Loch Ness and the Highlands ... (Scotland - II)

For part of our journey to Scotland, we took a commercial tour

through the Scottish Highlands, Loch Ness and Glencoe. 

Beautiful, and quite remote.

We met the bus in central Edinburgh and headed out early.  As you leave the city, the first thing you see is the Firth of Forth Bridge, a large (huge) railway bridge, one of the first large structures built of steel, completed in 1890.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin



Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The anchor for one of the great cantilever sections.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The tour bus links up with a tour boat.  You buy a box lunch on land and take it with you onto the boat, nice interior seating, with a top deck for the parts in between the rain.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

...and the rain wasn't far off.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The boat travels a short bit up the lake and stops

to swap some passengers at the ruins of a cool (former) lakeside castle.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The cloudy-sky-lighting was a bit of a challenge,

but as I say, you deal with what you get.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Lots of moisture in the air.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The roadway runs right down one side of the 1-mail x 65-mile long lake. 

There are only two such roads going up into the highlands,

and as you will see below, this one isn't a big road.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Only a few houses, guest houses and small hotels

are scattered along the lakeshore on the one side.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The stone in the shallow water (about 3-4m diameter) is said to be a "Witches Stone". 

Apparently, in the distant past, two powerful witches lived on either side of the loch,

and occasionally hurled insults, and large boulders, at one another. 

This one is said to have landed on the side of the hill, and rolled back down to the water's edge.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The road on the lakeshore is narrow.  There was not much room

between the bus and oncoming trucks, a bit unnerving in the rainy weather.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

At the bottom end of the lake we turned back east, into Glencoe ("glen" is valley in Scottish), beautifully sculptured by volcanic action.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Imagine living in that tiny, isolated little farm house.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

When the rain is falling, you can see the myriad large and small water falls

as the rain water cascades off the mountain. 

The locals called these "weeping mountains", and you can see why.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Stirling Castle.  We stopped and toured it actually on the following day,

on a shorter tour, with more stops at castles, abbeys, etc.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

A "Highland Cooo" !

The Longhorn's Scottish cousin.  ;-)

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

A Scottish thistle, a national emblem,

perhaps indicative of the kind of hard-scrabble life

one finds in such rugged country.

Y'all take care now,

- Mark W. Laughlin

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Long Live Nessie !!!

Edinburgh ... ( Scotland - I )

Bren and I had a chance to visit Scotland, 
so we took a few days and had a nice little vacation.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

It was a bit rainy, and nicely cool, 
a very nice change from Texas (even from Texas in early September) !
And it wouldn't be Scotland without a little rain !

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 A very cool, very "walkable" city...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 ...a city whose skyline is dominated by Edinburgh Castle, 
high on a central mount, visible from all over the city.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

There was a parade along High Street (the "Royal Mile"), 
young kilted gentlemen lining up...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

High Street, before the parade...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Cool churches, seems like one on every corner.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 ...and all with beautiful stained glass...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 Wonderful arched ceilings...beautiful !!

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 Cool architecture...all over the place !!

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 Lots of restaurants, bars, nightlife.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

These streets are near the Grass Market area, very nice.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

And always under the watchful eye of the "the castle' !

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

More posts to follow.  Took over 1000 photos in six days, 

including the city area, botanical gardens, the Scottish Highlands, 

Loch Ness, abbeys, churches, bridges, castles...hard to know what to post first !

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Scotland !  
A very cool place, go take a look if you have the chance.

- Mark W. Laughlin

Rainy Season ! ... (Mussoorie, India)

There are certain places where it just wouldn't seem right not to have rain.  Scotland is one of them, India is another.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

In Texas, we would say that you cannot let the weather stop you,

or you will never get anything done.  I think the attitude in India is the same !

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

On my last trip (July) it was well into the rainy season in northern India.  It was a longer-than-a-week trip, so as we went over the weekend, we flew from Delhi, north and east to Dehradun, driving another 2 hours up into the foothills of the Himalayas.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Mussoorie is a town at about 6000 ft elevation (1800m).  It's mountainous but not nearly as high as the places where altitude makes you feel bad.  The weather was cool, the rain was almost constant, but not heavy, and the place just seemed quite natural wrapped in clouds.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The roadways are a bit narrow (a considerable understatement).  This is the main road, right through the middle of town, and you can see it takes considerable cooperation for two busses to pass one another.

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

You can see how steep the terrain is.  This building on the right is 5-6 stories tall, with the ROOF even with the roadway...so the roof becomes a parking area, as does the first level down.  You go down more levels for the rest of the building.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

And parked on top were these.  I'm not sure what makes it so, but this turned out to be one of my favorite photos of the trip.  Any ideas why ?

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

This just says "Wet !"...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 ...as does this.

So, we took refuge.

A note said that this type of sign, with a picture, was made popular in England in days past, when more folks were illiterate, and the style still continues to be used.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

A tiny little place, a bar, with room for about 20 or so inside, and then two very nice sitting areas outside, for less rainy days.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

...a cozy little nook next to the bar.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Lush and green everywhere ! 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

And soon the weekend was over and it was time to head back down...
...down to business ! 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

 

I typically head home through Newark (New York area) airport, landing at just about dawn.  I run around to the end of the terminal to see if the sunrise is presenting anything interesting.  Very nice coloration this morning, silhouetting the Empire State Building, and just on it's shoulder the spire of the Chrysler Building.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

As I say, sometimes it's not what your eye sees, it's what your attitude sees. 
Sometimes you like a photo and you can't say exactly why.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 
Y'all take care,
- Mark W. Laughlin

Sighting !!

Date:             08-September-2016
Time:            12:40 pm
Place:           Shore of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands
Conditions:   Heavy overcast, light rain

Standing on the dock, preparing to board the "Jacobite Warrior", a tour boat operating on Loch Ness, we waited inside a clear, plexi-glass shelter, out of the rain.  There were about 20 people gathered, and others were on their way to the dockside.  Standing with my wife, I noticed something, clearly a creature, moving on the surface of the lake, just in front of us.  It moved slowly, we both saw it and commented on it.  I raised my camera and attempted to take a photo.  Due to the rain on the surface of the plexi-glass window, photo clarity isn't good, but the shape of the creature can be clearly seen.  The sighting, apparently witnessed by many of those standing in close proximity around us, did not seem to cause any alarm in the group, owing perhaps to the fact that such sightings are common along the shores of this particular lake.  As the boat arrived, the creature moved away, we boarded, and the tour proceeded uninterrupted.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

It wouldn't be Scotland without the rain, and it wouldn't be Loch Ness without a "sighting".

Y'all take care,   :-)
-Mark

PS:
For my foreign friends, look up "Loch Ness Monster"...

Images



Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Turning, switching back and forth.

Driving from Dehradun to Mussoorie,

in the foothills of the Himalayas. 

India, as always, is a hectic bustle. 

As we drive, as always, I pass cool images,

a million per mile.  Mountains, clouds, monkeys.

If only, if only, I had the time to stop, get out,

and walk.  Maybe I could capture more,

more faces, more colors, more scenes of people,

people moving, moving, always forward. 

As I ride, my head is on a swivel,

quickly looking this way and that,

afraid to blink, afraid of what I might miss. 

A million per mile.  That’s how many

wonderful images, uncaptured,

flash by me as we go. 

Time, time is the thing. 

Oh, if only I could

slow down,

and catch

those

images... 

-m

Mussoorie,

16-July-2016

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The Horn of India

Fuel, of course, tires are important…and an engine…no motorized vehicle will motivate without a functioning engine.  But in India, no component of the vehicle could possibly be more important to forward motion than, yes…the Horn.  Sure, in America, we use our horns too, but, it’s different.  If someone steps off a curb in front of us, absent mindedly, we jam on the brakes and lay on the horn, as a protest, while we’re waving our arms…and shouting something about their mom. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

India is different.  There, when a driver sees a person, or another car, or a cow (…or dog, or water buffalo…) moving into his path, he taps his horn to say “…don’t do that…you will be run over and killed, most likely by me…”  It’s not a question of being angry.  There doesn’t seem to be any anger in it, either for the honker or the “honked-at”.  It’s a warning that you’re coming…it’s a conversation between drivers, or between driver and “person-dog-buffalo-cow.”    

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Trucks and busses even invite honking.  Many tucks and most of the “auto-rickshaws” have “Horn Please” painted on the back.  It’s an invitation, a suggestion, to honk if you would like them to pull over a little and let you by.  I’m not sure why they would paint it there, it seems to me that ALL Indian drivers are already familiar with the system, and are honking as a “(semi-)polite request to move over” already.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

This honking system of communication became known to me over my several drives through various cities in India, but no place more clearly than standing in the Pick-Up Area at Mumbai Airport’s Domestic Terminal.  The drivers trying to get someone to move, so they can get into the pick-up area, or honking to get the attention of the someone they are picking up, or honking to say they are now trying to pull back out into traffic and leave, results a cacophony that is pretty difficult to ignore.  It even inspires some people to write about it.  ;-)

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Y'all take care,

- Mark W. Laughlin

(Sorry for the poor formatting...Blogspot is VERY frustrating at times...)