Scottish Highlands and Islands are beautiful!

After my first time visit to the UK, I plan to write on Blavel about some of the amazing places I saw, so I'll start with my favourite.... the highlands and Islands of Scotland. If you like big cities, nightlife, and warm weather, this might not be the ideal holiday venue for you. However, if you enjoy beautiful scenery,small towns and villages, wildlife, history and friendly people, then you'll love this place.

I travelled by train to Mallaig from Glasgow, which was not the ugly, grey city I had envisaged, but a modern, thriving place with plenty of green spaces... but more about Glasgow at a later time. After leaving Glasgow, it was not long at all before the train threaded its way through the hills, past peaceful lochs set with reflections of the surrounding, mist shrouded mountains; burns trickling through glaciated landscapes strewn with boulders left behind at the end of the last Ice Age; and ruins of stone cottages abandoned when the owners were forced into emigration during the Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Just when it appeared that the scenery could not be improved upon, the mountains became higher and more spectacular with small drifts of snow remaining near their peaks, the sun came out and the lochs and sky turned a gorgeous blue. The area around Fort William was particularly lovely, as was the rest of the way to Mallaig.

Mallaig itself is a quaint little town with its harbour surrounded by steep hillsides dotted with white cottages. This is where the ferry leaves from to travel "over the sea to Skye" and what a pretty journey it is! Armadale Harbour, where the ferry stops, had the clearest water you would see anywhere, with varying shades of blue, green, aqua and turquoise. Unfortunately, the ferry times and the bus times do not connect, so there was a couple of hours to wait to catch a bus to Broadford, and then to Portree, where I stayed. However, it was a fine day and just watching the boats on the small harbour helped to fll in the time.

The bus trip scenery itself was a feast for the eyes, with calendar views around each bend of the road; lochs and mountains; the rugged Black and Red Cuillins, beloved by rock climbers; and everywhere sheep grazing except on the very steepest and highest of slopes.

Portree itself took about an hour to get to in the bus, but was well worth the ride. Typical of many small Scottish fishing villages, it has houses painted in a myriad of colours lining the street along the harbour, a clean salty smell and the sounds of seagulls hovering ready to snatch food from unwary tourists. The town itelf has a small square where the buses stop and surrounding this are a number of streets with interesting shops, pubs and restaurants. I stayed at a B&B guesthouse called Coolin View, which had panoramic views over the harbour. In fact the scene from my window was identical to that on some postcards I bought.

Portree was the only place in Scotland where I actually saw a man wearing a kilt as his everyday outfit and also the only place where I heard Gaelic spoken and saw a couple of people reading Gaelic newspapers. It is interesting how there are so many cultural differences like this within a relatively small place like the UK.

While I was staying in Portree, the local High School (the only one serving the local islands) had its annual Highland Games day. At the conclusion of the day's activities, the students and teachers marched back to school through the middle of town, led by people playing pipes and drums. Nothing like the sound of the bagpipes to stir the blood!

Skye is a paradise for wildlife and I was fortunate enough to see some of it. A couple of companies operate wildlife boat trips out of Portree and when I went on one, we saw seals, puffins, a golden eagle and a white tailed sea eagle. We were told that earlier that day, somebody had spotted killer whales, but there was no sign of them by the time my tour got there. Also on the island are found otters, but they are quite shy and elusive, so I didn't manage to see any.

Another highlight of Skye was a minibus tour I went on, with a local guide called Ian MacDonald who had grown up on the island and was the retired Deputy- Head of the Portree High School. He had a wealth of knowledge about the local area, especially the history, which Skye has much of. He pointed out Uig Harbour, where the Viking boats sheltered in storms a thousand years ago. Also interesting were the still clearly evident plough furrow marks of the last crop planted by local crofters in the 1840s just before being thrown off their land and forced to emigrate by greedy landlords who could make more money out of sheep than tenant farmers. The ruins of their cottages remain a sad witness to a cruel time in Scottish history. Also we saw the grave of Flora MacDonald, the rescuer of Bonnie Prince Charlie, in its beautiful and lonely setting.

Skye is a beautiful place and one of the highlights of my time in Scotland, but when I get time, I will write some more anout some of the other places I visited.