Scotland allures visitors with its castles, distilleries

A bunch of college mates decided to have a reunion 30 years after they left college. Some lived in the US and the rest were in India. We picked Scotland, the nominal centre point to meet. Some of the guys were avid golfers and loved the idea of playing golf in the country of its origin. Others, who appreciated fine malt wanted to drink it in the country of its origin. Still, others, who were devotees to neither felt they should come along for the sheer occasion.Wanting to give cityscapes a miss, we avoided the major cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and headed north-west to the highlands of Scotland, a region that has a distinct cultural identity and language (Gaelic). Our plan was to spend three nights in the town of Inverness and three at the town of Portee located on an Inner Hebridean Island called Skye. We’d arranged for accommodation in large 4-5 bedroom houses with living and dining room spaces to make it easy for us congregate.

We landed at Inverness in small groups based on our flights and headed for the meeting spot — the Black Isle Pub to find familiar faces, albeit grizzled…hugs exchanged, backs thumped, the years fell away. The language turned adolescent.

Inverness is at the meeting point of the River Ness and the Moray Firth (Firth is a long strip of the sea reaching inland). Within the town limits, one can visit the Inverness Castle, a red sandstone building on a hill adjacent the river Ness. Build in the mid-19th century, it presently works as a courthouse. The town has a central pedestrian area (India should consider having some) with several nice pubs. It also has the Castle Stuart Golf on the banks of the Moray Firth where the golfers in our group managed a few rounds.

Using Inverness as the base, we headed out to Glenfinnan which has two claims to fame. There is a monument to mark the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his flag to claim the throne of Britain. Though defeated later, a monument dedicated to the ‘unknown highlander’ was built here. The second claim to fame is the picturesque Glenfinnan Viaduct which the Jacobite Express, a steam engine-drawn train crosses when it makes a journey from Fort William to Mallaig. This train was filmed as the Hogwarts Express in the film version of the Harry Potter series. There is something warming to watch a steam engine in the days we travel by high-speed trains. (Remember to check the train time schedule to see it on the Viaduct). The drive to Glenfinnan is beautiful with several Lochs (a Loch is a large lake or sea inlet in Scottish Gaelic) along the road. The Lochs and inland navigation canals slice up the landmass into two parts from Inverness to Fort Augustus and permit inland navigation from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea without going around the Hebridean landmass.

We headed back from Glenfinnan and stopped at Fort William, a quaint town for lunch. Look out for the Garrison West pub and sample the Haggis with Neeps (a root vegetable) and Taties (mashed potatoes) with a light beer. The town is also connected on the railway and forms a point of access to Ben Nevis, the highest point in the UK. Past Fort William, there is a small Commando War memorial at the Spean Bridge. Further towards Inverness is the town of Fort Augustus where there is a system of Locks for boats to descend to the Loch Ness. A waterfall at Invermoriston is another scenic point along the way.

The most famous of the lakes of the Great Glen is the Loch Ness. Legend has it that a ‘monster’ lurks in its waters and you may get to see it if you stay at the Bona Lighthouse that overlooks the Loch which is now an Airbnb. A cruise on Loch Ness takes you to the Urquhart Castle and back. The Castle was built in the 13th century on an existing fortification. It was finally abandoned and destroyed to prevent its use by the Jacobite forces of rebellion.

One can’t wander around long in Scotland without bumping into a distillery. The Tomatin Distillery commenced in 1897 and peaked at 12 million litres a year before dropping to its current level of approx. 2 million litres. Our guide Fiona took us through the various stages of whiskey making — malting, drying, mashing, fermentation and finally distillation at least twice to reach 70 per cent in the copper pot stills on the right the distilled spirit is matured in barrels (at least three years before it can be called Scotch). The stock room had barrels from 1967, the year some of us were born and 1984, the year we joined college. We got to taste six different malts before leaving, happier than when we arrived. For purists, The Malt Room is a bar in Inverness that has 200 different varieties of Scotch. During our visit, I settled for a Glenfiddich 21-year-old Gran Reserva. Some of the collection is priced over 100 pounds for 30 ml.

We continued our journey from Inverness to Portee, our next base which is an approximately 115-mile (184 km) trip. On a tea shop at the Cluanie Inn, we get excellent masala chai and pakoras. I ordered ‘Irn Bru’, something I wanted to try after having read Ian Rankin’s books about Inspector Rebus. It turned out to be a fizzy drink that has an acquired taste. Past Loch Shiel, we turned off the A87 on the Shiel Bridge to start up climbing up a narrow road to a viewpoint called the Bealach Ratagain to get a view of the mountain range with five peaks called the Five Sisters of Kintail, with Loch Duich in the foreground. Our guide Roddy’s legend was that the five sisters were five princesses waiting for their husbands!

The next stop was at Eilean Donan castle which sits on a small island with a stone bridge connecting it to the mainland at the junction of Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh. Of the same vintage as the Urquhart castle (13th century) this one was damaged in the 17th century due to the Jacobite uprising but was restored subsequently. The castle’s outline is iconic to Scotland and you can spot it on ‘Scottish’ products. It’s uncanny how the history of both castles loosely mirror the forts built by the Marathas in India. They too rebelled against central rule by the Mughals and were partially destroyed. Lunch at the visitor’s centre of the castle was a lightly grilled Salmon with just salt and pepper for taste and it is great stuff. The castle has been monetised in several ways — including photoshoots for movies. Indian films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and the Tamil film, Kandukondain Kandukondain, were shot here.

We crossed the mainland to the Isle of Skye over the Skye Bridge and reached Inner Hebridean Island in the Sea of Hebrides. The outer Hebridean islands form a barrier to the Atlantic Ocean. We stayed in a 5-bedroom Airbnb located in a small village of Kensaleyre, about 10 km from the city centre of Portree.

Next morning, we set out to see the Fairy Pools at Glen Brittle, a lovely place for a climbing walk in the open. Some of the pools looked like something out of the Lord of the Rings. Skye is also home to a Classic Malt — the Talisker distillery on the banks of Loch Harport. Though not part of the original itinerary, we decided not to miss it. We got to taste a 25-year-old Talisker! Our third distillery on this trip was located on the Isle of Raasay and also known by the same name. A short ferry ride took us across the Island. The Isle of Raasay distillery is relatively new — it started operations in 2017 and is yet to sell its first Scotch, which will emerge for bottling in 2020 after the minimum mandatory aging period of three years in barrels.

During this journey, we discovered the hazards of being out in the open — we were attacked by midges — flying insects that were smaller than mosquitoes but equally bad. It’s advised to carry midge spray to ward them off if you are visiting Scotland.

A visit to the Old Man of Storr is mandatory on the Isle of Skye. It’s a large pinnacle of rock named so because the rock outline and the protruding ‘Menhir’ resemble the face of an old man. The visit can be coupled with a scenic drive along the North-East coast. You can plan for a picnic lunch where you can halt at Lealt Falls. Our next stop was at Kilt Rock. Dinosaur footprints have been found in this area.

Further ahead, one can turn west to reach the Quiraing (Old Norse ‘Kví Rand’, which means Round Fold). Like the old man of Storr, this too was formed by a landslip and we could see the path stretch away. This is another great place for a walk. The road from Quiraing connects up to the A87 in the town of Uig. There is a ferry here that connects people to the Outer Hebrides Islands.

On our last day, we headed back to Inverness using an alternate route. Our first stop was at Kyleakin where we get a view of the bridge linking the Isle of Skye with the Scottish mainland. Along the route, the Loch Carron Viewpoint overlooking Stromeferry gives you a picture postcard view. If you stop at Rogie falls just before Inverness, you might get to see the Salmon travel upstream. After lunch at the Castle Stuart Golf Links, we spend our last evening together celebrating one of our friends, Sarvesh’s birthday.