After a long work week and quarter end pressure typical of October, we had a later start for this trip than usual. We drove for about half a day with a few stops along the way on services including one to eat the breakfast wrap I packed from home. As we entered the green zone of Brecon beacons national park, we were eagerly checking the skies as this area was famous for raptors. Once we climbed up a hill road, we saw a cyclist by the road side flinging chunks of bread and three red kites swooped in out of nowhere. There was one moment when one of the birds flew right in front of the car, about ten feet away, it was mesmerising to watch them. We stopped at a lay bye and tracked their movements for a while with our binoculars.
Our first official stop was the Red Kite feeding centre in Llangadog. We reached an hour before the feeding time at 3pm. We decided to have another veggie wrap for lunch in the car while waiting and noticed a couple of raptors in the sky. As we were watching, the number of raptors in the sky kept increasing. Soon there were about a dozen and we eagerly walked in country lanes to catch glimpses of them. The numbers kept growing and within minutes there were at least 50 in the sky. We bought our tickets to enter the hide (which I have to say was priced way too low) and were delighted to learn that the number of kites usually goes up to about 100 by the time it is 3pm. The volunteer walked to the centre of the field with a bucket full of raw meat pieces. He wore gloves and then started flinging the meat pieces all over the field.
He was right about the numbers as there did seem to be about hundred birds swooping in to pick up the pieces of meat. I have never been this overwhelmed by bird life before. It is usually a challenge to sight just one raptor in the sky and there were about a hundred at the same time, flying at eye level. The sharp pictures below were clicked by Lakshman and the blurry group pictures by me.
Apart from the raptors, a few crows and magpies had settled on the ground but this meal was not really free for them as they ran a real risk of injuring themselves by being sitting targets amidst hungry raptors. Though most of the meat was gone by half an hour and most of the other visitors left, we hung around for another half an hour and finally left with a heavy heart as there were still atleast two dozen raptors in the skies. This experience was like going for a movie and watching the impressive climax as the very first scene. The best moment of the trip and the key highlight turned out to be the very first thing we did.
Apart from the raptors, a few crows and magpies had settled on the ground but this meal was not really free for them as they ran a real risk of injuring themselves by being sitting targets amidst hungry raptors. Though most of the meat was gone by half an hour and most of the other visitors left, we hung around for another half an hour and finally left with a heavy heart as there were still atleast two dozen raptors in the skies. This experience was like going for a movie and watching the impressive climax as the very first scene. The best moment of the trip and the key highlight turned out to be the very first thing we did.
We drove to our hotel at Trescastle called The Castle Coaching Inn. The proprietor, Andrew, came out to greet us and showed us around. He was one of the best hosts we had met on our vacations in UK. He took the time to learn about our lives including our trip itinerary, where we were from and how closely we followed cricket. The property seemed small from the outside but it was sprawling on the inside. Our room was on the second floor and the en-suite was nearly the size of our London apartment living room. Being a little tired from our journey, we decided to rest for a while before dinner.
We decided to check out eateries in the area for dinner but as we left the hotel building, we realised that Castle Coaching Inn was the only open establishment in the small town of Trescastle and went back to the in-house restaurant. I chose the light leek and potato soup with a roll and Lakshman chose their vegetarian curry meal. After a few minutes of taking our order, Andrew apologetically told us that our food will be delayed as there were several customers and few kitchen staff. His polite manner made us not mind at all.
I was reading a book about the great Andy Carpenter, the criminal lawyer created by author David Rosenfelt and was quite happy to continue reading at the restaurant. Amidst immersion in our respective gadgets, we somehow got into a discussion about the bird called Indian Koyal. Lakshman told me that a particular variety of Koyal had absolutely no maternal instinct, so it laid eggs in the nests of crows while taking the extra care to kick off the crows own eggs off the nest and destroying them. After laying the eggs, the koyal simply flies away. When the crow returns to the nest, due to its low intelligence, it can't distinguish the eggs and takes care of the Koyal's eggs like its owns. After the eggs hatch, the crow still can't tell that the chicks are not its own so it continues feeding and taking care of the Koyal chick. Lakshman showed me pictures of a crow feeding a Koyal chick which has grown to twice the size of the mother crow! While I am able to accept truths of nature like cheetas need to eat deer as natural order, this still seemed ridiculously unfair. Not only did the mom Koyal kill the chicks of the crow, it has managed to fool the crow and take advantage of its maternal instincts. I am somehow not able to see this as natural order or foster parenting because the basis for this phenomenon lies in fraud.
After some heated discussions, we went back to our gadgets and waited some more for the food. It was over an hour by the time dinner arrived. Neither of us was annoyed about the delay because of Andrew's politeness and the quality of the food served. The bread roll that came with my soup was freshly baked just before serving, the soft butter seemed to be homemade too. The soup was warm and homely. Lakshman's meal included few triangles of naan, vegetable kurma and pulav rice, which were apparently really good too. When Andrew came to see us at the end of the meal, we could not have been happier.
After an uninterrupted night of sleep, we went down for another delicious meal at the restaurant. My favourite flavoured yogurt was also served apart from the usual warm delicacies of a vegetarian English breakfast. After checking out of the hotel, we drove straight to the Storey Arms parking lot for our big hike up Pen Y Fan.
We were accompanied by a group of teenage girls carrying backpacks as big as themselves. The hike was quite steep and I was slightly out of practise. Then a family passed by us with three teenage kids and they seemed to struggle as much as us, due to the wind. We stopped several times to catch our breaths but due to mist, we did not get any of the promised landscape views. We were warm from the hike but at the same time very cold from the wind. I donned every layer I had but was still feeling cold. At one point, the wind blew so strongly that we had trouble keeping our balance. We decided to stop for a few minutes to let fierce cold wind stop. The heat from a few morsels of spicy Bakarwadi from our backpacks managed to warm us more effectively than all the layers. When we resumed the hike, the wind picked up again and combined with the mist, it seemed like light rain. We started to wonder why we were putting ourselves through this on a vacation and perhaps it was time to return to our car.
We were accompanied by a group of teenage girls carrying backpacks as big as themselves. The hike was quite steep and I was slightly out of practise. Then a family passed by us with three teenage kids and they seemed to struggle as much as us, due to the wind. We stopped several times to catch our breaths but due to mist, we did not get any of the promised landscape views. We were warm from the hike but at the same time very cold from the wind. I donned every layer I had but was still feeling cold. At one point, the wind blew so strongly that we had trouble keeping our balance. We decided to stop for a few minutes to let fierce cold wind stop. The heat from a few morsels of spicy Bakarwadi from our backpacks managed to warm us more effectively than all the layers. When we resumed the hike, the wind picked up again and combined with the mist, it seemed like light rain. We started to wonder why we were putting ourselves through this on a vacation and perhaps it was time to return to our car.
Just when we turned back and walked down a few steps, we saw the family with the teenagers climbing back down. I immediately greeted them and asked if they went all the way to the top. They assured us that the summit was very close now and we should not turn back after climbing almost 90%. We were grateful for their assurance and decided to climb up once again, despite having to battle the elements. After a few minutes and some scrambling over rocks, we reached the top of Pen Y Fan.
Since it was mist covered, we could not see over twenty feet, forget the far reaching landscape views. Many people were walking further to Corn Du, another hill but we had had enough, so we climbed back down. On our way back, we passed on the joy by motivating a few struggling hikers. We noticed a father doing the hike with a three year old son, encouraging and appreciating the little boy for each step, it was heart warming to watch. We passed by another family where a teenage son was trying to convince his mom to eat a snack claiming it will give her the much needed energy for the hike. Though we could not see the views, these human interactions were delightful to watch. Just before we climbed all the way down, the mist cleared and we caught glimpses of the mountains. The green mountain shrouded in mist looked magical and a few streaks of sunlight kept moving along with the clouds and the moving sunlight looked like a scene out of The Mummy.
Since it was mist covered, we could not see over twenty feet, forget the far reaching landscape views. Many people were walking further to Corn Du, another hill but we had had enough, so we climbed back down. On our way back, we passed on the joy by motivating a few struggling hikers. We noticed a father doing the hike with a three year old son, encouraging and appreciating the little boy for each step, it was heart warming to watch. We passed by another family where a teenage son was trying to convince his mom to eat a snack claiming it will give her the much needed energy for the hike. Though we could not see the views, these human interactions were delightful to watch. Just before we climbed all the way down, the mist cleared and we caught glimpses of the mountains. The green mountain shrouded in mist looked magical and a few streaks of sunlight kept moving along with the clouds and the moving sunlight looked like a scene out of The Mummy.
There was a convenient sandwich shop operating out of a van parked in the Storey arms parking lot. We ordered an egg, mushroom and cheese sandwich and while waiting for the food, we had a conversation with the proprietor. She had been running that sandwich shop for the past 25years and the shop only closed on Christmas Day. She had done the Pen Y Fan hike only thrice in those 25years herself as she preferred to holiday in sunny beaches and not mist covered mountains, it was an understandable choice as this was work for her. She lauded us on hearing which route we had taken for the hike as it was a particularly difficult one and was in fact part of a military training hike route. She even called me fit for hiking that route. Me! I appreciated her sweet lies to please a customer but the reality was far from it! When the sandwich finally arrived, it appeared to be such a big portion that we decided to split it.
Next we went to the Libanus visitor centre. After picking up a few useful brochures and gorging on delicious cakes, we drove to the Gwaun Hepste parking to see a few of the famed waterfalls. The information board suggested that this in itself can be a four hour hike. It was almost 4pm and it got dark by 7pm in October, so we decided to see only the closest waterfall. That itself took an hour's hike one way but the waterfall was beautiful.
We decided to go to the B&B after that and picked up some food in Crickhowell town before heading into the country lanes. The B&B postcode led us to somewhere else and we got completely lost. We drove up and down that road but it was totally dark and the roads had ten foot hedges which made the visibility worse. Due to being in a remote area, we did not have mobile signal and could not seek any help from the B&B hosts. With no other choice, we drove back to Crickhowell town where we last had mobile signal. When we called them, they sent us directions to their house over a text message. We went back into the country lane and finally found them. We had been roaming around that area for nearly an hour and were slightly annoyed but the sight of our room for the next two days took all that annoyance away. On the second floor with sloping roof and sky windows, the room was beautifully shaped and decorated. After gulping down our take away dinner, we settled for a night of uninterrupted and well earned sleep. Below is a picture of the room in day light.
The skylights woke us up and we headed for breakfast in the most amazing dining room. It was amazing because of the view of the Sugarloaf mountain covered in shrouds of mist from the French windows.
Another couple from London joined us at breakfast and our host Paul told us such entertaining stories. He told us about how they ran the B&B amongst their family as they all had other jobs. He was a butcher and his wife a farmer. He told us stories of their wedding that took place on their farm land of 200 acres with several cars crowding the country lanes that day. He then told us about the time he visited a Haunted House attraction in London and when a scary staff member pounced at him, he punched the guy out of self defence reflex and was told off by the manager. Though the Sugarloaf mountain looked mystical and inviting, I had reached a new level of tiredness from the previous day's hikes and refused to walk uphill or downhill but only on a flat surface. That left us with few options and on Paul's suggestion, we went back to Crickhowell and went for a walk by the canals.
There was a charming ruin in Crickhowell town centre.
There was a tree bursting with fruit on our way and access to the canal was through stone steps built within a bridge wall.
We drove on to Blaen y Glyn waterfalls and thankfully the rain had taken a break. I struggled with the short hike as it felt like there were stones tied to my calves. The falls was beautiful and there were very few tourists.
We were having a good time until I slipped on a wet rock and landed flat on my backside. Ouch. Apart from the body pain from hiking, I had the added company of an "ATS" injection-like feeling on my rear. Having had enough adventure for a day, we bought some cold sandwiches and flavoured yogurt from a store at Crickhowell and returned to the B&B early evening and by 5pm, we were both sound asleep. We got up for a quick dinner at 9.30pm and somehow went back to uninterrupted sleep again! I blame the absolute silence of the farm surroundings and of course, over-exertion.
Breakfast next day was similar and delicious. Apart from the views of the Sugarloaf, we relished the company of robins and blue tits that flew by the French windows looking for their own breakfast.
After taking route guidance from Colin who was our host that day, we drove to the Patrishow which was the oldest church in Wales and was only 2miles from the B&B. The drive was through more country lanes and then after a particularly steep uphill road, we reached the beautiful old church.
We were the only people in the church and there was no one from the clergy. We opened the church doors and let ourselves in unsure but it was so quiet and lovely inside that we felt connected to the divinity, through the serenity. :) I got reminded of previous visits to my mom's village temple in Kerala in off-season when there was hardly anyone around and the silence made the ambiance more special. After that divine tryst, we decided to drive back home.
After taking route guidance from Colin who was our host that day, we drove to the Patrishow which was the oldest church in Wales and was only 2miles from the B&B. The drive was through more country lanes and then after a particularly steep uphill road, we reached the beautiful old church.
About half an hour from Brecon Beacons, we came across Raglan castle and decided to make this our last stop.
The castle was majestic with interesting stories about how eveything functioned when it was in its glory. We read that the castle had been under seige for 90days in 1646 but then surrendered to force after that. There were several families around and it was interesting to watch the five year old kids learn about ancient history. After that, we stopped at a services for a burger and then drove home. The drive back was smooth except for an awful traffic jam in Elephant & Castle.
Overall it was a sweet trip. Some vacations are supposed to be epic with adventures everyday but some others stay special because of how much time we rested. Despite the views, the birds and the castle, it is that unusual evening sleep from 5pm to 9.30pm that stays on my mind. I am reminded of an Aunty Acid quote about sleep. They say that a body needs 8hours of sleep, but why stop there, push your limits and go for 10-12hours! :)
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