#scotland highland eileandoan lochness cairngorm culloden

[kudj]

Travel journal: Scottish Highlands

(Cairngorm forest)

Leaving Edinburgh & driving on the A9, our first encounter with the Highlands is the Cairngorm forest.  Majestic trees rise out of moorlands, it presents a very Tolkienesque image. 

(zip line in the Cairngorm forest)

On impulse, we signed up to zip line. With a crazy (any other kind?) Australia guide, we clipped on & for the next few hours, flew through the valleys of the Cairngorm forest.

(Loch Ness)

Continuing pass Inverness, we come to Loch Ness, which was not what I expected.  I thought Loch Ness was going to be packed with tacky souvenir shops.  Instead it is beautiful, quiet and mysterious.  The ''main town'' of Drumnadrochit, where the Loch Ness Monster Exhibition is located, could not have been more sleepy.

(Urquhart Castle)

Watching over Loch Ness is Urquhart Castle, a 14th century fortification that have seen better days, but is today a reminder of the violent & romantic history of the Highlands.

(Battle of Culloden)

Our next stop is the Battlefield of Culloden, site of the last major battle fought on British soil.  In 1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie led a Highland charge against the British army.  The Highlanders were routed in less than 55 minutes.  The defeat marked the end of the Highland rebellion, and led to the decline of the Highlands and the destruction of the clan system.  After the battle, there is a romantic story of how Bonnie Prince Charlie, disguised as a maiden, escaped to France.  While Prince Charlie is hailed as a folk hero, I see him as nothing more than a spoiled brat who didn't listen to his military advisers.

The exhibition at the battlefield is very well done, and I recommend taking the guided walking tour, to learn this interesting part of Scottish history.

(Eilean Donan Castle)

(Eilean Donan Castle)

Just before the fishing port of Kyle of Lochalsh (where you would take the bridge to Isle of Skye), we come to my favorite castle - the Eilean Donan Castle.

The first fortification was built in the 13th century.  Sitting at the intersection of 3 separate lochs (lake & sea inlet, in Scottish Gaelic), this was an ideal location to protect the land against invaders, which at that time were the Vikings.  Later, it became a seat of power to control the sea kingdoms of the Lords of the Isles. 

It also played a part of clan warfare.  One tale had a traveling man, a member of the McRae clan, seeing the castle under siege by the Clan MacDonald, decides to join the defense.  Down to 3 men & 1 arrow, the brave McRae killed the MacDonald's chief and ended the battle.  He was rewarded the castle, where it has remained in his family ever since.  To this day, you can see signs in the areas that's populated by descendants of the McRae clan, such as this war memorial:

(We are the dead, short days ago we lived, felt, saw sunsets glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields) - Lt. Col. John McRae.

(Highland cows)

The Scottish Highlands is exactly what it should be.  Beautiful, green, misty, sparsely populated, full of romantic & violent history.  It;s a place I love to go back again & again.