Greetings from Carrbridge, a small village in the northern parts of the Caingorms National Park, quiet, with a population of just over 700 people – 708 to be exact. Gosh, this is remote. Having just arrived from the touristy town of Ballater, a seeming metropolis it has taken a bit of time to wind down a gear and adjust to village life – a place where everyone seems to know everyone, and as a visitor you really stand out. Perhaps this is what I need for a short while, just to take the pace down a gear or two, but if Im honest Im glad Im just staying here three nights.
I was actually planning to stay in tourist central, nearby Aviemore, during this part of my trip. But booking my two months ago, the place was practically fully booked! I understand many British people are staycationing this summer, and perhaps Aviemore is just one of those popular places. The only place I found suitable and within my price range was a private room in Aviemores Youth Hostel, but I just couldnt bring myself to booking into a Youth Hostel again after all these
years. So I found a nice little BnB in the nearby village of Carrbridge, which looked like it had good transport links to the places I wanted to visit nearby, including Aviemore, and its supermarket. It turns out that the local bus service here doesnt run on a Sunday, though when I checked a couple of months ago I thought it did – my mistake I think. Monday is also Summer Bank Holiday here in Scotland, which I didnt realise, and thus there is also no bus service here on Monday! But fortunately I have cobbled together my transport plans for my time here, involving taxis and trains. Carrbridge is in fact on the mainline route between Edinburgh/Glasgow and nearby Inverness, and trains do stop here at the train station every once in a while – just not really on a Sunday, when theres only one service in the morning to Aviemore, and nothing back again! So on Sunday I arranged with a local taxi driver to take me to a couple of nearby places, and Monday I planned my travels by train, which do not seem to be affected by the bank holiday. Well, if it was track
Getting here was also quite something, but very well worth it! I had originally planned to take a bus from Ballater back to Aberdeen, then a train to Inverness, and then a train to here, Carrbridge. Having discussed with a local taxi driver, it turned out to be only £20 more expensive, and infinitely quicker and easier, to book a taxi straight from Ballater to Carrbridge, a distance of only 47 to 170 miles the roundabout route would have been. There used to be a local bus service which did this route twice a day, but the taxi driver told me it was not profitable and stopped running a few years ago. I was glad to have been able to arrange this journey. It was really spectacular, across the Lecht mountain pass, travelling through high Scottish moorlands and wildernesses, a stunningly sited 16th century fortress house called Corgarrf Castle, a lovely little village called Tomintoul, and even a ski resort, the Lecht Ski Centre, though unfortunately I didnt manage to take a photo of this. I enjoyed the journey very much, and the taxi driver pointed out
We arrived in Carrbridge just over three hours before time, and the owners were out for the day, so I took the time to explore the village of Carrbridge and surroundings, after following the owners advice to leave my big backpack in a decking area at the back until they returned. The main point of interest in the middle of town is the Old Pack Horse Bridge, straddling the River Dulnain. Originally built in 1717, it is the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands. However, it was severely damaged during a great flood in 1829 they call the Muckle Spate, literally meaning Great Flood in the local dialect. It is still very beautiful to look at and admire though.
