Finally over.

Now for the planning stage, in earnest. My supervisor isn't too spontaneous, so that's one thing to do tomorrow - email him AGAIN and tell him my learning objectives and ask for a program of sorts. And email the bloody UCLA woman and tell her - forget it, just send my cheque back. I'll be able to pay for a castle stay, at least. And start on reading some papers. Gosh. Was there supposed to be a holiday?

Oh cripes .. and loads of planning for Glasgow. Probably going to fly on the early morning of 12th May, right after birthday celebrations. During the 3 weeks that I'll be studying in hospital, nothing much is probably going to happen. Except that on 27-28 May I'll be doing a CRAZY trip down to Telford so as to have a private tour of the UK National Sarracenia collection, muahahahaha! So, yeah .. gotta arrange for coach to Telford, then B&B for 27th, and coach back to Glasgow.

Real headaches start after mom and YX arrive, probably 3rd or 4th July, weekend after my posting ends. We'll be hanging around in Glasgow for 3-4 days, (tentatively) 2.5hr coach up to Oban and the Isle of Mull to do some serious minke whale-watching and to see the puffins, then somehow get ourselves up to Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis.

At this point we'll be really up in the highlands already, I'm planning nearly a week up there. So a few days will be spent at Fort William while I explore the nearby (not really) Glencoe, Rannoch Moor and Glen Nevis for populations of Drosera intermedia, D.rotundifolia, D.anglica and Pinguicula lusitanica. Glencoe's interesting historically (site of a famous and ugly massacre), I know for sure that there are CPs to be found, and I'm really keen about finding the Hidden Valley in there. Rannoch can be skipped if there's no time, but I do want to explore Glen Nevis (where Braveheart was filmed) and possibly try climbing just a little of Ben Nevis.

Leave Fort William after that, and spend 1-2 days at Inverness and Loch Ness. And from there, down to Edinburgh again, to visit the Edinburgh Castle and do some ghost-hunting. Then either a domestic flight or a sleeper train down to London for a few days, and back to Changi from Heathrow. OH CRIPES. Not enough time to visit everything!! OMG. Let's see :

Glasgow - 3 days
Oban - 2 days
Fort William (Glencoe, Rannoch Moor, Glen Nevis) - 4 days
Inverness (Loch Ness) - 2 days
Edinburgh - 3 days
London - 3 days
Total = 17 days.

Ouch.

Major accomodation costs!! So far in most of Scotland, lovely cottages with B&B including full Scottish breakfasts range from £22.5-35 per person. I'm restricted to finding triple rooms or family rooms, since 3 of us are travelling together. Some of the cottages, esp. those in the highlands, are OBSCENELY ulu! You either walk (*faint*), cycle or drive around to see the mountains. Gosh... and there's still the travel costs. Coaches, taxis, train or planes.

Sorely tempted by a most lovely "tour package" starting from the Isle of Mull. It's a 3-day package, including accomodation at the Glengorm Castle itself, and with 2 full days at sea for spotting minke whales, porpoises and dolphins, sunfish, whale sharks, otters, seals and birds. £300 or so per person though - quite reasonable in fact, but for the cash-strapped student traveller .. sigh. =( And I don't know if I have 3 days to spare at Mull. Also, it doesn't include a trip to see the Corryvreckan whirlpool. My original plan at Oban only included 5 hours at sea including the whirlpool (a bit apprehensive about this thing .. aren't whirlpools supposed to be dangerous??) and with 2.5 hours up from Glasgow and another 1.5-2 hrs up to Fort William, this can actually be done in a day. I do want to see wild whales. =(

OK, this whole thing is turning out to be some sort of nature trip. No doubt, the 2 women WILL complain. Especially trumping through marsh and bogs to find tiny Drosera. Badly need more $$ though. BADLY.

Planning to visit some beautiful Sarracenia collections in England, else I could actually shorten the time spent in London. Mom also wants to go for a rhumba clinic with some of the top Blackpool people, so some time's got to be spent there.

Tried buying maps, but Kino is surprisingly poor at it. I managed to buy one of all the 4 constituents of the United Kingdom, at 1:750 000 scale. It's really not too bad, considering I only really coughed up $0.90 for it (the other $20 from a voucher), and it does give an excellent overview to the rough distances and routes. Need to buy some specifics when I'm there though. Don't want to be lost for months in Glencoe and get eaten by bears.