Chapter 3: My summer in Cornwall, England.

"My Summer in Cornwall," smilingly said the lady who took a picture of me on the beach of Bude, Cornwall. I felt such pleasure on reaching the place called Bude, via Exeter. The friendliness of the inhabitants combined with the beauty of Cornwall, often a favourite muse of many authors and painters made this trip a special itinerary on my list. I carried my beachwear, a rug, and my backpack with the hope of taking surfing lessons if the weather permitted. My expectations were more than fulfilled. I felt that it was off the beaten track of International Tourism as I did not see many Asians or Africans travelling with me except for some local tourists. One of the bus drivers I chatted with told me that he was a Londoner who decided to settle down in Cornwall because he liked the peace and quiet.Cornwall hills also happened to be a favourite of the Dutch according to him.

My journey from Coventry to Cornwall was an exciting but tiring bus ride in one of those very efficient national express buses. A commendable thing about the bus services were that they not only follow a strict code of punctuality, the drivers including women drivers also drove by themselves without a conductor and they took charge of every passenger's luggage without much ado. Every buses had a CCTV inside and outside. So, it was sheer pleasure to just look at the LCD screen as we criss-crossed some of the most beautiful English landscapes and cities. We stopped at Bristol for lunch, and it was bigger than most of the cities we passed through. I had to catch a local bus from Exeter to Bude. However, the bus driver informed me that he would not be driving to Bude directly and he gave me an option to either wait for the next bus or catch one from Launceston if I chose to travel with him. I chose the latter and soon as we careened towards our destination, I realized that I was the lone Asian in the midst of the locals who talked with a peculiar accent. The driver left me in a beautiful place called Launceston, after informing his colleague to pick me from there on his radio. Such friendliness and helpfulness of the drivers to a lone traveller was something I had never faced anywhere!

I realized that it was getting late and bought dinner from a Chinese take-away which I conveniently found adjacent to the bus stand as I waited for my next bus. Two friendly ladies also joined me latter and soon as I chatted with them, they asked me if I was a Chinese or a Mongolian! The local bus driver was a young chap and he had another woman colleague, and both of them looked up the map to locate my hostel address. They even stopped the bus next to the street closest to the hostel! On seeing an inn nearby, I entered and asked the receptionist if she could direct me to my hostel because I was kind of lost in the absence of any signs of the building itself. An employee having dinner there asked me to wait for few minutes and afterwards, he drove me to my hostel in his own car. I was really flattered and thanked him profusely for the Cornish hospitality.

The hours were late but I decided to check out the beach before I slept. So, I went out after checking in to my room. Bude took my breath away and the beach was just few minutes’ walk from where I stayed. I took my camera to take pictures and after a strong gust of wind, it soon started drizzling. I turned in to my cheap but very decent hostel for the night with a promise to try surfing the next day. I got up the next morning and on my way to the beach, I bought an outdoor jacket on sale while doing my morning photo shoot. It was cloudy and the lifeguard predicted an unfriendly sea for surfing and even though I a saw a couple of people surfing, I decided to spend my day visiting a place called "Clovelly."

Clovelly was supposed to be one of the most favourite tourist destinations. I got all the required information from their tourist information centre and got up on a local bus. Soon, I was on my way to Clovelly and again, I was dropped off in one place from where another bus took me to Clovelly. The City Centre through which we entered Clovelly charged about 7 pounds as entry fee.

The place turned out to be one of the most beautiful places I had ever visited. Once a fishing village, perched on the cliff with a vista of the blue ocean and home to the famous author Charles Kingsley, who once wrote children stories and a place which inspired Charles Dickens, Irish painters, as well as sailors during the great war and the second world war. I saw Charles Kingsley's museum which was the house he stayed in most of his life and like all the homes of the famous men and women of England I had visited, all the rooms were furnished in its original settings with many photographs and antique pieces.

The descent to the shore along the cobbled walk was amazing with interesting shops decorated with exotic and colorful flowers, restaurants and mules too! There were no sand on the beach, and it was stone pebbles that lined the shoreline to my utter surprise! After my tour of the place, I finally climbed up again and found to my trepidation that I was the only passenger to wait for the last bus. I shopped while I waited and bought souvenirs and a tent on sale again. As always, the bus came punctually right on time and with great relief, I returned to Bude all safe and sound.

On the last day, I had a hearty Cornish breakfast and English tea which had become an essential part of my trip before my return trip to Coventry and make plans for my next destination, Oxford.

To be continued.