But if you really want to get off the beaten path, board the Postbus.
At 7:30 a.m., four mornings a week, Richard Howells loads the mail into his bright red, 10-seat Royal Mail Postbus, in the quiet seaside town of Aberystwyth, and sets out into the countryside. He is often joined by visitors from all over the world, who pay about 3 pounds, 50 pence (approx. $7USD) to ride along with him, as he delivers the mail. Along the way, he also picks up local people, who need a lift into town to do their shopping. The locals love to chat with the visitors, who also enjoy listening to them speak Welsh with one another. Everyone has a good time.
"I've lived here all my life," Howells says. "It's quite rural and very scenic. Visitors can see really beautiful places on my routes-lovely valleys." Depending on which of the three local routes he covers, Howells may drop visitors at Devil's Bridge, where they can walk to a waterfall and even have a picnic, before he picks them up in the afternoon.
Others disembark to visit the Rheidol Hydro Electric Power Station, with its complete information center. Sometimes he even waits for passengers to do a little exploring. "I stop for 10 minutes and give them a chance to walk through the old lead mine. They can walk past the derelict houses. It's quite pretty," Howells says. "I'm not a tour guide, but if they ask questions, I try to give them good answers."
There are 15 different Postbus routes in Wales, serving some of the most remote, and loveliest, areas of the country. Postbuses are based in such popular, but somewhat off-the-beaten path towns as Llandrindod Wells, a Victorian Spa town in the east; Welshpool (home to Powis Castle) in mid-Wales; and Aberystwyth on the west coast, overlooking Cardigan Bay. The Welsh routes cover more than 8,000 miles, and carry some 2,000 passengers a year. Two years ago, the Royal Mail launched a new Postbus route, running from the market town of Brecon to Talgarth, in the region of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Many visitors start at the Post Office, early in the morning, but it is also possible to hail a Postbus anywhere along its route. The routes are loops, into the countryside to deliver the mail in the morning and back to town. The driver goes out again in the afternoon to collect the mail, once more returning to the post office. For many local residents, the Postbus is their only way to get to shops, and schools, and to see the doctor. For tourists it is an inexpensive and fun way to explore out-of-the-way places, and make new friends. Just ask Richard Howells. He now has friends all over the world.
Ellen McNulty is President at www.lynotttours.com
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