Scotland

Scotland is more than guys wearing skirts and people talking a funny English. Scotland is a magical country, maybe its because I watched “Brave Heart” too many times. On the other hand I don’t think you can watch William Wallace give that stirring speech on freedom too many times!  That moment in time you feel alive, your insides go big, the hair on your arms raise and you feel like picking a battle that is long overdue!

We left England on a bus to Edinburgh. We found a nice backpackers called West Inn and stayed for 6 Pounds per person, including breakfast!  We joined a Scotland tour operator the next day called "Wild and Sexy", yes my reaction was the same as yours. I confirmed that we are not going to a red-light district.. I was skeptic, as I am not the tour group type, but the group turned out to be very nice and accommodating. We were introduced to our tour guide called Steven. He turned out to be the best guide I have ever had.

West Inn Backpackers

We started the tour on some battlegrounds. It was disappointing to hear how different the truth is from the movie about our hero, William Wallace. The movie is actually a combination of different stories, but doesn't reduce the excitement of it. There is also a theory that king Robert the Bruce was  Brave Heart and as he lost all his hope of going to heaven after not fulfilling his promise of a religious crusade he had one last dying wish: His friend Sir James Douglas is to cut out his heart when he dies and take it with on the next crusade! So Sir Douglas obeyed his leader's dying wish and  put the heart in a wooden box with a chain around his neck. As Sir Douglas was losing in battle and knew he is going to die, he threw the heart of Robert the Bruce into the battle and chased after it screaming: "Lead on Brave Heart".

William Wallace Monument in Stirling

The monument has been telling the story of William Wallace and has been a world renown landmark for over 140 years. I will never forget the moment we first saw this monument. The moment it appeared in the distance, our Scottish friend Steven put the Brave Heart sound track on. Its as if those bagpipes came from inside me, a powerful melody with even more powerful meaning.. no words to the song, because no words would have justified that emotion.

Brave Heart's sword replica

The sword of William Wallace is longer than I am tall. More than two meters long! Holding the sword was very similar to the feeling of sitting under the Christmas tree and knowing you are getting exactly what you wanted! Unfortunately the real McCoy was never found and a replica was made. The sword is made according to the warriors measurements and its only the best warriors that used swords of this size.










After the battle of Stirling we went to the mysterious Loch Ness! The evening we arrived, a few of us went to walk along the Lock Ness to see if we can meet the "shy monster". It felt a bit eerie walking out on the piers in the darkness of night! Every sound on the water had us swinging our heads around to see what it is! The water is 5.5 degrees Celsius year round because of its 230m depth and there is more water in the Loch Ness than in the whole of England and Wales combined!   The water is a dark colour from the peat, which is rotten forest material in the phase just before it becomes charcoal. Julius Caesar had called Scotland "Caledonia", which means forestry country.  Scotland was 93% forest then, today there is only 4% is left.

Looking for Nessie

The next morning I challenged the "lads" to take a swim with me in the Loch Ness! Hesitatingly they decided to come in after me. There was snow on all the mountains around us, this helped create the feeling of a ice bear swim! This turned out to be the best part of the whole trip! It was quite funny to look back and see everyone's faces as they enter the water. The moment your ankles enter the water it is like a thousand needles or someone hitting the the bony outside part of your ankle with a brick! Some guys fell down on the rocks just to elevate their ankles out of the water!

Sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zones to create unforgettable memories. You can go to different places or do things differently where you go. This is a great way to get to know yourself. Life is a journey, but its about the story.

"Nessie came to visit"

Our last night at the Loch Ness we tried traditional Haggis. Its sheep and lamb heart, liver and lungs minced with onion and spices in a sheep stomach! It turned out to be not as bad as it sounds..

The next day we met a celebrity who is known to eat sugar and chips.. Its a Kyloe or a Highland bull. They are a hardy Scottish breed of meat cattle with long horns and long wavy coats.

Highland cattle or Kyloe

Our next stop was part of a myth. There was a fight between two Mc' Clans. They arranged for the son of the one chief to marry the daughter of the other chief. Fortunately they were in love, but as she approached the wedding sermon with the two clans sitting next to each other, she fell off her horse and scarred her face in such a way that when she arrived at the wedding her groom refused to believe its her and that the other clan was making a fool of him. This lead to another clash between the clans and a day of battle was determined. The bride was very sad and did not know how to stop the fight, when she came across the Fountain of Youth. Not knowing its power she drank water out of the spring and washed her face. As she walked back everyone saw it was the missing bride! The water had healed her! After rushing her to the battlefield and stopping the battle just in time, she married her groom and lived happily ever after..
We were taken to this "Fountain of youth", so all of us can test its "magic". The water was icy cold, so when Karla looked back at me after she dipped her face in the cold water for a couple of hopeful seconds, as if asking "Is it working", quite the opposite had happened! Her face was so cold that she couldn't move it!

Fountain of youth

Everyone testing fountain of youth

 Steven then drove us to the second biggest island of Scotland, called the "Isle of Skye." We saw the amazing Scottish Highlands and drove over a bridge to the the Isle of Skye. We went into a small restaurant that has a view over the calm bay. As we entered the restaurant our South African anthem, "Nkosi Sikeleli", played over the radio! Nooo! It cant be! In a small restaurant on a small island off a foreign country thousands of kilometers away from home, it was special. This time the "Nkosi Sikeleli" made us proud in a different way. It gave us the sense of belonging and fired our patriotism even more! We are proud to be South African.

Isle of skye

Then we stopped at a very dangerous mountain in Scotland, due to its fast change in weather. We walked through a beautiful forest to get to the mountain. Its unreal how fast the weather changed here. If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes!

Blue skies

five minutes later

There were many fun activities like this Kissing Gate. You have to kiss everyone behind you before entering! We walked to the most spectacular view of a waterfall falling into the ocean.

"Kissing Gate"

Steven shared many stories about clashes between different groups and some times within one group. One story that fascinated me was when 2500 Jacobites (Scottish) attacked 5000 English by running down from a hiding place in the Scottish Higlands with the sun behind them. The blinded English army was quickly taken apart with very few casualties on the Jacobite side.  We then went to the Battle of Culloden,which was fought by tired and desperate Highlanders. The army formations on the battlefield are plotted out by red and blue flags. There is something inside you that turns when you know men were willing to fight and die for what they believed in. Some times its something we take for granted, like freedom. What have we lost if we lost courage and honor and.. freedom.. I think we exchanged these powerful gestures for personal entertainment and comfort. The Red Indians of North America said something that makes you think: "It takes less than death to kill a man. The Courageous die but once, cowards die many times."

The Battle of Culloden, (1746)

Moor scattered with graves of Gallant Highlanders

By now our group has grown very close. Everyone was going out of their way to make the trip fun and memorable. We made an interesting stop at a place like Stone Henge called Balnuaran of Clava, a prehistoric cemetery, but not commercialized at all! No ticket office, fences or tourists! The cemetery had been built between 3000 and 4000 years ago.

Wild and Sexy Team

Balnuaran of Clava stones in circle

Balnuaran of Clava stones

Our last day on tour ended with a huge snow fight! Everyone slipping on the black ice! It was great to see so much joy! We enjoyed dinner together and everyone went in their own directions the next day. It was quiet without the group! Feels like a car that suddenly came to a standstill and I'm still moving forward!

SNOW FIGHT!

Our last few days we went to see the more touristy sites like the old Scott Monument and the Roman restorations on the outskirts of Edinburgh. As we were heading back to fetch our bags to catch the bus back to London, I heard the sweetest sound.. a man played the bagpipes with all his heart. Its amazing what music can do to create atmosphere. Bagpipes while in Scotland, priceless..

Scott Monument

Roman restorations on outskirts of Edinburgh

Amazing Grace on Bagpipes

There are only so many tomorrows. Don't wait till the well of time dries up, do the things that matters and makes your heart go big inside. Be loosely attached to the world, live and dress simple and dont let the things you own, own you.