The natural beauty of Highlands takes you to the tranquility of its sparkling lakes, mountainous landscape and arrays of leaves and trees.
If you have enough time to explore Scotland, then going up to the Highlands is definitely a must.
The Initial Trip
My first journey to Highlands was in winter 2005 and I did another trip in summer 2006. So, I was lucky enough to see the pristine nature both covered with snow as well as lightened by sunshine. However, it was the first journey that really got me, due to 2 reasons. Firstly, it was a rather spontaneous road trip, whereas the second journey saw me going on an organised one-day tour. Secondly, with good companions it turned out to be one of the most memorable moments I had in Scotland.
There were 5 of us, joined by 3 friends who came all the way from London by bus and arrived in Glasgow the night before we set off. One friend had arranged renting a van from Arnold Clark. He and I had also made a reservation at a hostel in Isle of Skye after looking for information at Glasgow Tourist Office. Other friends had bought food and drinks from Tesco for our supplies, and that surely included bread and instant noodle!
As it was approaching end of year 2005, celebrating New Year’s Eve in Edinburgh was also part of the plan. Briefly, this was our itinerary:
| Friday, 30/12/05 | Glasgow – Loch Lomond – Fort William – Isle of Skye – Stay overnight in Portree |
| Saturday, 31/12/05 | Portree – Tour around the island for a wee bit – Inverness – Loch Ness – Edinburgh |
| Sunday, 01/01/06 | Leave Edinburgh at around 2 am, expect to be back in Glasgow at 4 am |
Winter Wonderland
Friday morning at 8, a green van picked me and the other 2 girls up at my flat. It was our friends, 4 guys and a girl all set to explore the long road to Highlands. We were heading north to our first destination, Loch Lomond (loch is lake in Gaelic, the indigenous Scottish language). Loch Lomond is the largest lake not only in Scotland, but also in mainland Britain and presumably the most famous after Loch Ness. It is considerably close to Glasgow (32 km away) and I am pretty sure it should have more visitors during other times of the year.
We parked at a rest area where there was a restaurant that was also a hotel, and found ourselves looking into a vast white ground just opposite us. It could just be an ordinary playground, but since it had snowed the day before, it turned out to be a snowy field and it seemed like it was laid there deliberately for us. We were all originally South East Asians, making the view undoubtedly a rare thing for us to experience. We were so thrilled and soon found ourselves playing and throwing snow balls at each other.
The excitement must end, however, as we realised we still had a long way to go. But we knew the best has yet to come. Before leaving, we did not forget to take some pictures with the white snow and shiny lake as the background. Pieces of souvenir from the winter wonderland.
Welcome to Highlands
Loch Lomond is like an indirect border of Highlands. You could see mountains slowly coming up to greet you as you go along and before you know it you have reached the Southern part of Highlands. The lake which stretches for 35 km, also offered us spectacular view from our window over and over before it finally disappeared from our sight.
Gradually, the scenery character changed into grey-coloured mountains covered with snow. Lush trees still showed their green leaves while some others on the lower ground were mere trunks and branches, resting and waiting for another season to grow. Hills were emerging from behind forests.
We told our friend who was driving to drive cautiously as the winter weather had left the road to be slippery with the remains of snow. The continuous rain, although not heavy, added another case to be careful with.
We kept on going until we arrived in a little town called Fort William. It is known as a base for those who want to go mountain-climbing or hiking. It was a good place for us to stop, especially when we had not had proper lunch. When we got there it was 3 in the afternoon, but it already looked like 5 o’clock (winter made the day shorter). After parking the car, we walked and searched for a restaurant which was quite an easy task as there was a line of eating places. We picked one with a nice interior and warm atmosphere, offering competitive price. Despite of the cold weather outside, the late lunch felt like a luxury in our long journey.
When we finished with our meals and after-lunch chat, we thought a little walk to see more of the town would be nice. It was getting dark and we ended up dropping in on a souvenir shop not far from across the road. I remember buying a set of playing cards with red and green tartan motive on the back side of the cards. It might just be something made in China. Still, it would remind me of our moment in Fort William. As part of our ritual, we took some more pictures of us near the parking lot, by a lake with the evening sky falling over behind us.
Our next destination was Isle of Sky, Scotland’s biggest island.
Towards Skye
We were now passing through the dark and there was not much to see along the way. Instead of getting numb, we made our own lively scene by throwing jokes, playing riddle and singing silly songs. The only object that drew our attention was Eilean Donan Castle which was shined with lights like a glitter amidst the night. The castle which is located on a small island has a stone-arched bridge linking it with the mainland.
Isle of Skye or the ‘Cloud Island’ is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Scotland thanks to the breathtaking scenery of its stunning cliffs and mountains, shimmering lakes and extensive green fields. From mainland, we crossed Skye Bridge to get there. It was quiet and only very few cars were passing by. When we finally got to the island, we followed ‘Portree’ sign. Portree is the main town where stayed that night. I called the hostel and told the guy we had reached the island and that we were on our way to Portree. He suggested ringing him back once we arrived in town, and that was exactly what I did.
He gave us direction to the hostel but we still could not find it. We told him our location and he politely asked us to stop where we were because he would come to us. The tall, blonde, rather big guy who appeared to be the owner, waved his hand on a corner of a street not too far from where we stopped and led us to the hostel.
Bayfield Backpackers
Bayfield Backpackers was a modernly designed hostel and it looked as if it was newly built. We had booked 2 rooms (1 for the boys and 1 for the girls), each with 2 double deck beds. The shared shower rooms were clean and neat. I found it very comfortable and was the first to take a shower, while the others were in the kitchen lounge, relaxing. The spacious dining area had long tables, resembling a school canteen. The fully equipped kitchen was big enough to facilitate 3-4 people to use it at the same time. I think the £ 12 pounds a night per person was worth it.
The next morning, with 8 people in our team, we dominated the kitchen and dining area while there was only another guest who was making a toast. Our breakfast menu was instant fried noodle and bread. One friend who came from London was amazed by how we could arrange the meal at the start of the day. He said normally when he went backpacking he just grabbed a toast and munched it as he went off. In this case, I have similar travel behaviour as his. But when it comes to more than 3 people in a group, then one must be flexible with his/her habit.
Discover the Beauty
We left Bayfield Backpackers, ready to travel around the island. The morning chill and mist along with the wet weather did not demotivate us to discover Skye. We started off by going up north. The magnificent landscape boasted hills and mountains and occasionally islets separated by small lakes. The silence of Skye was accompanied by the sparsely located houses. All too often there were towering cliffs and rocks, and we could not help noticing a few sheep here and there.
We stopped at one particular spot, which could be purposely made for scenery-sighting. Overlooking a clear, blue lake, we were overwhelmed by the mist and puffs of clouds above the water, reflecting colours of white, blue and grey. Now, we know why it is called Isle of Skye.
There was also a waterfall below left from where we stood. The water ran down along the cliffs and splashed when it touched solid rocks at the bottom, before making its way to the lake. So beautiful.
It was time to head back to mainland. We drove down to Portree and discovered the town’s pretty harbor which must had been missed out when we passed through it the night before. We stopped for a while and enjoyed it for a wee bit before continuing our route.
The journey from Isle of Skye to Inverness gave us a string of unspoiled nature consisting of forests forming a fine shape leading to hills, crystal clear reflection of mountains on the surface of a lake and snow from 2 days ago that still remained untouched. At one rest area we stopped, there was a tiny frozen lake surrounded by snow. We thought it was really cool and had our picture taken with the glacial lake.
Inverness and Loch Ness
We eventually arrived in Highlands’ main city, Inverness. It was the first time we found considerably lively site in Highlands. Aside from filling the gas, we also looked for a place to eat and got ourselves fish and chips at a small restaurant near the gas station.
After that, we went off again and looked no further for the ‘Loch Ness’ road sign. Winter shortened the day and the evening came earlier than usual. As we caught the sight of the deep, narrow Loch Ness, the sky was getting dark, mist was drifting far on the other side of the lake. We got out of the car. Cold and chilly. Most trees had lost their leaves and simply looked dead. We could sense the mysterious mood sweeping in. Was the monster there? We never knew.
Nevertheless, we were there for fun and fun was what we had. We made silly shocking-look and posed, pretending we had spotted Nessie and got it all photographed. We also found a sign nearby with the words ‘Loch Ness’ written on it. We used it as proof that we had been to the legendary lake by taking our picture with the sign.
Done with the fun and foolish acts, we moved further down towards the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, to spend New Year’s Eve.
Every year Edinburgh hosts a street festival known as Hogmanay to celebrate New Year. It goes along Princess Street right at the city centre. I heard the festival is one of the biggest New Year parties around Europe (perhaps, apart from London and Paris?) and pulls thousands of visitors every year.
Hogmanay
We parked the car and walked down to Princess Street. When we came to one end of the main party area, it was still quite early. To get into the main party area, we should have tickets that actually had been sold widely on the internet months before. To tell the truth, none of us had got it. In fact, it was not really well-planned that we were discussing whether to celebrate outside the main area (as it was crowded as well) or to buy tickets from those sellers wandering around offering last-minute tickets. I could imagine the disappointment of the Londoners, not having to see the real celebration, and to be honest, I too, was very much keen on getting in.
A few other friends who were joining us from Glasgow were also thinking of going to the main area. So, finally, we decided to go in. A friend who had been approached twice by a ticket seller made a bargain and purchased the tickets – 12 of them.
The main party area was tremendously packed. In one part we even got stuck by the traffic of people. Now, I understood the meaning of Hogmanay being the largest New Year’s party scene in Europe.
Loud music of top 40 songs was banging, decorative lights shined brightly and they even put a wheel like that of London Eye, only this one was smaller.
We settled at one spot where we could have better view of the fantastic fireworks. Edinburgh Castle was far away above the opposite side of us. Then the countdown began…5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year! We congratulated and hugged each other. It was a lovely night and we had such a great time.
Back to Glasgow
At 1.30 we drove back to Glasgow. I could not resist the tiredness and fell asleep. It was then 3 in the morning when I got to my flat.
It was a fabulous journey. A compilation of natural sight-seeing, wonderful winter moments and joyful companions even with friends who joined us later in Edinburgh (some of us even just met that night).
Memory that will surely remain for years to come.
The first thing that pops into your head when you think of Scotland most likely would be an image of a Scotsman wearing a tartan kilt playing the traditional instrument, bagpipe. Well, this whole package can actually be spotted in Scotland’s main cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Whether outside shopping malls, next to a museum, at the city centre, in the old town area or simply randomly on a corner of a street. If the time is right, you can even catch a festival or perhaps a more formal stage performance. I was lucky enough to catch Glasgow International Piping Festivals with participants coming from around the world. 
The moves are not just enjoyable to do but also to see. Often the dance requires an equal number of ladies and gentlemen to become couples, so that everyone has the chance to move around and change couple. There is also one part of the dance I remember in particular where couples stand opposite each other and place their hands together forming a tunnel, and then each couple takes turn to go through inside the tunnel rapidly. Another part is where everyone makes a circle and one female and a male dance inside the circle, then go back to their place and followed by those standing next to the previous performers.
While Ceilidh is especially held during festive moments (it is also a must-do at Burns Night, the night where Scottish commemorate the great poetry, Robert Burns), you can join the dance at the local bars when they have special events. I did the dance 3 times: with classmates and other students from the same faculty at the annual faculty ball, with other international students at an on-campus bar called Todd’s Bar and with the locals celebrating Burns Night at a friend’s house in Dunkeld.
