Haggis, Neeps & Tatties

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Scotland has always conjured up images of kilts, bagpipes, Braveheart, whiskey and Sean Connery. However, it seems that I was a stranger to perhaps the most important Scottish icon, the National dish - 'Haggis, neeps and tatties'. Not for the faint hearted, haggis' basic ingredients include sheep offal (heart, liver, lungs) and a range of spices traditionally boiled in the sheep's stomach and served with neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes). A delicious meal I found! Another surprise for me was that the men here really do wear kilts, even as they go about the most mundane of tasks like fishing, supermarket shopping, waiting in line for the ATM and let me tell you - it is not a pretty sight!

My journey around Scotland was on the jump on/jump off Macbackpacker bus - run by a group of eccentric and passionate Scottish lads - like Paul, Ewan, Neil, Jim and Jamie. Most were simultaneously driver and guide and drove like psychopaths as they jumped through Scottish history, indispersing the serious stuff with classic Scottish music by the Proclaimers and Annie Lennox. The Scottish countryside was dark, mysterious, chilly and ranges from green and lush, to craggy rocks in the highlands. The Scottish people (including our Macbackpacker guides) take their clan history, including battles and tales of strength and achievement, very seriously. Such achievements by industrious Scots include inventions like the telephone, television, bicycle and penicillin. Quite impressive really.

I began my journey (and foray back into the world of hostelling) at the Castle Rock Hostel in Edinburgh. The joys of hostel living were brought to life in the form of guitar sing alongs in the lounge, a massive blue texta which I was instructed to label my food with 'or else' and communal bathrooms. But I really knew I'd hit hard-core hostelling when I arrived at my 12 bed dorm presided over by 3 'permanents' who had sectioned off their beds with various curtains/dividers and piles of shoes, underwear and other junk which you had to climb over to reach your allocated bed. These 'permanent' bullies refused to talk to any travelling 'riff raff' (myself included) and were very vocal at the slightest hint of rustling plastic bag or backpack unzipping (even at the most respectable hour). Edinburgh was as expected steeped in history, a history which was colourfully delivered in a tour of Edinburgh Castle. Even more interesting I found 'the real mary close' a tour around some of the disease ridden houses and alleyways from Edinburgh's early history.

The first Macbackpacker stop was Pitlochry - supposedly Queen Victoria's favourite countryside retreat. Pitlochry's most famous attraction is its Salmon Ladder (no not salmon climbing up a step ladder) - a hideously boring viewing window where you can watch Salmon swimming upstream, accompanied by a ridiculous digital counter which displays how many salmon this year so far (856 if you're wondering). Far more to my liking was the Ecaudour Distillery, the smallest whiskey distillery in Scotland, where Richard Branson paid a mere £65,000 for a bottle which he knocked over at a party that night. Nearby the distillery was the Moulin Inn, where I joined my new Canadian friends Johanna and Meaghan for drinks, followed by a fancy dress party to celebrate a staff members' birthday. The following morning I took a hike to the black spout waterfall, if not to see the scenery, to escape the clutches of the weird 50-something backpacker from Holland who claimed I'd broken a date the previous night by failing to join him on a hike to this very same waterfall!

Our next stop was the battlefields of Culloden. This is the Scottish Gallipoli. Bloody battlefields where far too many young highlanders died unsuccessfully fighting the British for their own land. A very moving experience, it left out Scottish Guide Ewan needed some time alone to compose himself. Next stay was in Inverness where I searched fruitlessly for Nessie in the beautiful Loch Ness. Loch Ness is visited by nessie hunters the world round. In fact, our minibus pulled up next to a caravan a bloke called Steve Feltham (a self confessed nessie freak) calls home. Steve left Dorset and his family over 10 years ago to devote his life to the hunt for nessie - but has not seen Nessie yet. For me the highlight of Inverness was not Loch Ness, but the Ceilidh (pronounced k-lee) dancing night at the local Blackfriars Pub. A energetic and crazy night of Scottish folk/barn dancing with my fellow hostelliers, topped off with 'Castle Dancing' (dancing in the floodlights of Inverness castle, projecting your massive shadows on the building) on the way home. Surprisingly, the highlight was NOT being woken up at 4am and relocated to another hostel room due to severe flooding in the downstairs living area.

My favourite stop on the journey was the Isle of Skye - a large and breathtakingly spectacular island, joined to the mainland by a bridge (not unlike Phillip Island really). For those into a bit of trivia - the musician/dj Mylo calls the Isle of Skye home. I stayed in Kyleakin (just across the bridge from the mainland) and was kicking myself I'd only allowed 24 hours to explore the place - leaving not enough time for a day tour and no means of transport to get around. In a brilliant stroke of luck, I happened across a tour guide called Dougie (and his van) - who had no tours, and was heading out to explore an unfamiliar part of the island. So for the cost of a beer, I got a free tour of the Isle of Skye and had a very close call, when stopping to visit some castle ruins, when a sheep dog decided to attack. Hot-footing it back to the van, we headed back to safer ground - namely the town of Portree - just off the island of Skye - which is famous for its palm trees! Very unusual... By coincidence we also happened across filming for the new movie 'Stardust' a fantasy/love story starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sienna Miller and Claire Danes. Unfortunately, I didn't score a cameo, nor did I not get invited back to any cast parties!

After leaving the Isle of Skye, I visited Elaine Donnan Castle - a very old and famous castle which was rebuilt in the early 1900's. Entrapment and Highlander were filmed here and I can see why - the place has a stunning view over the lochs and surrounding mountains. Back on the bus, we learnt some more about Scottish culture. We ventured into Highland Games territory and heard all about the sport of 'koo twisting'. A sport clearly not designed for vegetarians where teams of four used a club and their bare hands to kill a cow and twist each of its four legs off in a show of strength. Whilst in modern times, this has now been outlawed - the Scottish are still prone to ridiculous shows of strength. Take for example the highest mountain in the UK - Ben Nevis. Not only do more people die on this mountain than any other in Europe (from exposure), but they just found a piano on top of it. Some crazy Scot had carried a piano up there to prove just how strong he was and left it there back in '86. They found it last week and National newspapers were asking for the owner to come forward. Not only did he come forward, he offered to carry it back down. Insane! That night it was with some trepidation that we stayed at the hostel in the town of Oban - a backpackers famously haunted by several ghosts. Situated next door to a coffin builder, guests have reported the ghost of a child and a man appearing on the stairs and in the kitchen. However, I found the most haunting thing about the hostel was not the ghosts, but the hostel guests themselves. This is not a blog-suitable story - so you'll hear about that some other time!!

We headed back to Edinburgh via a hearty lunch at Rob Roy's favourite watering hole. A fitting end to the Macbackpacker journey. I decided to spend my last day in Scotland visiting Glasgow - rather than another day in the bleak and rain drenched Edinburgh. Where Edinburgh was impressive with its castle on a rock and vast history - it was also overrun by tourists and a little behind the times. Glasgow on the other hand was modern, exciting, youthful and and upbeat. The sun was shining, funky street performers were out in force, the shops were great the shopping malls beautifully landscaped - a great city! I visited a few of the touristy sites, the modern art museum, the cathedral - but my best find was an exhibition on women and war. Jenny Matthews - a great photographer has captured some uplifting (and heart-wrenching) pictures of women affected by war in all parts of the world. From Beslan, to Afghanistan, to young women protesting against the London bombings - it was an excellent visual report on the impact of war on mothers, wives, daughters, survivors.

My journey to Scotland was over. It was with some trepidation that I boarded the overnight 'Megabus' to London. The joys of the ride were the reclining seat failing to work, the girl next to me talking on her mobile throughout the night and the fact that the journey was 9 hours! The good news was that back in London I collected my new passport (without incident) and spent my last night back at Sally's treated to a fantastic dinner party and copious amounts of pasta and red wine.

Ireland here I come!!

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Photos

Anyone seen Nessie?
Jo, me and Meagan - Loch Ness, Inverness

A nip of scotch whiskey @ the Ecuaduar Distillery
Jo, me, Meaghan, Jess

Black Spout Waterfall, Pitlochry
Meaghan & I

Elaine Donnan Castle
Highlander and Entrapment were filmed here.

Killiecrankie
The landscape arround Pitlochry