A dreary Bus tour

Yesterday, I wasted my time. I was worried that I wouldn't get to see the highlands, so I took a bus tour. I knew it was a mistake, but I wanted to make sure I saw as much as I could. Unfortunately, it rained most of the day, making the bus windows all streaky with rain, so few photos from within the bus turned out. Secondly, we were only out of the bus for about a total of 3 hours, the other 8 hours being driving. The places we stopped were touristy (to be expected) and didn't have great photo opportunities. Wost of all, someone in a white van hit the bus, and 4 people on the trip went missing and we had to leave them after waiting for 45 min.

All the bad stuff is out of the way. While the trip wasn't worth the money, I am glad I took it. I saw more of the highlands than I would have otherwise, and even though I don't have a good record of it in pictures I remember the places. Also, on the upside I met Hamish the Highland 'Coo' (right), one of the several tourist traps in which we stopped.


Places of interest: Glencoe, Loch Ness, Rannoch Moor, the Cairngorms, Ben Nevis, Glen Affric (which I only saw the spur of), etc.

These names make a shiver go down my spine they were so beautiful, and the Gaelic names were even more haunting. To the left you will see the bilingual road signs, specifically Inbhir Nis, which means 'at the mouth of Ness' or at the mouth of Loch Ness.

First, the names themselves evoke a romantic foreignness to me, and now having seen them, just hearing the names puts me back there for a moment. I want to walk amonst the landscape, not just drive through it. I will one day. This trip proved to me that Scotland is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Lets start with Glencoe, (Gleanna Comhann in Gaelic) which if our guide is to be believed (and I don't think he should be since he mixed up Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott), means the glen of sorrow. But the river Coe runs through Glencoe, and a glen is made by a river, so I doubt his testament. This place defies description. There are dozens of mountains surrounding the River Coe, each skirted by little mountain burns that have carved dramatic mount faces. The result is a valley of glens. The crags look unsurmountable (there certianly were in the rain that we saw them in) but I know you can climb them. I desperately want to come back here next weekend, even if I don't climb. Just to walk here. It is like another world. Never saw anything like it anywhere else.

Rannoch Moor is another place I'd like to visit. One big giant peat bog. I wouldn't walk in it. Some of the bogs are 40 feet deep. This place was like a marshy wasteland, beautiful in its own right. I can't beleive it is only 20 min from Glencoe. No trees, no mountains, but the landscape is just as dramatic. The tufts of grass that hide the false ground grow in a simplistic beauty that even through the glass of the bus, nearly took my breath away.

Now, Loch Ness, I was able to see first hand. Here it cleared up enough that I finally got good photos. We stopped in Fort Augustus for about 30 min. The Caledonian canal connects Loch Ness to Loch Ochy and there were boats going up the locks between the two. (We passed an interesting Loch named Loch Lochy, which the guide said meant the "dark lake," but I'm convinced it actually means the "lakey lake".) Following the canal down, I touched Loch Ness. We then made out way to Unquhart Castle. Beautiful ruins. The lake is so dark, and the wind makes the water move constantly. I can see why people might think they see things breaking the surface. I'd love to Kayak in the lake (which oddly, I didn't see anyone doing anywhere). This is where we lost 4 people. I assume they were eaten by Nessie.

The other places were just as impressive, but shrouded in mist. The scenery never failed to be majestic, however.