Into The Highlands - My First Time Outside of Glasgow in 4 Months

The pandemic has interrupted everyone's lives, back in January, I was expecting to be in Brazil in the summer and going to Prague with my friends. Instead of that, first year at university had ended in March and I have ended up spending four months in my room. In that time I had completed a TEFL course, discovered the great joy in cycling and simply watched stuff like Outlander. A few days before going to The Highlands, I went back to Stirling in order to get my stuff and the place looked completely abandoned, like I had just set foot in Chernobyl. 

Furthermore, it was time to leave, getting on the train and waiting for it to start moving. Not being used to commuting on the train made it a surreal experience, seeing the Scottish landscape from the window and seeing places like Stirling and Perth absolutely desolate. Getting off the train and a short drive later, I had arrived at The Black Isle.

Walking around Munlochy was a breath of fresh air. It felt good to finally be somewhere else and it feels much calmer than the streets of Glasgow. It's a small village with quaint houses scattered around, a pub which is also a hotel, a Co-op shop and not much else. 

A place I had visited, near Inverness was the Culloden Battlefield site, the visitor centre was closed, but it was enough just to walk along the path. To explain the significance of the battle of Culloden was the last large scale battle fought on British soil, between British and Jacobite forces. The battle had resulted in the demise of the Jacobite rebellion as the Jacobites had suffered heavy losses due to the role of cannons in the battle. After watching Outlander, the history of the Jacobite Rebellion had taken my interest and I couldn't miss out on the chance of seeing where this event took place.

I hadn't seen a beach for a good few months even before lockdown started, so it was good to head down to Rosemarkie. A great beach to walk along with some mesmerising landscapes, the fact that I hadn't seen anything like it for a good few months made it all the more special. Near the car park there is a classic light house and even the car park has some post card worthy views.

I did a bit of cycling around The Black Isle, it was very different as I wasn't cycling on paths, but rather busy rural roads. Nearby is the small village by the sea known as Avoch (pronounced ock) it has a nice seaside setting and picturesque streets. 

I don't think it would quite be a trip to The Highlands without a good old hike, I climbed Beinn Eighe which was near Torridon. I can only recommend this climb if you are an experienced hiker as it gets rockier and rockier the higher you get, but the stunning vistas at the summit summit is a great payoff. Unfortunately for us though, it got foggy once we had reached the summit, but as we were coming down we were met with some incredible landscape. I guess that the possibility of fog on top of a mountain comes with the territory of climbing munros. On the way back from Munlochy, the view from the windows were superb and I am pretty sure that they have been used as filming locations for car adverts and even Outlander as well.

The next day was another brilliant hike, I went the most north I had ever been in Scotland. The views from outside the car were monumental, without exaggeration some of the most beautiful vistas I had ever seen in the world. Next to a body of water is the mountain known as Stac Pollaidh, this is an easy climb which I reckon beginners could do, as an intermediate hiker myself, it didn't take much more than an hour to get to the summit and we more or less had the whole mountain to ourselves. The way done had given us the chance to bask in some incredible views and scenery that I didn't even know about before. After that, we went to Ullapool, it is a rather small village, but due to its location it is normally a tourist hotspot for The Highlands. Unfortunately, when I came to Ullapool it was completely devoid of tourists and we went to a pub and restaurant which was usually be packed. It was good to finally get a proper pint and for dinner I had some very decent fish and chips that were most likely locally sourced. Ullapool is very scenic and I'd love to get back when things are back to normal. 

My week in The Highlands was well spent, it was great to get a change of scenery and get out into nature. It won't be my last trip there for sure, I genuinely consider The Highlands as the best place to see in Scotland and even I haven't seen much of it and most of my friends in The Lowlands have never been. I would say that Brazil has the Amazon and we have The Highlands and it's the same case for even people in Manaus who haven't gone out to see the Amazon Rainforest. There is still so much I must see in The Highlands such as Skye, Sanna Bay and Eilean Donan Castle.