Tuesday 23 April 2019

Scotland Road Trip : 5 days 4 nights Part 2

Fort William to Fort Augustus then Edinburgh 

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 Tambunan road in my hometown, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
The drive from Fort William to Fort Augustus only takes about 45 minutes. It's a lovely relaxing drive and during the journey, we passed by so many of those snow capped mountains and peaceful scenery of the country side.




We spent a few moments on this spot, admiring the breathtaking view. 
The beautiful panoramic scenery looked like a painting on the wall
We watched the changing of the clouds around the snow capped mountain and the sudden appearance of the clear blue sky, all within seconds.
These shots were taken in seconds and they were all with different views



Zooming my camera for closer view of 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 :37 km long

Loch Ness is one of the world's most famous lake.
 A 
popular tourist attraction in Scotland because of Nessie


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 2 hours 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, has no problem at all 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. We drove pass so many snow capped mountains on the way to Edinburgh. It was indeed a scenic drive. 

                    It was already dark when we arrived at  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 per night). The twin bed were very comfortable and clean. The biggest pluses about this hotel is the location. 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 9pm.
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. 
After the long walks at the waterfront, we drove to Arthur's Seat.

Arthur's seat - Edinburgh's ancient extinct volcano. 


On the right of this photo is the Arthur's seat, Edinburgh.
Those who climb to the top of the hills, can see the spectacular views of Edinburgh.
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, I was already puffing away, so I gave up😜
Youngsters reaching the top.
 I envied those youngsters who passed by me so easily. 😂

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

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 Street 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.


 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. 

View of Edinburgh Castle from Princes Garden.
Edinburgh castle sitting on top of Castle Rock

Scottish man in his traditional national costume and blowpipe at the High Street near the market


My souvenirs bought from the market at High Street. 
Post cards, stickers, key chains, fridge magnets and cute little tins of Scottish biscuits


Picture taken from the right side of Tune hotel Edinburgh.
Tune hotel facing Haymarket bus stop, tram and train station.


4th April 2017- On the way back to Wallasey, passing by Windermere Lake

A brief stop over at Windermere


Home Sweet Home

The Chesire Cheese Pub, Wallasey.

We stopover for a pint before heading home which was just a 5 minutes walk from this pub.😂


References
https://www.visitscotland.com/see-do/iconic-scotland/ben-nevis/


4 comments:

  1. This will be in my bucket list to do soon. Thank's Rebecca for sharing your wonderful Scotland Travels.

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    Replies
    1. Tks Richard, I am glad this stories can give u an idea of your travel to Scotland 👍

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