Ben Nevis Guest House Fort William

Today we left the amazing Morags Hostel and started heading down the west coast of Scotland. Past Loch Oich and Loch Locchie - which is where the battle of the shirts occured. It was so hot on the day of the battle that halfway through a ceasefire was called, and everyone jumped in the Loch for a dip. It was still so hot that most men resumed fighting in just their shirts, or just plain naked!

Then to Ben Nevis which is the highest peak in Scotland and all of the United ...

... each year. The person who runs up it, back down and to the bar in the pub is the winner. Apparently it has been done in 45 minutes before! It harks back to the war, when a Scottish soldier was fighing with a man of Nepalese descent. The Scot told the Nepalese man if they got out of the war, they would go to Scotland and live in peace. So the war ended and they went back to the highlands. One day they were sitting at the pub, 5 drinks into a session when the Scot said 'so what do you ...

... is sadly known for being voted the city with the ugliest people in Scotland! Not the best of awards to win. Had a quick look around and Josh even managed to squeeze in a quick haircut!

Then to the local distillery, a quick tour and some samples - i had a quick taste, but i'm truly not a whiskey person - josh said the Penderyn one in Wales was better.

Onwards to Loch Ness which is the best known of the 4 Lochs in the Scottish Highlands ...

Today I left SYHA Torridon (with the key I must add) and headed off to Fort Augustus via Inverness, again stopping along the way to take some photos.

I must say, it was nice to stop in Inverness and actually see some people around. I had a walk around the shops, filled the car up with diesel and went shopping in Morisons.

On my way to ...

... br>Some other info Ross gave us.

- Scotish flag is based on a vision that St Andrew had while fighting the British a white cross shining against a blue sky.
- golf is actually illegal in Scotland, William the IV declared it illegal as it stopped the young men practising their archery, the law has never been changed.. lol

Back in Edinburgh, food and sleep,early start in the morning!!!!! oh no..

... today is terrible, we are walking in 35-50 mph winds and it is constantly raining in our faces. We get to the half way point (in height any way) and stop for some thing to eat. The second half of the
mountain climb was a lot harder than the first and as we climb higher and higher we get further and further into the clouds and it gets colder and windier as we climb. We finally reach the summit and the ...

I've made it to Fort William, checked into the SYHA Glen Nevis and decided to go for a walk in to town to get some dinner. Little did I know that it was 3.5 miles each way in the pouring rain to Morrisons.

Gone to far to turn around and I am wet now.

John

Our first destination was the sea town of Oban which was reached by diriving west past Glasgow then up through the high country and back down the coast at Oban. It was a real thrill to set eyes on the ' bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomand' on the anniversary of mum's passing and we came across a small church on its shores and gave thanks for her life. Lock Lomand was beautiful but there ...

... to wait around the corner again while he took care of something else. Finally, when all had been released and he was comfortable he decided to have a rest and we had to walk past him without laughing. After our outings we were all tuckered out and headed to the B and B for a snooze. I woke suddenly realizing that we were late for our reservations at the best restaurant in town. We puttered down to Crannogs on the Loch for an exceptional ...

... and/or we are landing onto the base of cliffs or otrher rock faces. Sometimes it was really easy, a slippery slipway. But it was great, great people, a good boat, and fantantic things to see. many places were over 5,000 years old and the wildlife, especially birds, suimply fantastic. We are now recuperating in Fort William and went to Kyle of Lochalsh today. All going to plan, and all well. Will complete this soon, in the meantime .... watch this space :)