The UK Diaries // Day 6

by - September 18, 2014




 Day 6

My brother had booked tickets for this tour to the highlands of Scotland. We were proud of him to manage the UK tour singlehandedly. This tour to the highlands was by Timberbush Tours. We went there along with the tour guide.

We had to rush things as we were moving out of the hotel. So last night, we had packed our bags, and had kept things like food, chargers, clothes to be worn today, camera, etc. out of the bag to pack at the 11th hour; whereas, packed other unnecessary things inside the luggage bags.

We left the hotel quite early, and drove towards Edinburgh's centre for the tour bus. We got in, and the people were seated already. In a while, we left for the highlands.


Tour Bus that had wide glass windows


The bus had glass windows which enabled people to look outside without any roadblocks. The bus driver himself was our guide. As and when we passed a historical monument, he announced it on a mic which was near his mouth. He spoke a lot! In between the commentary, he even played the beautiful tunes of Scottish music.


Near the yak


We got down at our first stop for breakfast. We were grateful to the driver to stop for breakfast, as not only we, but all the people in the bus were hungry. Until we ladies came out of the washroom, only ten minutes were left for the break. We later went to see yaks which are famous in Scottish highlands. My brother was still in the queue to order coffee (and he wasn't even fifth or sixth, but was standing behind fifteen people!).


Random view


He came with two tumblers of heavenly hot coffee, which was perfect for the cold weather. Unfortunately, the break time was over. I was secretly happy as I thought I could carry the tumbler inside the cosy bus and sip hot coffee to feel its warmth. However, the bus driver said that no hot drinks were allowed inside the bus. What do we do now? I was so frustrated! I wanted to drink the coffee because it was too cold! Only coffee could give me warmth. So hurriedly we sipped on to a bit coffee, and threw the entire, damn tumbler that was full of coffee inside the dustbin. (And on top of that, my brother had ordered large tumblers for us!)

We weren't happy with the first stop, and feared that it could happen again the next time. The bus left. I had a French family sitting ahead of me. There were two Chinese girls sitting next to our seats, and two Spanish girls sitting behind the Chinese, i.e., adjacent to me. It was fun!
We were sluggish as we were happy to sit inside the bus that was cosy enough for cold weather. The Chinese dozed off completely; rather they were sleeping right since they had entered the bus at the Edinburgh stop. The driver, luckily, had kept his mouth shut, and relaxing music was going on.


Random houses captured from the Tour Bus


The Three Sisters of Scotland






 Later, we stopped at an amazingly beautiful place on the countryside roads. There were three mountains, which are known as The Three Sisters of Scotland. We clicked lots of pictures there. The weather was splendid: cool, drizzling, and pleasant. (How we wished we had coffee with us!)


Lunch



Making faces in a souvenir shop


After this, we stopped for lunch in a while. Though the line was super long this time too, we managed to order, eat, and window-shop properly. The lunch was yummy. In a while, we had food, and left for bus. But before that, we went inside a souvenir shop. The rates were too high; that's why I said 'window' shop earlier. The egg mayonnaise sandwich looked disgusting and I was feeling gross.


Clouds covering the sun


Highlands



Waiting for the bus driver


 We further went to the Urquhart Castle. In this, they were to show the castle and its interiors. We did not go to see inside this castle as it was a paid one. We waited for the bus driver who had gone with other tourists to show them the castle's entrance. He came back in a while.
We were thinking whether to go to the Loch Ness boat voyage (boating), or stay back. The costs for both the options were way too high. My brother had already gone inside both of them and had told us that it was a waste of time. So at last, after much discussion, we stayed back. 


A lady sitting on the fake Nessie




Loch Ness


Loch Ness was wonderful. It is probably one of the major tourist spots of Scotland. There are rumours that a monster was spotted in this loch since the kings' rule. It is still a myth. However, Scotland's lot of tourism revenue is gained due to this loch. 'Nessie', as the Scottish call the monster, is a tool of attraction in the Loch Ness. There are lots and lots of goodies and souvenirs with the Nessie printed on them everywhere.



The Water Horse Trailer (2007)


I had an interest to see this loch because of the movie The Water Horse. I love that movie. If you watched it, you might have observed the different accent of the boy and his mother; that was exactly the accent of the driver that drove our bus. This film is a must watch!




We waited there and meandered everywhere. We went to the banks of Loch Ness, and oh! It was beautiful. We clicked pictures. We also visited another souvenir shop there. Then, slowly, people started coming towards the bus, and we left shortly, to come back to Edinburgh.


Pitlochry


It was 5:30 till then, and the driver stopped the bus in a beautiful town named Pitlochry for a quick toilet and coffee break. We did not have food here, as we were not hungry. We just visited the washroom, and roamed around. My brother had visited the same area with his friends earlier; so he showed us a way to reach the streets of the town. This street was probably one of the most beautiful areas I had ever seen in my life.


Telephone Booth near the bridge


We started further.. The driver stopped the bus near a unique bridge. He said that this was not planned in the itinerary of the Timberbush Tours. I don't know why, but I was happy to get down there. I ran towards the end of the railing, and my brother followed me. We clicked pictures and I was too excited.

Edinburgh




Finally, we reached Edinburgh. We were tired, and now we had to carry our damn luggage bags as well. We went to nearby Subway restaurant which was just about to close its shutters. We ordered some delicious sandwiches along with those typical, Subwayish large cookies. We had ordered Raspberry and Cream cookies.

We walked towards the end of the road and caught a cab for the bus station towards London, Great Britain. We were leaving Scotland! We waited at the bus-station. Meanwhile, I changed my grey t-shirt to pink top, black shoes to beige ballets, black hoodie to mom's black sweater, and black handbag to beige-brown handbag at the station's washroom. I felt so good to change clothes!

The bus was soon here. We got into it and chose good seats. The overnight bus journey was peaceful; I had ample of sleep.

xoxo

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