Scotland - Day 1

Bright and early in the morning we left for the best 5 day bus tour ever, with a great crowd, including an inordinately large bunch of drunken South Africans!

Our intrepid and sexy guide, Euan (Yoou-in) strikes a fetching pose!

Our first stop was for a brief and pleasant stroll in the Hermitage Forest.

Strike a pose.

Nice bridge.

Nice trees.

Nest up was a visit to Killiekrankie, a beautiful valley where a famous battle took place, the 1st battle of the Jacobite uprising, in which the highlanders pulled off a great victory against superior numbers, using the hills and forest and sunset to their advantage.
Listen to this lovely tune about Killiekrankie here
I thought the fisherman in the river below was a great photo opportunity from the bridge.



Next up was a stop at some English fort, the Ruthven Barracks. Looks like I'm falling asleep there!


Some scenery from the bus. I just love the rich browns and yellows and purples of the Scottish mountains.



The Clava Cairns. These cairns were used as ancient burial mounds if my memory serves me correctly. They used to be completely covered like an igloo and you had to crawl to get in to pay respects. The entrance passage would be lined with some type of crystal, and the door was aligned so at certain times the sun would stream in, bounce around off the crystals and illuminate the chamber inside.

Next stop was Culloden fields, where the last battle of the Jacobite uprising took place. Here the Scots, lead by Bonnie Prince Charlie, were vastly outnumbered and forced to fight on a flat field where they had no chance against the cannons and guns of the English. Only 50 English were killed, compared to about 2000 Scots. After this victory, the English went on a killing and raping spree, and integrated Scotland into the UK, and instituted harsh rules againt the highland way of life, including banning the wearing of tartan.
Many consider this one of the saddest moments of Scottish history.

Rad flags marking the English line.

Next up was a stop at Loch Ness for a bit of swim. Of course, only the South Africans were fool enough to swim in the icy waters, but then, we are used to Clifton, so it wasn't too bad!
I thought I'd put a pic of Cathy The Legend up instead of me, as she looks much better semi-naked!

Amanda, I-broke-my-thumb-in-a-drunken-st-patricks-day-binge from Autralia.

Next it was off for a night in Inverness, where we all went out for some traditional music, but some of us were told off for dancing too loudly. Eh???