Snowdonia – majestic, but not exactly a tropical paradise . . .

Snowdonia is majestic with towering mountains, lakes, fast flowing streams and waterfalls – but you don’t come here for a tan.

It was a short drive across from the Lake District to the village of Bethesda at the northern tip of Snowdonia National Park. Jolanda is booked into an Ayurveda course at the Snowdonia Mountain Lodge, owned and run by an organisation called Dru yoga. Dru was founded by a group of students at the nearby Bangor University around forty years ago and now has centres around the world. The Welsh centre in Snowdonia is set against a backdrop of towering mountains and is home to the UK’s first peace flame monument.

I have rented an Airbnb close by – an old miners cottage with heaps of character. After staying in so many holiday rentals around the world, I can definitely say my favourites are the quirky ones. It feels as though the owners of this place just popped out to the shops before I arrived – the rooms are filled with books and ornaments, cupboards and drawers packed full of personal possessions and family photos are everywhere. The result is somewhere that feels cosy and lived in . . .

​Snowdonia National Park is the largest of the three national parks in Wales, covers 2,100 square km and contains the highest peaks in the UK outside of Scotland. It’s an important conservation area. Interestingly one of major problems facing the park is the Rhododendron which has been increasingly taking over and stifling natural species. There are otters, polecats, and feral goat in the park – we saw a fair few goats. 

​Danielle, in her usual high-flexibility style of travelling, turned up after a couple of days and so we have explored this beautiful part of Wales together. 

I have to admit becoming a bit of a charity shop fan. A few years ago you couldn’t get me in one, but with my new found enthusiasm for recycling I have come to actually enjoy the experience of “op” shopping. And Bangor (Wale’s oldest city and just a few km from our accommodation) is busting with them. British red Cross, Oxfam, Wales Air Ambulance, Cancer Research – they just go on and on up the High St. If I am an enthusiastic participant, Danielle is the undoubted Queen of charity shops – and so we spent a good morning checking out all the Bangor has to offer in terms of second hand clothing and other tat.

Snowdonia is, of course, a mecca for tramping and hiking. We decided to travel to the Ogwen valley and walk up Mt Tryfan. We refrained from scrambling to the top due to high winds however the hike was simply stunning. From the Ogwen Visitors Centre (a visitors centre with strangely very little visitor information but with good sausage rolls) it is a steep ascent up to Llyn Bochlywd, “llyn” meaning lake in English. From the Llyn you can either head straight up to the summit of Tryfan, elevation of 918m, or skirt around the top which is what we did. An equally steep descent brought us down to the larger Llyn Ogwen where we made our way along a boggy track around the lake and back to the Visitors Centre. 

​Our other walking highlight was the beautiful Aber Falls Valley. We started our walk in the picturesque village of Abergwyngregyn – heading on a well-formed path to the Aber Falls, a small but impressively high waterfall plunging into a deep pool surrounded by igneous rock. From the falls we returned to our car via a lesser travelled route along the other side of the valley which steadily rose to about 300m – at the end of which we were greeted with spectacular views of the North Wales coastline. 

​The weather here has hovered around 16 degrees with a fair few showers and big cloud formations overhead. But it all lends to the atmosphere of Snowdonia where you can quickly leave the rest of the bustling UK behind and lose yourself in the stillness and majesty of this amazing countryside.

Our next stop, and last for the UK before leaving for India, will be a short two days in Stoke on Trent.