GLASGOW TO AVIEMORE I caught a bus back into town and spent a couple of hours looking around. After asking directions to the road to Perth from a policeman I ended up, on his suggestion, at the bus station where I cadged a bus ticket to Perth for an economical £2.60 using my YHA card.
I slept most of the way and when the bus arrived in Perth I went into the town centre where I got a map from the information centre showing the road to Aviemore. I also got some money out of the bank and bought Linda a little Lilliput Lane cottage to go with the T-shirt I bought her in Glasgow.
I had to walk a good way out of town before I got a lift with a couple of neo-hippies on the way into the hills to go a-rambling! They took me all the way to Aviemore where it was cold and misty, the grey clouds swirling low around the heather-clad hills which surround the valley where the town is built. I hung around for a few hours, filling in time while I prepared for an uncomfortable night under a bridge. I sat in the pub for a while watching the news of Iraq’s latest efforts in the Middle East¹ and had a feed of fish and chips sitting on my pack in front of an empty shop. Finally, I began to walk out of town to look for a suitable bridge. On an off chance, I went into the YHA hostel to see if there was a spare bed (I had rung them from Perth earlier in the day and was told they were fully booked) and, as luck would have it, there was one bed left!
So, I spent a night of luxury in the hostel instead of a night of misery under a bridge somewhere.
¹The First Gulf War to liberate Kuwait would start just a few months later.
CurseOfTheTraveller 