Post #4: Scotland-5 Day Tour of the Orkney Islands

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu


Wednesday, September 8, 2010
“Ahhhhhh” I find myself saying as I turn over and turn off my watch alarm.  It is 7:30 and I need to be departing for the Orkneys--northern Scotland-- in half hour.  I quickly gather my belongings and head down to the lobby to rendezvous with Blake.  We say our farewells to the staff and we are off--the 5 day adventure is officially underway.  

Upon arriving, we check in and meet some of the other people on the tour.  There is a fellow Canadian named Will from Toronto who is on a ten day trip before going back to school, two guys from New Zealand named Sam and Andy who have been travelling around Europe together for the past three months, a guy named Joe who is from Idaho and is on a ten day trip prior to going back to America, a girl named Carmen from Italy who is travelling around before going back to school in Germany, Blake, about ten other people and myself.  Along with the tourists, is Carol our bus driver and tour guide.  We pack up the bus and head for our first destination--Inverness.

Along the way our driver/tour guide Carol, presents us with a history lesson of the territory that we were driving through.  I won't go into too much detail but rather just post some pictures of the places we saw along the way with a description.

There were a lot of people that we saw during the trip that would be taking pictures of our bus instead of the scenery.  It was quite hilarious because a lot of the time it was little old ladies who were very impressed by the "Wild and Sexy" bus.  Maybe they liked it so much because it helped them reminisce back to the good old days (lol).

The tour bus

 The first stop we made was at a place called Dunkeld.  We were stopping here to visit an old Cathedral that was built between 1201 and 1560.  The Cathedrals are very inspiring; I didn't think that I would be influenced by the Cathedrals as much as I have been.  Not in a religious sense, but more in terms of appreciation for what past human beings have accomplished. 

"Oh what a nice Lake," I say as we empty the bus. Carol looks over at me with this look of contempt and says, "It is a Loch not a lake."  Apparently they take it as a personal insult if you call their Lochs Lakes. It was all in good fun though.

The next stopping point was an old battle field called Culloden.  It is the scene of the last major battle in Britain in 1746.  It was very interesting to imagine how both armies would have rushed the battle field in union.  I know the picture isn't great and it basically just looks like an open field, but there really wasn't much to photograph. 

An old hut on the battlefield

We got back in the bus and made the rest of the journey to Inverness, Scotland.  That night we ate some food and went for some drinks and everyone on the tour got better acquainted with one another.

I am in the blue and white shirt on the right

Thursday September 9, 2010
On Thursday we woke up and headed for the Orkney islands.  We reached the most northern part of Scotland--before having to aboard a ferry--called John O'Groats.  Once there, we boarded the ferry and made our way across Pentland firth.  Little did I know, that the Orkney islands are home to more archaeological ruins than anywhere else in Europe and luckily our base for the next two nights.
 

The view from the ferry while on route to the Orkneys

 On the way we stopped at the coastline of Scotland and the North Sea.

It was really windy and I was a little hesitant to move towards the edge.  Luckily, I didn't fall in. 

Blake contemplating life (lol)

Once getting to the Orkneys, we made way for our hostel and relaxed and prepared for the next day which would be full of adventure.

Friday, September 10, 2010
The first destination that we paid tribute to was Skara Brae; an old stone village dating from the Neolithic period and was inhabited between 3,200BC and 2,200BC.  As you can see in the pictures, the village is made up of eight dwellings and some still contain the furniture that was utilized.

There would have been some sort of tent for the roof

These villages were built right on the coastline of the North sea as you can see the water in the background

A room with beds, a mantel and a fireplace--how sophisticated

 The second destination was the Ring of Brodgar.  Historians don't know what these huge stones were used for. They are arranged in a circle and the erected stones are also scattered--which seems to be at random--throughout the area.  Despite the fact that we didn't know what the stones significance was, it was still very fun to imagine how the stones would have been erected seeing as each one weighs to the equivalent of sixty elephants.

Standing beside one of the stones in the rain

We then moved on and visited a place called Tomb of the Eagles.  It is believe to have been built around 3000BC and was in use for 800 years.  The reason it is called "Tomb of the Eagles" is because there were eagle talons and bones found alongside the skeletons in the tomb.  It is believed that the Eagle was a totem for the people who inhabited the area.

Entrance to the Tomb

Me coming out of the Tomb on a skateboard type device

At this point the day had ended and it was time for us to head back to the hostel.  The place we were staying was actually some sort of army barracks--it was quite nice.

Saturday, September 11, 2010
Most of the fourth day was spent driving unfortunately.  We made our way back to Scotland mainland via the ferry and headed for Carbisdale Castle--where we would be spending the night.  There was some pretty scenery along the way seeing as that we got to drive up along the coast.

Would be a cool house to live in, so secluded

On the way to the castle I was thinking to myself, "Well, it is a castle so accommodation is going to be pretty glamorous I assume."  I walked in and right away there were 35 foot ceilings and statues in the main lobby--which was massive.  I verified my original thought that the accommodations would be exceptional.  However, opening the door to the room proved this not to be true.  The sleeping quarters were basically like any other hostel that I had stayed in up until that point--my expectations had not been met.  Nevertheless, the rest of the building was stunning and there were numerous rooms to appreciate.  I never got any pictures of the castle because we got there late at night and left in the morning when it was raining.  Here is one from the internet though to give you an idea.

Carbisdale Castle where we stayed the last night

Once we unpacked our bags we headed into town and found ourselves at this very small, cozy pub.  Here I met some people from Canada who were studying at Edinburgh and I also met some locals.  It was refreshing to converse with some fellow Canadians, seeing as that I didn't have to listen as attentively; nor did I have decipher the spoken words that were so commonly at that point draped across a thick Scottish accent (lol).  We ended the night with some farewell shots seeing as that half of the tour group was headed to the highlands (they were on a 10 day tour) and the other half was heading back to Edinburgh.

Deer in the headlights

Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday morning we packed up and headed back to Edinburgh.  Along the way, we would be stopping at the oh so famous "Loch Ness".  Apparently it is 37km long and contains more fresh water than all of the lakes in England and Wales combined (it's pretty big I guess lol). 

The next stop during our last day ended up being a massive cave.  I don't really know much about the cave other than the fact that it is big.  The tour that was suppose to be taking place wasn't in order so we just explored it on our own.

The houses help contrast the size of the cave

Inside the cave looking out

Waterfall in the cave

Well, that was the last stop.  We pulled into Edinburgh Sunday night exhausted but our crave for adventure had been filled. Some friends were made and my tour of the United Kingdom had come to an end.  In the morning, I would be departing for my next destination--Amsterdam;  I was excited to see what was in store and interested if the crazy liberal city of the Netherlands could weigh up to the laid back vibe of northern Scotland--only time would tell.