My travel diary entry - Scotland Day 3

I woke up after a good night’ sleep where I dreamt of me in a Scottish castle… no doubt I had been inspired much by the story of Mary, Queen of Scots.

I was excited about today’ tour – Loch Ness, Glencoe and the Highlands. The tour started at 8:00 a.m. and I did not want to be late and left behind so I reached the departure point and checked in by 7:30 a.m. Tip: Always reach the departure point at least ½ hour before the tour departure; otherwise in a tour like this where the duration is more than 10 hours, you can be sure they are very impatient to get on their way and will mostly not wait for you.

I had skipped breakfast but I was still good because I had taken care to buy some bread and biscuits the day before at the local supermarket. I ate before I got on the bus and because I checked in before the appointed time, I was able to get a really good window seat two seats behind the driver.

Tips:

1. When you are on long tours like these, ensure that you are carrying light refreshments and enough water.
2. Do not eat on the tour bus; you will not be allowed to anyway.
3. Carry some bags for the putting your waste away till you find a dustbin.

We left Edinburgh and traveled north towards Stirling Castle, one of the largest and most important castles dating back to early 12^th century with its strategic position atop Castle Hill and surrounded by steep cliffs. We heard our guide talk about the wars of Scottish Independence from the English kings starting with successful takeover by Robert the Bruce to the last unsuccessful bid by Bonnie Prince Charlie.

We reached Kilmahog which is a small village with few houses, woollen mills and a local pub. This small package however comes with big history however; this little village has remains of ‘ramparts’ built by Romans in the first century, church and burial site dating to the 17^th century and Samson’ Putting Stone from the putting match between giants where Samson was declared winner as legend has it. We finally saw some Highland cattle that we had heard so much about.

We traveled through Rob Roy Country which includes Balquhidder, Lochearnhead, St. Fillans and Strathyre and is famous of the clans MacGregor and Campbell. We heard the history of Rob Roy MacGregor who is like the Scottish Robin Hood; his role in the Jacobite Rising to his blood feud with Duke James for seizing his house and lands to enjoying the protection of Campbell clan at Glen Shira. Tip: There are walking tours in this great country side even self-guided ones which come highly recommended. The Rob Roy Way meanders across the Southern Highlands of Scotland from Drymen to Pitlochry through many places where the outlaw and his clansmen were active. Although the trail passes through some of the finest highland scenery in Scotland, it avoids the summits, keeping mainly to the glens, following old tracks beside rivers and lochs and over a few passes which provide wonderful views of the surrounding mountains.

When we thought that the scenery could not get any more beautiful, along came Rannoch Moor, a boggy moorland now but an icefield during the last Ice Age, known of its exquisite wildlife. It overlooks the Black Mount which stands tall between Glen Coe and Glen Orchy.

Glen Coe is the remains of ancient supervolcano that erupted millions of years ago and formed into a U-shaped glacier during the last Ice Age. Glencoe village is the main settlement in Glen Coe and is the site of massacre of Scotsmen of Clan MacDonald by the forces of King William. Since it has a spectacular scenery to boast of, it is very popular with trekkers and rock and ice climbers. It has also made its presence felt in Harry Potter films as the home of the sweetest giant Hagrid and even in the James Bond film Skyfall.

We then continued via Loch Linnhe, one of Scotland’ longest sea lochs into the town of Fort William which is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles. It is the start/end of both the West Highland Way (Milngavie-Fort William) and the Great Glen Way (a walk/cycle way Fort William-Inverness). Trekking and climbing due to its proximity to Ben Nevis (Britain’ highest mountain) and many other Munro mountains and biking on the downhill mountain bike track make it very popular.

Tip: If you are an avid trekker or biker then these routes are not to be missed because nature has been very lavish at portraying its best here.

We admired the Calendonian Canal on our journey onward; this 60-mile long canal designed by Telford with 29 locks, four aqueducts and 10 bridges runs from northeast to southwest and what is amazing is that only about one-third of its length is man-made, the rest are formed by Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy.

We arrived at Fort Augustus which is at the southwest end of Loch Ness which is the second largest freshwater loch after Loch Lomond but at more than 750 feet depth, it has more volume than Loch Lomond. It is most famous for the sightings of monster which has been nicknamed ‘Nessie’. We took the Jacobite cruise around Loch Ness… at one time, I thought I saw Nessie, but alas it was just the angle of the sun. Alas! I lost my chance to become famous courtesy Nessie. The Urquhart Castle lies on the western shore of Loch Ness and the ruins date back to the 13^th to 16^th centuries and played a very strategic role in the Scottish wars of Independence.

On our return to Edinburgh, we passed through Inverness – the Capital of the Highlands (the name means – ‘Mouth’ of Loch Ness). We heard about the historical battle sites - the Battle of Blàr nam Fèinne against Norway which took place on The Aird in the 11^th century and the Battle of Culloden which took place on Culloden Moor in the 18^th century. When Mary, Queen of Scots was denied entrance to Inverness Castle, her loyal allies – Clan Munro and Clan Fraser laid siege to the castle and won it for her after which the governor was asked to be executed by her for his misdemeanour. This Queen is really everywhere and truly symbolic of Scottish fierceness.

We traveled through the Grampian Mountains, one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland which extends southwest to northeast between the Highland Boundary Fault and Gleann Mòr (the Great Glen), occupying almost half of the land-area of Scotland and including the Cairngorms and the Lochaber hills and includes many of the high mountains in the British Isles, including the two highest ones - Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui.

We crossed the woodlands of Perthshire and the Forest of Atholl renowned for its scenic beauty, extreme sports and Blair Castle, the seat of the Duke of Atholl – head of the Murray clan. Tip: If you love to soak in the scenery, visit a castle at leisure and then engage in some exhilarating bungee jumping then the Forest of Atholl has enough castles, parks and extreme sports to keep you busy through the day.

Our final stop for the day before reaching Edinburgh was Pitlochry, a largely Victorian town developed after Queen Victoria visited it in 1842 and the arrival of railways in 1863. We found a lot of dedicated hillwalkers here due to its proximity to mountains like Ben Vrackie and Schiehallion.

This was by far one of the best 13 hours of a single day that I had spent in a long time.