Cymru

Wales is an interesting place, culturally defined by the fact that It's not part of England... All the signs are in Welsh and English, at first it's difficult to tell whether a given word is a place name, or if you're not allowed to park under the sign it's written on. There seems to be an ongoing fight between The English Language rolling in, and a strong defense from Welsh.

The country, or at least what I've seen of it so far is incredibly beautiful!, lots of rocks poking out from the ground, rolling hills, sparsely dotted with sheep and deep bush-clad valleys. I arrived in Wales to Richard, Rob and Katie's late mother's cottage in Glen Ceriog, a small village just over the hill, (and about 40 mins walk) from Llangollen, a tourist town centered around a picturesque river and railway. The cottage itself is perched on the side of a steep hill (Rob's Toyota Yaris couldn't get out of 1^st gear climbing the hill with 3 of us in it).

Our time at the cottage could be defined by the delicious barbecues and the amount of tennis we watched on T.V..., but I did manage to run away for a wander around the local valleys, and out to a little town called Pandy, with a small crag overlooking it. The potential for Mountain biking in the area is astounding!, perfect bush for carving some sweet lines through., (and no doubt there are already some pretty decent dedicated tracks around. One afternoon, Phillip drove into the Berwyn ranges and sat contemplating his gall stones while Rob, Richard and I went for a walk across the ridge line of some exciting looking hills, through the typical welsh mist. and a little real rain, mixed with rather a lot of wind. This, naturally was followed by a delicious meal at “The Hand” a nearby pub.

On my first trip over the hill to Llangollen, I looked up, and saw the ruins of an old castle.., but my gaze rapidly diverted to the lovely bluffs stretching on and on into the distance. So, the next time i got a chance, Richard dropped me at the end of a road where we met the farmer, and i jumped the fence and ran uphill. Endless, sweet limestone was all that confronted me... most of it isn't that steep, (but some was), none of it has big flowstones, or other jugs, just exciting climbing on relatively small holds, varying from slab to -5 degrees I started out scrambling, then dropped my bag and boots and moved on to a little bare foot soloing.., (most of the routes are only around 6-10m high, but the landings are steep enough to make falling a less-than-enjoyable concept.., added to by the fact that if you didn't damage yourself landing, you'd still roll through a lovely mattress of nettles and thistles... It was after about an

hour of playing around scaring myself, that i saw a little bit of webbing hanging from the rock..., at first I thought “crag booty!!” but, no, it was just a thread, and another thread,..., and some bolts!!, .. and some more bolts!!.., if only I had someone to climb with... I guess I may have to return sometime to see if i'm good enough for some short, small, but very hard welsh climbing... (as I walked on, there appeared to be a few easier routes)

Then we said goodbye to Rob the night before he headed back to cornwall at 4am, and Richard and I had another afternoon wandering round on the tops near/in/? the Berwyns. (we had planned to take a nice path through the valley, but after we found we were 2km past the turnoff we had intended taking, we slogged our way through a pine forest (douglas fir??) up to the ridge and followed it back down to the hand for another lovely meal.

Today I left the house with both my packs, and remembered how much fun it is to walk around with over 30 kg of gear... especially when over 10 kg of that gear happens to be pinky and the crabs.. (a rope and a stack of quickdraws and carabiners that are yet to be used in the UK. :(

A nice slog up and over the hill, and a chat to the lady in the information centre at llangollen saw me getting onto a bus to Bets-y-coed, another bus to a saddle just below Mt Snowdon, and another bus to Llanberis. Bets-y-coed seems like a lovely little tourist hole.., (it is beautiful, nestled at the junction of 4 river valleys) It appears to have plenty of everything you could want.., mountain biking, climbing, kayaking, etc... so long as you're prepared to pay for it. I might try to return if i get hold of a bike, (and possibly a car...). The bus trip from Bets-y-coed was nothing short of spectacular; lush valleys, and the steep hills, (in fact I'm almost prepared to call them mountains) of Snowdonia.

Now I'm sitting in a bunkhouse 2 miles out of Llanberis, typing away, and feeling just about ready to get back on my feet and walk around outside for a wee while... I'm secretly hoping that it will be rainy tomorrow, so I'll be justified in heading down the road to the local indoor rock wall.. (and hopefully will meet someone there who's prepared to belay me, or, better still, take me out climbing the next day.