Whose Woods These Are

I have no idea. But they sure smell during certain parts.

So here's the story. I am going to Chinar this summer for "research." It's in quotes because I doubt my capabilities as a researcher. But it means that I get to buy a cool MP3 player, so that's pretty cool. But I digress. To get there, I need a visa and for once, it's a visa everyone has to get. Beat that, holders of blue and red passports. Yesterday morning, I set off on a trek for the Chinese Consulate General, who chose to place the Consulate far farther from the city centre than any other nation and placed itself right next to a football stadium. Well done, Chinar. So, I take the bus. Then the long walk. (Because I didn't know how far exactly it was from the Stadium and didn't think to take the bus there...) And then I see a sign that tells me that the Visa Office is closed for the next couple of days. Awesome. I have to trek back to civilization where I can then take a bus home. Because I don't know the stadium bus routes and didn't want to hop on. Plus, it was sort of a nice-ish day, because at least it wasn't raining. It was just windy, cold, and cloudy.
So I'm walking along a mostly deserted road (apparently, outside of the city centre, people drive cars. Bizarre, I know). And two roads diverged in the yellow woods. Except by "yellow woods" I mean the main street. There was either the broad, paved path that I was already on that led me back to town center. Or a tiny little path, the crooked and narrow, with a sign proclaiming it as the "Waters of Leith Walk." Intriguing. I had wanted to go there. I thought it was farther away. I wonder how long the walk is. And so I be one traveler, long I stood, and looked one down as far as I could, to where it bent in the undergrowth. Then took the other, as just as fair, and followed the tiny sign and sketchy path and walk behind a couple of backyards and come upon a tiny stream, which smelled pretty bad at parts. And then I realized that I am all alone in a secluded area that I don't know. And wonder if perhaps following this path wasn't the best idea. But, lacking any common sense or sense of urgency, I pressed on, though ever fearing that I would be the first person to discover some dead body along the water. (What else can explain the weird smells?)

These were my discoveries:


















Just about the meanest bike path ever, don't you think? Upward stairs?! No railing?! What kind of bicycles are these meant for?!















Do not look too closely into the water's reflection. You might spot something rotting. Seriously. If I ever kill someone (purely hypothetical, people), this is where the body would go. There are houses all along the first half of the path, but I don't think they're on the look out for anything.















What? Does every photo need a caption? These are flowers.



















Here, was the cool payoff for me. I'm sure if I stuck to the path long enough and saw the more impressive parts of the Waters of Leith, it'd be cool, too. But instead of following the path I crossed the bridge and came upon the gate of the National Gallery Museum of Modern Art. And the Dean Gallery. And that was too cool, a hike in the woods to get to a museum. Where else do you get to do that?















View from the Museum of Modern Art.

So one road diverged from a big, wide path, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that, has made all the difference.