I promised I would share snippets of my UK exchange experience, and since I did recall of several memorable moments, I thought this was probably the most significant. A climb up the UK's highest peak would be an achievement I would like to take away from my exchange, something worthy to add to the already awesome SEP experience so far.
It was May 2013, our exams had just ended and we took advantage of the short week to make time for a road trip, just before we would have to start to part ways. It was so sad it reminded us that all good things eventually come to an end, but we are determined not to let it end with a whimper.
The road trip took us to many parts of Scottish Highlands, i.e. the Wallace Monument, Loch Ness, Inverness, Loch Lomond and many others. It was my idea to include the Ben Nevis climb as part of the road trip itinerary, and I was relishing the chance to scale UK's highest peak. However, the weather threatened the night before, and because UK is well known for their gloomy overcast weather with frequent bouts of rain, I was pretty worried that we might not be able to make the climb. Fortunately, by the following day, it was a beautiful warm summer day, with clear blue skies!
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| Off we go! |
The climb was a challenging one, with the terrain changing from dirt tracks to snow, the going got harder and progress was slow towards the top. Here are some of the many shots I took on the ascent to the summit.
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| Hikers on the way down Ben Nevis |
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| The beautiful view when I looked back |
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| Almost there... |
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| The summit? Apparently not.. |
While I took a picture of this very dangerous cliff, I could already imagine myself stepping on a pile of snow that just gives way, with me falling into the abyss below. My hands are already sweating while typing and recalling this moment...
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| WOAHH, this is the furthest I dared step up to... |
And finally, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you.. THE SUMMIT!
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| Some house-looking thing at the summit |
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| Cheap Tesco baked beans for lunch at the summit! |
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| Place we rested for lunch |
While we rested, all the heat generated from the sweaty climb up disappeared and the cold wind is beginning to remind us of our inadequate clothing. It was time to head back down..
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| Fresh Mountain Water to refill our empty bottles |
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| Bumping into some sheep on the way down |
And so, we went from sweaty bodies to freezing bodies and back to sweaty bodies back at the bottom. But its definitely a "cool" experience, away from the summer heat at sea level. More exchanging stories, soon to come. (:
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