North Wales : Day 6 - the kampongs

Day 6 started with a 45 minutes drive on the trunk A road to Betws-y-coed (pron Betus-i-coed) which is a small town almost surrounded by the forest at the junction of 3 valleys - the Lledr Valley from the south, the Llugwy Valley from the west and the Conwy Valley to the north.

the traffic has to cross the Waterloo Bridge which is a cast iron bridge built in 1815 and carries the inscription "THIS ARCH WAS CONSTRUCTED IN THE SAME YEAR THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO WAS FOUGHT". we drove to the town centre, crossed the old stone bridge and had our bekal at the riverside. there were lots of people as it was a sunny day. aliyah loved dipping her feet in the water.

The Ugly House - from Betws-y-coed to Capel Curig

from there we drove towards Portmeirion Village, passed through Blaenau Ffestiniog, the town known as 'the slate capital of wales'. this is an industrial town with huge slate tips towering above it. North Wales is best known for the slate and until recently, most buildings had a slate roof which is very durable (and expensive in malaysia). in Blaenau Ffestiniog, everything is slate and it has been the life and breath of the community for 200 years. now most of the quarries are quiet and drainage pumps switched off but remains the visitors attraction.

Portmeirion is a small private village designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis from 1925-1976, the welsh architect whose intention was to create a place free from careless bulding and advertising. the cottages mainly in the italian style are grouped around a small bay. many of the cottages are available to rent. during the 1960s, the cult TV series, The Prisoner was filmed here. one could spend half a day in the village, on the beach and walking in the garden. its somewhat like Colmar Tropicale at Bukit Tinggi but on a so much larger scale..

Portmeirion pottery comes from this village; i'm a collector of the Botanic Garden set tapi beli sikit2 every month sebab nak beli sekali gus memang lah tak mampu.