Rambling in Wales!

I took the opportunity of the Easter holidays to ramble (roam) in the mountains, woodlands, and beaches of North Wales. My first and long pending on the list is in the western corner of the UK, the Snowdonia National Park, which didn't disappoint me. We got glimpses of Wales's tallest peak Snowdon Mountain two days in a row, like a god gift. I had heard of it stuck in clouds & Snow most of the year, but we were lucky to see it, albeit from afar. I didn't know rambling was an outdoor adventure/sport till I entered Wales. One could spot people walking/tracking in the remotest corners soaking in the tranquility.

North Wales is blessed with natural beauty, the mountains seem to be touching the clouds, and the Irish Sea, washing its feet. I was immersed in the endless play of sun and clouds changing the scenes that left me breathless. In the middle are the vast expanses of greens. The sheep outnumber the humans here and look dotted on most farms. Although a small area per se, there is a lot to cover as I was surprised to see the number of people taking nature walks or similar outdoor activities. It felt as if the entire UK turned to Snowdonia on the holidays.

Wales still maintains its distinct culture and language. Considerable locals still use the Welsh language. Many road signs are bilingual. I found it particularly hard to pronounce Welsh words as they look, like re-arranged English alphabets, but the pronunciation was vastly different. It felt like a foreigner when the native spoke in Welsh or their heavy English accent. We visited a small train station on the furthest corner of North Wales, famous for its longest name (58 characters) in the UK. Our tour guide tried his best to help us understand and explain the words through a song, but we couldn't pronounce them. My little memory could hold only the last four characters. I took pictures to help me learn it later, as writing on paper without a spelling mistake is out of the question.

Apart from rambling in the mountains and seaside, we did manage to see three world heritage castles in the area - Conwy, Harlech, and Beaumaris. All of them stand tall guarding the seafronts. Even though they didn't face many battles in the past and were left unattended, today draws lots of tourists. Besides this, the abundance of natural beauty pulls in crowds from far and wide, to the extent that there was a queue of trackers on the Snowdonia mountain summit last year. They had to shut the entrance to avoid mishaps and ecological damage.

The local economy is on farming, animal husbandry, and tourism. Llandudno, a small city on the north shore where I stayed, attracts masses year-round. I was surprised that there are more than 300 hotels, B&B, and other accommodations in this small place. And that at any given point, there are more tourists than locals. It is a boon to help run the economy and a curse as its a threat to nature. However, I found that the locals are hard-working, warm, and accommodating to the tourists.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a very modern and posh visitor's center at SouthStack, a remote place with a beautiful lighthouse on Anglesey Island. A very professional and qualified team helped to run the center. The amenities were at par with any popular location in the UK. What surprised me was their dedication and sincerity to serve just a handful of visitors in the middle of nowhere. I left Wales mesmerized by the simplicity and beauty of the place and the people.