Borneo Lady: Scotland Road Trip : 5 days 4 nights Part 2

Fort William to Fort Augustus then Edinburgh

A continuation from Part 1........

It's almost 12 noon, we had to leave Fort William for Fort Augustus
(51.5 Km / 45 mins drive)

Ben Navis is part of the Grampian mountain range

Ben Nevis snow capped mountain and Loch Lochy at Fort William

Country side road, leaving Fort Willliam . This road reminded me of our road to Tambunan, Sabah, Malaysia
The journey only takes about 45mins drive to Fort Augustus. It's a lovely relaxing drive and during the ride, we passed by so many times snow capped mountains and peaceful scenery of the country side.

We spent some time on this spot, admiring the breathtaking view. The scenery looks

like a painting on the wall

We watched the changing of the clouds within seconds around the snow capped mountain.

These shots were taken in seconds and they were all with different views

Beautiful Panoramic scenery

Zooming the camera for closer view at the snow capped mountain on April fool's day.

Excellent spots to enjoy the panoramic views of the snow capped mountain with country side surroundings.

Arrived around noon at Fort Augustus , The Famous Loch Ness

Fort Augustus, Loch Ness Cruise

Loch Ness Cruise
Loch Ness, one of the world's most famous lakes

Loch Ness is one of the popular tourist attraction in Scotland because of Nessie
Loch Ness 37 Km Long

When I was in Mount Kinabalu National Park, I saw a notice which I never forget...

It says Take nothing but photographs, Leave nothing but footprints.

But here, I am afraid, is the opposite. Short and sweet.......

Take something (souvenir) and Leave something (£££) at Loch Ness 😁😁😁😁

We spend at least an hour or two at Loch Ness. Had a cup of tea, enjoying the scenery before heading down to Edinburgh (255.8 Km about 3-4 hrs).

Passing by another view of snow capped mountain

Route A86 was quite rough and scary especially the steep hills. There was no guardrail along both sides of the road. My husband, being an experience driver had no problem with it but it did scare the wits out of me. If only you knew how tightly I gripped hold of the safety belt! It's like a roller coaster road when we were going down the steep hills and I could feel goosebumps on my skin. 😂😂😂 I can laugh now but at that time, I was not.

One of the beautiful Lochs in Scotland

There were numerous sights of picturesque mountains from Dalwhinne to Pitlochry.

I could see the same snow capped mountains on the way to Edinburgh. It was indeed a scenic drive.

It was already dark by the time we reached Edinburgh. Because of the darkness, the GPS in the car had made our arrival at Haymarket Tune Hotel Edinburgh easier and possible by 7.30 pm. We stayed for 3 nights. (£96 on Saturday while £52 for Sunday and Monday per night). The twin bed were very comfortable and clean. The biggest pluses about this hotel is, it's in the centre of Edinburgh and facing the bus stop, trams and railway station. Tune Hotel has been well known for it's en-suite shower.😂

After a long journey, we were exhausted and all we could think of was a good comfortable quiet place to rest and unwind. Restaurant and pub were just next door. After we had settled, we had a pint at the pub,while listening to live music and then called it a night by 9.

Since our destination ends here, we decided to take our sweet time in whatever we plan to do the next day two days. We had all the time in the world now😜😜😜

2nd April 2017 ( Sunday) - We had a good sleep. The room was so quiet that we slept through without realizing it's almost noon! Our itinerary of the day was slow and easy- A drive to the seaside.

We parked in Granton road and walked to the seaside and saw this beautiful white furry cat

Hubby said it's a good Omen

Look at her! She's such a beauty.

Walkway to Granton Seafront, Leith

Granton Waterfront facing Granton harbour

Night time at Leith Dock

On the right is the Arthur's seat, Edinburgh

Arthur's seat, Edinburgh's ancient extinct volcano. Climbing the hill takes an hour to reach for most people who visited the site.
Initially I thought, no big deal, it's only a hill not a mountain. I was wrong. I was only half way or may be 1/3 of the way to be honest, I was already puffing away so I gave up😜 I envied those who passed by me so easily including children! 😂😂

Youngsters reaching the top

Climbing up was not my only problem but coming down was even worst 😰😱😱😱 The steepness of the slope made it very difficult for me to come down easily. I felt like I was falling off the hill! It took me a while to come down!

Coming down was more frightening than climbing up

Red Mail Box is an icon of UK

Bought this coin collector from a souvenir shop at High Street

Red mail box has been UK cultural icon which has been in use till now since 1852

3rd April 2017 (Monday)- Last day in Edinburgh

For easy access to the town centre, we purchased a 1 day unlimited bus/tram bus for £4 . Worth it because it's a whole day pass to be used for trams and bus except airlink buses. With that we could easily get by Edinburgh town until late at night and saved the hassle of parking.

We took our long leisure walks as planned at Princes Street garden at the valley of Edinburgh castle and visited the market. We bought some small souvenirs. By evening, we went to a posh La Locanda Italy restaurant at Cockburn St for our dinner. I had the best Italian spaghetti in my life! It's exquisite! So yummy yummy!! Thinking about it makes me drool😋😋😋

Beautiful fresh flowers at Princes Street Garden

Views on other side of the castle.

Walk all the way up from High Street straight into Castlehill street. High Street is part of the Royal Mile. There is a small cobble stoned path to the left of Castlehill Street that lead us to the other side of the castle. The clear view of the castle was stunning.

Enlarging the view from my camera on Edinburgh castle top from Johnston Terrace road. I was standing at the red mail box taking this photo!