August 16-17, 2025 - Onward Travel

 I started Saturday with a nice breakfast at the Myrtle Bank Guest House in Fort William and I was really happy to see my friends David and Lisa from Toronto.  I knew they were staying there but I hadn’t seen them yet and I didn’t have any contact information for them, so I was afraid I would never see them again.  

After a mile or so walk to the other end of town I boarded a beautiful brand new electric bus for a trip to Edinburgh, arriving about 2:00.  The whole month of August in Edinburgh is the Fringe Festival, with thousands of acts (comedians, storytellers, dancers, musicians, theatre, etc) performing in hundreds of venues at all times of day, many of them free.  I checked into my hostel (a bed in a 14 bed room) and started walking around hoping to find something to attend in the afternoon.  It was overwhelming, the volume of shows and the number of people attending.  I finally decided on a free comedy act to see that started at 4:30 in a room off the side of a little dive pub.  I was there about 45 minutes early and ordered a beer.  There were not that many people there, but about 10 minutes prior to the show it got really crowded and I found out that nearly everyone had gotten tickets on line. The person in front of me got the last non-ticketed seat so I didn’t get in.  I just walked around some more and found a place for a haggis burger for dinner before going to bed around 9.  There was only one person in the room when I went to sleep.  I put in earplugs and put on a sleeping mask and barely heard the other bunk sleepers when they came in much much later.  Sunday morning I was out of the room by about 5 AM.

The electric bus at Ft. William 

My luggage transfer tag for the WHW

Lisa and David at breakfast. 

I walked past the WHW endpoint again on the way to the bus. 

Edinburgh during the Fringe 

Waiting for the show I couldn’t get into 

Adds for Fringe acts were everywhere 


The Dynamic Earth museum in Edinburgh 


The Scottish Parliament Building 

Edinburgh street 

More Fringe crowds 

One of the many “Closes” coming down from the Royal Mile 

Another example of Fringe posters on the staircase of the hostel. 


Early morning ride on the top of a double decker bus on the way to the Edinburgh airport. 

An breakfast apple from Holy Joe’s church garden in London still in my backpack 

Goodbye Scotland!





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