for her elderly mother, I helped her pull one suitcase onto the train. After chatting a bit, I learned they were also from Oban. I inquired about staying with them for the night, but since they lived far from the train station, I suggested a few hostels. In the tiny town, all the decent places were fully booked, and the ones that did have rooms were expensive and far from the harbor, as I had an early morning tour. After failing to find a hostel, I decided to spend the night at the train station since the harbor was right across the street.

The train stopped at Oban station at 9:30 PM. I was surprised by the Oban train station: it was incredibly small! It was just a ticket office next to the tracks, with no waiting area. I asked the ticket inspector if I could sleep there overnight and leave early the next morning, but they refused; after checking tickets, they had to close the ticket office and go home. I trudged to the embankment with my backpack, watching the birds fly by on the beach, while continuing to browse Booking, Agoda, hostels, and other websites the passenger had sent me information on, but still couldn't find anything. The nearest places, Backpackers and Backpackers Plus, only had rooms available for the next day. I booked a place temporarily, planning to leave my luggage there to lighten my load and then walk around knocking on doors to ask directly at the accommodations marked on the map, but they also didn't accept luggage. I spent an hour wandering around with my heavy backpack without finding any rooms available. It's a small town, so everything closes by 10 PM.

Desperate to find a room by 10 PM, I returned to Backpackers Plus to ask again, begging the staff to let me sit at the reception desk until morning, but they absolutely refused. With nowhere else to go, I decided to sit in the small hallway in front of Backpackers Plus. At least this spot offered shelter from the wind and a secluded corner. Backpackers Plus is a hostel near Backpacker – where I booked my room for the next night – converted from an old church. The ground floor only has a few locked rooms and a small hallway connecting them to the reception desk upstairs, providing me with a temporary place to sit. Oban is at a high latitude, and it's almost autumn, with a light drizzle; every gust of wind is bone-chilling. I shivered, wondering how I could possibly endure the whole night.

Around 1 AM, a young employee from Backpackers Plus came down to take out the trash. Seeing me shivering, she offered me a blanket to borrow. I quickly borrowed the key to use the restroom. I sat there for a while, still half-asleep, when she came back down and said she'd found a room for me, right next door. The landlady was busy taking care of her young child and twins who were awake late at night, so she accidentally saw my message looking for a room. I was worried that if the other place didn't accept me and then this place closed, I'd lose my spot and cry in the rain! Seeing my hesitation, she led me all the way there, "handed me over" to the landlady, and then left. I thanked her profusely and promised to treat her to dinner.

Even sleeping in a room with a heater, a comfortable mattress, and warm blankets, I still felt cold. I don't know what I would have done if I had to sit outside all night. A memorable experience!

Huong Do (Helix)