After a comfortable night in our room at Bangor University we woke up to a lovely view of Anglesey from our bedroom window.
We travelled on the Welsh Highland Railway from …
… to ….
It was an amazing trip through stunning scenery.
We had a picnic by the stream at Beddgelert, then back on the train again.
Slow drive home tomorrow, through Wales,
Carol
Although today dawned very foggy we stuck with our plan and drove through the fog across the hills to Douglas. We got on a tram on the Manx Electric Railway to the end of the line at Ramsey, 17 miles of stunning scenery.
After a light lunch at Ramsey we got the tram back to Laxey, roughly half way back.
At Laxey we got the Snaefell Mountain Railway to the highest point on the island.
It turned out to be a beautiful day after a cold and misty start at 13°, ending up a sunny and warm 24°.
More to come …
Carol
We drove to the northernmost tip of the island – Point of Ayre. We couldn’t go on the pebble beach as the Arctic terns were nesting.
Then we continued on to Ramsey, the second biggest town on the island.
We went to Groudle Glen, a popular Victorian destination, with a lovely walk down into the Glen, followed by a short trip on a little steam train to Sea Lion Rocks.
Sea Lion Rocks station at the end of Groudle Glen
This morning we drove to Port Erin to catch the steam train to Douglas.
We used our ‘Go Explore’ tickets which allow unlimited travel on all trains and buses for a period of 5 days.
At Douglas station we saw the platform for Isle of Man pupils of Hogwarts.
We visited the Manx Museum before getting the train back to Port Erin.
We had a drive to the southern end of the island, pausing to allow a herd of cows to go past!
A smaller island, the Calf of Man, is situated at the southern tip. More about this later in the week hopefully.
Back at our cottage we had time for a laze in the hot tub before dinner.
More tomorrow,
Carol
We left Shimla to return to Delhi, saying our goodbyes to the friendly staff and local residents.
The first part of the journey was a hair raising 4 hour drive down the mountain, through hair pin bends. I think driving a taxi is an extreme sport in this area!
We arrived in Chandigarh and boarded the train for Delhi.
Eventually we arrived back in Delhi and got a coach back to the Taj Palace.
Drinks and dinner now. Tomorrow we will be having a sight seeing tour of Delhi.
After a delicious Indian Buffet dinner last night we set off at 6.30am to Delhi Railway Station to catch the train to Kalka where we got on the ‘Toy Train’ which took us through the Himalayan foothills to Shimla.
The hotel was established in 1884 by the British. Mohan Singh Oberoi started working at the hotel in the boiler room in 1922. He rose through the ranks until he was able to buy the hotel in 1944.
Tomorrow we have a talk about the history of Shimla and a guided walk.
Carol
