Glasgow is the largest city among the 32 administrative units of Scotland, and the third largest city (after London and Brimingham) in the United Kingdom. I intended to go to Scotland to find Fingal's Cave, visit the old malt distillery, and search for the old castle where there are still boys wearing Kilt (a checkered woolen skirt with pleats to the knee). Anyone who knows the model of "The Queen's Piper" will know this costume. I have known this costume since I was a child when I first read the comic book "Candy - The Orphan" by author Kyoko Mizuki. However, Glasgow is an industrial city with a church system from the Middle Ages. To get to the above places, I have to visit Glasgow, so I spent a day exploring the center of Glasgow first.
Glasgow has the ancient architecture of the UK.
Glasgow and the unknown
The first place is Glasgow Cathedral – the city’s most important historical building dating back to the 12th century, also known as St. Mungo’s Cathedral or the High Kirk of Glasgow, which is also the only medieval Scottish church to survive the Protestant Reformation. The interior of the large cathedral is typical Gothic architecture, the largest room in the main church contains the tomb of St. Mungo, the founder of the bishopric, who was buried here in 603 AD. Behind the cathedral is the Glasgow Necropolis, which contains the tombs of several famous people. Seeing many people going up to the tomb, I was curious to follow and then walking alone at 12 noon was a bit creepy.
On the way back, I passed by some symbols of the city such as William III statue (King of England, Scotland and Ireland), Merchant City clock tower, St Andrew's church, Doulton fountain... My impression of Glasgow was the giant murals near the center of George Square.
The churches here also have very unique architecture.
While I was still busy exploring the city, my colleague suddenly announced that he had to return to Vietnam first. With my plans suddenly changed, I was struggling to explore Glasgow while figuring out which tour to take. Things became difficult when the 3-4 day tours were no longer suitable for my limited time, so I had to look for day tours, and then book trains to the towns before going on the day tour. It wasn't until 4pm, while having lunch, I discovered that there was a train to Oban at 6pm, from there there was a Staffatours day tour to Fingal's Cave. So I quickly booked the tour and ate quickly to check out in time for the train.
Fish and chips, a typical British dish.
The train station was not far from the hotel, but the sporadic rain combined with the cold early autumn air made the walk take longer. When I got to the train station through the rush-hour crowd, I encountered a problem with exchanging physical tickets: after booking online, you have to use the same credit card that was used to pay for the physical ticket at the train station, but I used the card that I forgot in my suitcase at my friend's house in London to pay. After a while of pleading with the physical ticket issuer, the manager of that employee agreed to use her personal card to approve my case.
In a hurry, instead of going straight to the bus stop as the manager instructed, I asked passersby again because I thought that if I had to go far, I would have to take the train, not the car, and was told to go back into the train station. I waited a while before seeing the electronic board showing instructions to take the bus before transferring to the train, but I couldn't see the bus stop, so I went back to the ticket office to ask for information. I just carried my 7-8kg backpack and went back and forth several times before finding the bus stop outside the train station, but at this time, I didn't see the bus with the name of the trip. I had to go back a few dozen meters to meet the staff and ask, then I would definitely get on another bus called the open bus. If I was a little late, there would be no more trips to Oban that day, and if I waited until the next day, I would have to spend another day to go on the tour, and then I would be late and not have time to go to Skye afterwards.
Glasgow city has beautiful murals.
If you ever visit Glasgow, you will be amazed by the paintings.
From Glasgow to Oban town
From Glasgow city center to Crianlarich, the car passed through the picturesque Loch Lomond & Ben Lomond national park. If you have time to rent a car to drive here for camping, it would be great! Sitting in the same row with me was a woman in her 60s. Seeing me walking alone and occasionally taking pictures on the road, she started a conversation and pointed out some famous spots along the way and urged me to take pictures.
The bus arrived at Crianlarich early at 8pm but did not stop at the boarding point but had to move uphill for about 500m. Seeing that the woman was carrying a backpack and dragging two suitcases while waiting for her elderly mother, I helped drag one suitcase onto the train. Asking around, I heard that they were also staying in Oban, so I asked if I could stay for the night but they lived far from the train station so I suggested a few hostels. All the good places in the tiny town were fully booked, and the ones that did have rooms were expensive and far from the port because I had to go on a tour early the next morning. After trying to find a hostel but couldn't, I decided to stay the night at the train station because the port was right across the street.
Oban is a must-see destination when visiting Scotland.
The train stopped at Oban station at 9:30 pm. I was surprised by the train station in Oban: super small! Actually, it was just a ticket office next to the railway, of course there was no waiting room. I asked the ticket inspector to let me stay overnight and leave early the next morning, but they refused. After checking the tickets, they had to close the ticket office and go home. I carried my backpack to the embankment and sat watching the birds walking on the beach. While watching, I continued to browse booking, agoda, hostel and several websites that the passenger had sent information to, but there were still no rooms. The nearest place was Backpackers and Backpackers plus, which only had rooms available the next day. I booked a temporary room, thinking of leaving my luggage first to lighten it, then walking and knocking on the doors to ask directly at the accommodations marked on the map, but they did not accept luggage. I spent an hour wandering around with my heavy backpack without finding any accommodations that had rooms. The town is small, so they all close at 10 pm.
The fairytale-like ferry terminal at Oban.
Desperate to find a room by 10pm, I returned to Backpackers plus to ask again, begging the staff to let me sit at the reception until morning, but they refused. It was late and there was nowhere else to go, so I decided to sit in the small hallway in front of Backpackers plus. At least this place could avoid the wind and had a hidden corner that wouldn't be noticed. Backpacker plus is a hostel located near Backpacker - where I booked a room for the next night, converted from an old church, the lower floor only had a few locked rooms and a small hallway like a passageway between the rooms and the entrance to the upper floor where the reception desk was, so I had a temporary place to sit. Oban is at a high latitude and the weather is almost autumn, plus it's drizzling, every gust of wind is freezing cold. I shivered and thought: how can I endure the whole night?
The houses here also resemble stories.
At around 1am, a Backpackers Plus employee came down to take out the trash. Seeing me shivering, she brought out a blanket to lend me. I took the opportunity to borrow the key and go to the bathroom. I sat there for a while, not daring to sleep, when the employee came down and said she had found a room for me, right next door. Because the owner was taking care of her young child and two twins who stayed up late, she accidentally saw the room search message. I was worried that if I went and the other side didn't accept it, I would come back and close the door and lose my place, and cry in the rain! Seeing me hesitate, the employee took me all the way there, "handed it over" to the owner, and then left. I thanked her profusely and made an appointment to meet again so I could treat her to dinner.
I slept in a room with a heater, a soft mattress, and a warm blanket, but I still felt cold. If I had to sit outside all night, I don't know what I would have done. An experience to remember!
The North Atlantic seabird is endemic to Oban.
