Suriyavamsa - newly installed President of Triratna Highlands in Scotland - is marking the start of his time in that position by making a Dharma Walk from Inverness to Glasgow (that’s 165 miles or so!). And he’s blogging it for us from his trusty Blackberry… + follow above to get updates from the road!
Days 7 & 8: I’ve reached Aberfeldy, booked into the campsite and found a place to serve me what I’ve been dreaming of as I walked on, macaroni cheese and chips - the Fountain, where I’m charging my phone and the Wimbledon men’s finals are on in the background.
I’m having one of my lazy days, just four or five miles from the Canoe Club’s campsite at Grandtully. Its right by some top rapids on the powerful Tay river, a paradise for canoeists.
Yesterday I walked through the Killiekrankie pass walking by the Barry and the Tummel (I’m getting to know some important rivers, I’ve been walking by the Tay today!) On the way I stepped round the grave of the commander of King William’s Dutch regiment, the remains of a rare Jacobite victory. Wandering about in this landscape has made me more sympathetic to the Jacobite cause and its relation to current politics.
After stocking up on blister plasters and socks in Pitlochry, I headed over the hill to Grandtully but got lost for two hours in the forest and turned up late at my campsite.
I made a detour today to visit St. Mary’s Grandtully, an old church that looks like a byre on the outside, and inside too but for exquisite paintings on the ceiling - 16th C. folk Baroque with everything from angels to turkeys to moral instruction and aristocratic crests.
I’ve been doing rough sums as I sit here - 113 miles so far, 96 to go. The blisters are holding up but the stabbing sciatic pains in my right thigh are getting stronger and I’m getting more and more exhausted, apart from that I’m fine, if still all emotional. If I can make it to St. Fillan’s healing stones in Killin (27 miles further), I’m in with a chance! Watch this space…
Days 7 & 8: I’ve reached Aberfeldy, booked into the campsite and found a place to serve me what I’ve been dreaming of as I walked on, macaroni cheese and chips - the Fountain, where I’m charging my phone and the Wimbledon men’s finals are on in the background.
I’m having one of my lazy days, just four or five miles from the Canoe Club’s campsite at Grandtully. Its right by some top rapids on the powerful Tay river, a paradise for canoeists.
Yesterday I walked through the Killiekrankie pass walking by the Barry and the Tummel (I’m getting to know some important rivers, I’ve been walking by the Tay today!) On the way I stepped round the grave of the commander of King William’s Dutch regiment, the remains of a rare Jacobite victory. Wandering about in this landscape has made me more sympathetic to the Jacobite cause and its relation to current politics.
After stocking up on blister plasters and socks in Pitlochry, I headed over the hill to Grandtully but got lost for two hours in the forest and turned up late at my campsite.
I made a detour today to visit St. Mary’s Grandtully, an old church that looks like a byre on the outside, and inside too but for exquisite paintings on the ceiling - 16th C. folk Baroque with everything from angels to turkeys to moral instruction and aristocratic crests.
I’ve been doing rough sums as I sit here - 113 miles so far, 96 to go. The blisters are holding up but the stabbing sciatic pains in my right thigh are getting stronger and I’m getting more and more exhausted, apart from that I’m fine, if still all emotional. If I can make it to St. Fillan’s healing stones in Killin (27 miles further), I’m in with a chance! Watch this space…
