Wales | a canal you have to see to believe

One of the most impressive experiences on our walking tour of Wales was the bridge pictured to the left. What we saw was so improbable, it's almost impossible to express in words: a canal that crosses a valley. As we walked over the bridge to the east, kayakers were paddling across the chasm heading west.

Truly one of the engineering marvels of the world, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is 1,007 feet long, eleven feet wide, and 126 feet above the ground. Begun in 1793, it cost 45,000 pounds to construct and opened in 1805. It was nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.

The wonder of travel is that is opens our eyes to sights we cannot imagine. When we began our walk that day, we had no idea where the path would lead us. As it turned out, it led us to a river over a hundred feet above the ground.


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Lost in World's End

We really were lost. Our 6.4 mile hike should only have taken 3 hours at most. The written directions and the map seemed clear enough:

Follow the road for half a mile until you reach a stile on the left, just beyond a footpath sign. Turn sharp RIGHT here onto a rising path...

Stile? Footpath sign? Rising path to the right? We never found that landmark and ended up walking for hours along Offa’s Dyke Path. The scenery of the Welsh countryside was wonderful; this photograph was taken on that hike. We passed other groups of hikers coming the other way and even enjoyed a brief conversation with an English couple, Anthony and Helga, while we rested awhile by the side of the trail.

Five hours after setting out, we came to the end of the trail. We tried to find the Sun Trevor Inn, the pub where we had planned to have lunch. But since we were probably 10 miles away from where we were meant to be, there was no Sun Trevor Inn (nor any other sign of civilization) to be found. A bit of exploring in every direction, and the truth dawned on us. We were lost.

There was, however, a stream running by the side of the road. We decided to follow that stream, knowing the stream would lead us to the river, and there would be villages in the river valley. A wonderful Buddhist metaphor came to mind: let the river carry you downstream. Meditating on this image helped me remain calm and centered. I might not have known where I was (a place called World’s End, as it turned out), but I was confident the stream would lead us home.

After a bit, as we walked down that single-lane country road, a car came up from behind us ... and stopped. The driver rolled down the window. It was Anthony and Helga, and they graciously offered a ride! They too had gotten lost on their hike and had returned to their parked car. And the road we were following? It led directly to the village of Llangollen where we were staying, and we gratefully treated our new friends to lunch.

Sometimes travel does not go as planned, but wrong turns can have happy outcomes. We made new friends that day, and an important realization was reinforced. We all have times of feeling lost, but our innate spiritual wisdom can often help us find our way home again, sometimes literally from a place called World’s End.

If you have comments on this column, or might like to plan a travel adventure with someone who's not afraid to miss a turn on occasion, email me or visit my website.

off to Wales

As I wrote in my post of April 26, tomorrow I am off to Wales for a walking holiday.

It's a long journey from the west coast (I live in the San Francisco Bay Area). Tomorrow morning I will fly Continental Airlines from SFO to their Newark hub. There I will meet up with my son Josh who is flying down from Boston, and we will continue together on our nonstop flight to Manchester, England.

Our accommodations for this trip will be in B&Bs -- three nights in Llangollen and three nights in Dolgellau. We have a packet of maps with suggested tours already marked for each day. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to photograph some gorgeous scenery! Be watching Travel Horizons for some updates from Wales with some thoughts (and some original photographs).

If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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walking in Wales

In today's column, I want to write about a destination, the United Kingdom (specifically Wales), and about my favorite way to explore any destination ... walking. The UK is an ideal destination for Americans for several reasons.

We speak the language. There's none of the insecurity that many experience when realizing they speak very little French, Italian, or Spanish (not to mention Chinese or Thai). While there's no need to brush up on a Berlitz list of travel phrases, visitors to the British Isles can look forward to hearing their own mother tongue spoken with a delightfully different accent. You definitely get the experience of being in a different culture.

The weather is moderate year-round. Italy is a hot destination in more ways than one. As crowded and warm as Rome was this past September when I visited, it will be even hotter, more humid, and more crowded come July and August. Many people don't mind heat, but I do, so when I think of a summer destination, my mind thinks of places like England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

There are fascinating things to see and do in the British Isles. Golfers can enjoy links golf in Scotland, the very place the game began. History buffs can spend endless hours exploring the British Museum or visiting Roman ruins. The anthropologically minded can marvel at Stonehenge and Avebury.

Me? I am attracted to beautiful landscapes -- shady woods and colorful fields, country paths and stone fences, craggy mountains and glassy smooth lakes, rocky shorelines and dramatic cloud formations. I love being alone with nature, taking in its beauty one step at a time. Nature nourishes me. Walking is a way of slowing down, contemplating the gift of life, and being filled with the wonder of this planet that nurtures life.

There are many ways of doing a walking trip, from a luxurious, meticulously planned trip with Backroads or Butterfield & Robinson ... to an economical do-it-yourself walking holiday based in strategically located bed-and-breakfasts (which I will be doing next month in Wales). This is my favorite kind of travel to plan, so feel free to call on me.