So, I got up this morning and went to Dorchester by train, which is two hours. Then I took a bus to Cerne Abbas, which is another half and hour. All well and good. However, that's where the smooth-running portion of the day comes to a close. Once in Cerne Abbas, all I wanted to do was see the Cerne Abbas Giant, which is the image of a large naked man holding a club etched into the side of a hill. Some say he's a fertility god, but I've also heard that it dates to the time of Cromwell, so there's at least a few ideas about why he's there. In any case, he's maintained for historical purposes and I wanted to see him. I saw a sign that said "Giant Hill". Now one would think that this path would lead you to see the Giant, but it doesn't. It leads you up the right hill, but on the other side, so you just end up walking for about an hour for no reason. Like I did.

And it was no ordinary walk, either. No, the path to fruitlessness is paved with layers of mud and thorn bushes. I currently have little cuts all over me, and I actually had to wash my shoes when I got home in order to make them look presentable again, but a whole lot more happens before then.

Did I also mention the poo? Yes, Giant Hill is covered in smaller hills of livestock excrement, which one must constantly keep out watch for, while also battling wayward bramble branches and maintaining proper footing on the sloshy ground. It was a challenge, but I kept going because I figured, it can't be too much farther, I just want to see this stupid thing, but only when I finally gave up and turned back did I find the correct trail that lead me to the Giant in about ten minutes. I wanted to die.

The Giant is blocked off from the public by a fence, but for some reason a whole herd of sheep live inside that fence and graze on him all day. It was a little strange, but I was just happy to finally find the thing, since I was starting to doubt it's existence. He's actually easiest to see from the street leading out of town, and I got pictures of him both close up and farther away.

Other things I saw in town included the Abbey, local church, and some of the scenery, and that's really about it, since the whole town is only two streets. It's pretty far out in the country, which is why it took so long to reach it, and you're pretty much done seeing it in about two hours (or three and a half, if you take the wrong trail). The first thing I looked at was the Abbey, which is beautiful, but I quickly realized that, while I remembered to charge my camera battery, I forgot to reinsert the memory card, so after about two pictures the camera was full. Devastating. Luckily my phone takes pretty descent photos, so I managed just fine, but I really should have realized then that it was doomed to be a bad day.

As I said, the town is really small, so I was done looking around at about three, but the bus wasn't coming to pick me up until 5:20. Oh yeah, the bus doesn't come at all unless you call the company and tell them ahead of time when and where you want picked up. That's how out in the boonies I was today. So, since I had already booked my trip back to Dorchester, and pretty much everything in town shut down at 4, I had to pretty much just loiter around for a hour until the bus showed up, early, thank God. However, when I got back to Dorchester, pretty much everything there had closed up, too, except for restaurants (keep in mind that it's dark by 5, so not many places stay open). I got something to eat, but the train back to Bristol didn't leave until 8. It was a long and cold wait, since there really wasn't anywhere indoors for me to hang around.

It was about ten minutes past when the train was supposed to arrive that the bus came. Apparently something happened to the train, and now the bus had come to take us to alternate stations. We went all over the place. It was like a train station tour of south-western England. However, by the time we got to where I was supposed to pick up my train back to Bristol, it had already left, so I had to take another bus to get home. Luckily none of this cost anything, but since it was buses and not trains it took an extra hour to get home, which means that I didn't get to Bristol until 12:30 at night. Plus, it's a 20 minute walk from the local station to my dorm.

That was seriously the worst I have physically felt, if not in my life, then in a very long time.

The transportation system here in general seems to be a bit horrible. Trains get cancelled enough for them to have buses on call, more than once I've heard of people's flights getting moved over three hours back, and all of the buses and trains are pretty expensive. It's very frustrating.

In any case, I don't regret having gone to Cerne Abbas, in spite of all that madness. Here are some pictures. First two are of the Abbey, then one of the view from the walk in the wrong direction, then one of the local church (St. Mary the Virgin, I believe). The next two are just from around the town, and lastly comes the Giant.