SCOTLAND 2020

HIGHLAND'S WINTER

19 - 25 Jan 2020

18 Jan 2020

Our plan then was quite simple, Its Malaysia - London - Inverness - Edinburgh - London - Malaysia, so 3 days in Inverness and 3 days in Edinburgh.

AT KLIA as early as 6.30 pm our flight was at 11.55 pm

Check-in and luggage drop

Last photo before Boarding

Ok, our schedule was quite hectic once arrived in Heathrow Terminal 4, as follows;

• From Heathrow T4, take Underground tube Picadilly line to South Kensington (45m, 6 P per pax),
• Change Tube line at S. Kensington to Victoria Station (15 m, incl.),
• Walk to Victoria Coach Station 
• Take 9 am bus to Gatwick Airport -North Terminal (1h50m, 5 P per pax)
• Take Easyjet flight to Inverness Airport (1h15m, 40 P per pax).

19 Jan 2020

Luggage collection at Heathrow. Unfortunately for Afiq his luggage were left out at KLIA, then British Airways promised to send it to us within 24hrs (unfortunately Afiq only received it after 5 days)

Took early tube to South Kensington

Near Victoria Coach Station

Arriving at Gatwick Airport

Boarding Easyjet flight to Inverness

Kids on flight easyjet

Ibu with a baby and his mother

This is Inverness, the northern most city of Great Britain, It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Ok we have to admit that the decision to visit Inverness has been mainly influenced by the parent's idolatry of Netflix series Outlander...there! guilty as charged! 

Bronze statue of Fresson, the man instrumental of promoting the setup of Inverness Airport

A wee airport

Arrived at Inverness Airport, the wind was really very strong that we could hardly walked on the tarmac.

One and only luggage carousel

We took a big taxi which cost us 30p to reach the appartment around 9 miles from the airport. By the way it was cold windy and already dark around 4.30 pm.

By the way this is our apartment which we booked thru Bookings.com for the next 3 days, it has;

• 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and another separate toilet
• all kitchen equipments you requires
• nice and wide rooms, own backyard
• only 8 min walks to town thru scenic view of Inverness River and its suspended bridge
• only 5 min walk to ALDI supermarket
• Very clean and quiet neighborhood @Abban street

1: Our Appartment, 2: Suspended Bridge, 3: Leakeys bookstore, 4: Victorian Market, 5: Train Station, 6: Castle

20th Jan 2020

Schedule;

• Walk around Inverness old town 
• Visit Inverness castle
• Visit museums
• Rent a car and went to Dores Bay

Busy cooking for breakfast

Boys room

See how nice and scenic are the views of Inverness along the river

Quick stop at Inverness Train station

Entrance of Victoria market, but it was too early in the morning

Inverness castle

Such a breathtaking view from a top the hill

It may look fine but it was very windy and cold

Ordering 2nd breakfast at a local Pub Whetherspoon

Superb setting and good food, best Fish and chips in Inverness

Back home to prepare and have lunch before fetching rental car from local co. name FOCUS

It is a station wagon brand new Corolla Hybrid, it costs 85p (3pm - 5pm +1day). Having a Hybrid helped when the fuel costs 1.35 P/liter (thats more than 2 times malaysian fuel price), the car consumed 54 MPG thats a very commendable performance

Dores Bay at the nothern most edge of Loch Ness. The Lake is the deepest (2km) and hold the highest volume of water of any lake in Great britain combined!...so much so that the water never freeze and stays between 4.5 deg. Celcius all year round (best breeding ground for the monster!) 

21 Jan 2020

Schedule;

• Castle of Urquhart
• Eilean Donan Castle and the Highlands
• Isle of Skye (if possible)
• Culloden Moor
• Clava Cairn
• Leakey's bookshop

Urquhart castle, built, Founded in the 13th century, Urquhart played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century

Culloden battlefield, The Battle was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was defeated by a British government force. The battle lasted only an hour, with the Jacobites suffering a bloody defeat; between 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded, while about 300 government soldiers were killed or wounded

Clava Cairns or the Prehistoric Burial Cairns of Bulnuaran of Clava are a group of three Bronze Age cairns located near Inverness. A hugely significant and exceptionally well preserved prehistoric site, Clava Cairns is a fantastic example of the distant history of Highland Scotland, dating back about 4,000 years

Claire touching the stand stone at Craigh Na Dun

We did tried...but todate we are still in 2020

Parents drop the kids at Leakey's and proceeded to return the rental car. Then took a taxi to Leakey's

Leakey’s Bookshop is Scotland’s second largest secondhand bookstore and is set in the spectacular grounds of a Gaelic church dating back to 1793. The site boasts high ceilings, two floors teaming with secondhand books, and a working log fire in the centre. 

notice the log fire-place and logs

This guy is the owner, Charles Leakey, he told us that his parents met in Malaya in 1946. And Ibu found a book dated 1884 by Alexandre Dumas with penned marks and signed "Ian B. Mitchell, Johore River Estates, Johore"...how cool is that. We bought many books some are printed circa 1884!

22 Jan 2020

Schedule ;

• walk to Inverness train station (15 m)
• take 8.44 am Scot rail train to Edinburgh Waverly (3 h) 
• Walk to Apartment @ no. 6 Drummond Street (15 m)

Luggage - packed

Bathroom - checked

Utility room - checked

Parents room - checked

Boys room - checked

Dining room - checked

Kitchen - checked

Living room - checked

Our Apartment No. 17 was at 3rd floor of this building just above this coffee shop.

Parent's room

Yes J.K. Rowlings wrote her first few chapter on the 1st floor of the same building as our apartment.

Boys room

Zeti's room

National Museum of Scotland

23 Jan 2020

View from our room

Black medecine coffee co. shop, just below our apartment.

Edinburgh castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of Edinburgh, from its position on the Castle Rock. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least the Iron Age (2nd century AD)

St Margaret Chapel, first ever building built in Edinburgh

24th Jan 2020

25th Jan 2020