The Wild Places, written by Robert Macfarlan, a scholar in Cambridge, England, makes us enter the imagination and desire to find wilderness, travel far and go back in time.
A trip to the vast wilderness in the northwest highlands of Scotland, where the wilderness lies, has become our inner yearning.
We imagine that it should have a road, which is different from the elegance of the wine road on both sides of the Rhine River in southeastern France and southwestern Germany. This road crosses the wilderness full of nature and wildness, spacious and far away, attracting tourists like distant stars.
Is there such a expressway?
I opened the map and began to search in the Scottish Highlands north of Edinburgh, trying to find such a way.
At this time, NC500 unexpectedly appeared on the computer screen. This is a circular highway in the highlands of northwest Scotland, which is located at the end of the British mainland closest to the Arctic Circle. Short for North Coast.
NC500 is not a road name in the strict sense. It starts from InFurness at the northern end of Loch Ness, goes north to the northernmost point along the northern coast of British Island, counterclockwise (or clockwise, of course), turns west and south along the coast, and finally turns back to Furness, where it connects A9, A99, A836, A838, A832 and other roads, and finally returns to a road in InFurness.
Because of Furness, it is generally considered as the starting point of NC500 travel, and the city is at the northern end of the narrow Loch Ness in Scotland. Loch Ness is famous as the "Lake Monster". Although I groped repeatedly, I naturally found nothing. Micro submarines exploring this mysterious underwater world can still be seen by the lake.
We plan to move counterclockwise from east to west.
It was afternoon when we arrived in Furness from Edinburgh, and the marathon organized by the city was not over yet. The road where we booked the Granville Apartment Hotel was closed until 4 pm. Without stopping, drive directly to Urquhart Castle on the west bank of Loch Ness.
Our route starts from InFurness, goes north along the east coast of the Northwest Highlands, and reaches the northernmost town of the mainland, John O'Groats. This is the intersection of Puntland Bay, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and it is also the closest place in Britain to the Arctic Circle. Then go west along the north coast and reach the westernmost town of Durness. The town is a short walk to the northwest, which is the northernmost corner of wrath); In Scotland. Then turn south, go to Gail Locke on the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and finally return to the west coast of Loch Ness, instead of returning to Furness, and end the trip at Fort William.
Note: "Because of Furness. At night, it is windy and cold. The hotel is on the banks of Nice River, and the scenery is very good (no wonder the marathon will pass here). The setting sun turned the city across the river into a silhouette. You can see the high spire of the church in the city and the InFurness Castle on the top of the mountain. "
NC500 highway passes through sparsely populated wasteland, mountains, canyons, beaches, lakes, cliffs, castles and ancient ruins in the northwest highland of Scotland, as well as villages and towns with unique customs. Looking around, the sea is vast and the sky is low, and the wasteland is endless. This is the natural history of the earth. Driving or walking on the wasteland is unprecedented. Behind me, where are the future generations? Loneliness strikes for a while.
But there is an ever-changing thing with you on the high ground of the garage, and that is the clouds in the sky. When have you ever seen the sky with such rich expressions in the city? The weather is changeable. One day is like four seasons. It's still chilly in the morning, and it will clear up in the blink of an eye, and it's rainy and foggy in the afternoon. It's the end of September, the British say, and it's still summer, walking in the wild in T-shirts and shorts. Even if it rains, they seldom take an umbrella, so they just follow the wind and rain. We put on down jackets.
The sea level is always on the right side of the car, with the North Sea in the east and the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The sea level changes with the terrain, and the color of seawater changes endlessly, flashing blue, lead gray and gold. Hard rocks that have been hit by snow and wind stand by the sea, with waves flapping and white waves flying.
Large brown wasteland and grassland extend from both sides of the highway to endless distances. Large and small lakes, one after another. Waterbirds are not afraid of people and will not fly away even if they are close.
Note: "Deneys. It was a day when the wind roared, blowing the Woods noisily and yellow leaves flying all over the sky. There is not a pedestrian on the beach. When people walk outdoors, they can only pull the wire by the roadside and move step by step. If they are not careful, they will be blown down by the wind. The wind poured in from the air duct on the fireplace of the apartment and made a scary sound. "
"I think of john muir's words:' I just went out for a walk, but I finally decided to wait outside until sunset, because I found that going out was actually going inward.' "
The car galloped on the high ground. If you look down from a height, they are like a boat in the sea.
Most of the time, there is not much traffic. The car coming from the opposite side sped by on your right.
From time to time, several black motorcycles suddenly overtook you from behind and soon disappeared in front of you. There are also cyclists who bite their teeth and insist on climbing that long slope.
On this nearly thousand kilometers mountain road, on this vast wasteland, you and everyone you meet on the highway, in the ravine and on the beach are lonely walkers. Sometimes in unexpected places, there will be one or two hikers from time to time, silently crossing the mountains and disappearing into the tall grass or Woods.
The road condition of NC500 is generally good. The town is connected with the town, and a considerable part of it is a well-built two-way asphalt driveway with clear traffic signs on the road. There are also quite a few roads without lines. The road surface looks a few years old, but it is basically flat, even if cars pass, there is no problem at all.
However, many scenic spots you want to visit must pass through the most dangerous country roads. These lanes are the only access, and a car can barely pass through one lane, but it must pass in both directions. On both sides of the road, there are many long pasture fences made of stones that you are afraid of, or dense and strong hedges, with nine bends and eighteen bends. Driving on these roads, you can't help praying that "there must be no car ahead".
Fortunately, when these paths are designed, there is a small concave place called "overtaking place" every one or two hundred meters, so that in the case of overtaking, one of the cars will stop there and let another car pass. Fortunately, English people are more polite when driving. Look at the position of both sides, then move forward or backward actively, stop at the passing place and let the other side pass first. At this time, both sides waved their thanks.
On such a mountain road, there are even travelers driving around in convertibles, wearing winter hats and letting the wind roar overhead, which is a deliberate loneliness.
Note: "At the head of Dunnett, there is a stone tablet,' the northernmost part of the British mainland'. Outside is a cliff hundreds of feet high, facing Puntland Bay. It was windy, nothing happened, and there was no one around. Suddenly I saw an old man sitting quietly on the stone bench at the top of the cliff, facing the sea and saying nothing. Walker is lonely. "
"There are few forests on the west coast, and the rocky mountains are gray in the rain and fog. A waterfall fell from the sky and fell into the lake in the canyon. There are many large and small plateau lakes. Strong winds rampaged through the canyon, and the sun suddenly broke through the clouds and hit the misty water mist rising from the lake in the distance. "
In the sparsely populated highlands, if you don't plan to camp. Small towns and villages are necessary places for travelers to eat and stay.
In a considerable part of NC500 highway, hundreds of kilometers, you may not see a service area, but you can see a small gas station and a canteen. But whenever you encounter it, fill up the tank immediately. Most towns or villages along the highway are small in scale. At night, almost all the shops are closed to thank customers, and sometimes there are not many choices to find a restaurant to eat.
If you are lucky enough, you can meet a cafe on the roadside at noon, a cup of coffee with homemade cake, or a light lunch.
Worried that we couldn't find a hotel for the time being, we booked accommodation in a bigger town in advance. Apartments generally provide kitchens where you can cook by yourself. A slightly larger hotel can eat in its own restaurant or in other restaurants in the town. It's the end of September. As long as it rains in the highlands of Scotland, it is very cold outside at night, and apartments and hotels are heated.
It was dusk and drizzling when we arrived at Gail Roche, a small town on the west coast. The coffee shop in the town seems to be closed. I saw a "fish &: Chips" shop and rushed into it, taking off his hoodie. Everyone was holding a big box. Fish and vegetables. French fries are the most popular and representative British food in Britain, ranging from high-end restaurants to small shops in narrow lanes.
But after the guests ordered, everything is ready now. The fish is fresh marine fish, and the French fries have just been fished out of the oil pan, which is very warm. For us, the only drawback is that it is too heavy. The two British men next to them seemed to eat with relish and swept away. However, with the cold rain whistling outside and the waves on the beach, fish &; French fries have different tastes.
Along the way, driving around the north coast, it is inevitable that most of the time there are mountains on the left and the sea on the right. Open the mobile phone map and look for "scenic spots" on both sides of the road, often jumping out of a whiskey distillery or castle. This is a history of Scottish civilization.
When people hear about Scotland, the first thing they think of may be whisky and its bagpipes. When a drop of whisky fell into the cup, its poem was gently lifted and the bagpipes sounded in the distance. Whiskey cellars can be found almost everywhere in the highlands and lowlands of Scotland. Shortly after we set foot on A9' s northbound trip to expressway, we were introduced to Gran Morange, a quite large brewery located on the seashore of expressway.
Tasting whiskey while traveling is like reading a Scottish poem or listening to highland music. The winery has a special shop and tasting room with wines from different years. We are not drinking friends, but we ordered 10 and 12 years respectively, which are 1.5 kg and 3 kg respectively. The glass is shallow, what we want is a poetic feeling. Travelers on the road, even those who know a little about wine, can only drop one or two drops on their tongues with straws, feel them and taste them. If you are interested, take another bottle back to collect, and you will be on your way.
Many castles will also pop up on the map. You'd better check the information and study it before you go. Because it is also a "castle", many may only be in ruins. Of course, the ruins standing on the top of the mountain or on the shore of the sea and lake have their own beauty, but some always make you disappointed when you drive for a long time and find that there are only three walls and a pile of rubble. But on NC500, there are many castles worth seeing. For example, Dunrobin Castle near A9 Highway, which is not too far from Furness northbound, and Castle of Mey, which is about 10 km from the northeast corner of the ring road, are actually historical heritages of different origins for centuries and are very good museums.
For example, Fort Mayer was built in16th century. 1952, Queen Elizabeth bought this castle as the residence of the royal family, and she often spent her holidays here. Now the castle is also rented out. It is said that it costs about 500,000 RMB a day, but the reserved rich people still come.
Some castles have been converted into high-class hotels, such as villa Factor's Cottage, where we stayed at the end of this period of road trip. It is part of the Castle Hotel in Wlach, England. But the old Inveroach Castle is still in ruins.
There is a black Rolls Royce parked in front of the Castle Hotel. On the lawn, there is a large chess game for leisurely people to play in the natural smoky wind and sunshine. There are forests, pastures and rivers in the distance, which seems to be a metaphor for the crossing of wilderness and civilization.
Driving on the NC500 expressway in the highland of northwest Scotland, the wilderness is like a distant starlight, and we met.
Whenever the giant wind roars and leaves fall, what we see is a desolate wasteland, cold and gloomy; The moon is bright and the wind is clear, and the fields are silent. What we see is a desolate wasteland, beautiful and far away. At this moment, on the Assynt Lake, the ruins of Ade fraker Castle stand alone, and the mountains in the distance are misty, just like the echo of history.
Think of an old colleague's words: loneliness is a gift from God to the wise.
A long journey in the plateau wasteland, a lonely pilgrimage. As Alain de Botton, a British scholar, said, there are indeed some unusual places. Because they are remote, desolate, lonely, beautiful and rich in culture, they retain the ability to treat our mental and even physical diseases, which is a wonderful process to remedy their own living conditions and gain some spiritual insights. Nature has always been an unparalleled force in shaping human beings.
(20 18. 10.28)