Up Ben A'an

"Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt"

I don't know about you but hiking is my absolute favorite form of therapy. Everything from the walk/climb up, tripping here and there, woodsy fragrance, getting mud on my trainers and surrounded by distant sounds of wildlife (I repeat, distant. Don't wanna be anywhere near a freely roaming python or a tiger..no sir lol but then again, that would be cool :P) is PERFECT.

The last hike I did back home before coming here to Scotland was up 'Bukit Kutu' (3456 ft) and my feet and soul were itching for another hike since then. Surely the small 'hikes' I did in Edinburgh, Stonehaven and Glenmore did do the trick but your girl wanted more. And yes, I was in frigging Scotland, a literal hiking haven, I could go on hikes every weekend if I wanted to. BUT (there's always a BUT), there was a number of problems:

1) As I am under the age of 25, I wasn't able to rent a car

2) My hiking buddy/buddies were all under the age of 25 (so i can't get them to rent a car either)

3) Hiking groups/societies often either had an overpriced fee or clash of dates/timing (bummer:/)

4) Most hiking trails/mountains aren't accessible by public transport and are also located miles and miles away from where I live (how "convenient")

If the first four problems listed above applies to you as well, then continue reading for a good news. If not, then know that I am jealous of you and you may go ahead and explore Scotland with your car. Want to skip the reading? Then check out my vlog here. (watch in HD & excuse the bad quality this time around...the wind deff did not help with the video stabilization lol)

ANYWAYS, that did not stop me. With the help of my lovely friend, Google, I managed to figure out a way to get to one of the hiking spot on my list that is Ben A'an, a hill located at the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park (*tears of joy*). I told my friend and hiking buddy, Sridevi about it and what we had to do next was just wait for the right time and weather! *checks weather forecast religiously*

So, how to get to Ben A'an without a car?

First off, we took an early morning train from Dundee to Stirling (save a lot with a railcard guys! Get one!). From Stirling, we hopped on a local bus to a beautiful, small town called Callander. A reminder: There are NO public transport or regular taxis that goes up to Ben A'an's car-park. Therefore we got a DRT (a rural taxi service organised by the Stirling Council) right up to Ben A'an's car park. The whole journey right up to the car-park took us almost 4 hours ("all that hassle just to hike?" you might ask. YES! SO WORTH IT!).

F I N A L L Y, it was time to hike. YASSSSSSS

The path was easy and it was a relatively simple hike with occasional steep inclines as you get closer to the summit.

Every now and then, we would stop to look back at how far we have walked and be in awe of the picturesque landscape behind us. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the top.

Cos selfies were too mainstream, so we took our bags instead ha ha :P

WE MADE IT! Despite being only 1490 ft high, Ben A'an offered a splendid view of Ben Venue and Loch Katrine from the summit. Once again,

SO. WORTH. IT.

Don't be fooled by how 'composed' we look in the pictures because the wind was CRAZY. So crazy that my cap blew off twice! Yet, we crawled our way up to the tippy top for an Instagram worthy shot! #DoingItForTheGram

Gotta love a lunch with a view. We packed sandwiches and some light snacks for our wee picnic at the top.

Despite the lack of Mr. Sun, the weather was good; cloudy, pretty warm and with only light showers for a couple of minutes. Loved every single minute at the top and the walk back down. As we got back down, it came to our realization that there weren't any cellular reception.

No signal = no DRT = no way of getting back to Callander.

We then decided to do something we would never dare to do back in our home country...we hitch-hiked. Thanks to a lovely couple we met at the car-park who not only agreed to drop us at Callander but they also made a quick stop at Trossachs Woollen Mill for us to see Highland cows @ Hairy Coo up close for the very first time. You could see us excitedly feeding em in my vlog.