January 30, 2002

to Inverness, Scotland

Battlefields, Monsters, and Dancing
The first day of my tour of Scotland.

From Edinburgh to Inverness our tour stopped at the Hermitage, Culloden Battlefield, Pitlochry, Ruthven Barracks, Loch Ness to see 'Nessie', and then some cultural Scottish dancing in Inverness. The day was interesting and rewarding. I was glad to hook up with MacBackpackers tours because I was starting to experience parts of Scotland I had in mind.

Click on the "to Inverness" link or scroll down the page to view pictures of trip from Edinburgh to Inverness.

Our first stop the Hermitage.

Our tour guide Richard teaching us the history of the Hermitage and its importance

Bridge over the River Braan.

Moss on the trees show the damp conditions in Scotland.

Looking down into the waterfall.

The River Braan at the Hermitage.

The pretty 18th century folly
known as Ossian's Hall

The Pitlochry Power Station and Dam which provides hydroelectric power.

Man-made Loch Faskally

Richard telling us stories of Scotland and exposing us to Petebog Ferries, some cool traditional Scotch music.

Ruthven Barracks

Ruthven Barracks

Our group taking a break for
some coffee, tea, and whisky

Richard giving his story
of the Ruthven Barracks

Clava Cairns, prehistoric burial chambers dating back to 2000 BC

Culloden Battlefield.
An important part to Scotland's history.

The flag representing
the Scots' position.

The grave of one of many men who
lost their lives in the battle are
burried on site.

The erieness of Scotland reminded
me of some movies I've seen.

Loch Ness and the monster,
can you see it?

This is Steve (a.k.a. Nessie) he has spent the last 11 years on Loch Ness in search of the Loch Ness monster. He has been seen on the BBC.

To support his simple living, he handmakes little Nessie figures. I decided to help him out and buy one for a friend.

Loch Ness

Blackfriars Pub an experience
of traditional Scottish music.

We also learned some new dances here we learn 'Strip the Willow'.
Allot of Spinning.

The second dance we learned 'Highlands Schottische'.
Allot of Spinning

Accompanying the dances was a bagpipe and a drum.

The last dance we learned
'Circadian Circle'
Allot of Spinning

I guess all the spinning (and drinking) was too much for some to handle as shel fell to the ground. Suddenly the music stopped and people were trying so hard to hide laughing.