Today was the beginning of the adventure! Bibi and I managed to get breakfast (the Baxter hostel serves a hot breakfast of eggs and toast, with cereal, tea and coffee also available. The hostel is quite nice, I would recommend it) before making our way to the Haggis Adventures office on the Royal Mile. Once everyone was checked in, we loaded up our “Wild and Sexy” yellow bus and headed out of Edinburgh.

One thing I noticed right away, is how distance is different here in the UK. I am used to driving long distances, and on a road-trip, “long” means 3 hours or more. Well, everything here is closer together, and I think the longest stretch we did on Day 1 was 1.5 hours. Not bad at all! Our drive today took us from Edinburgh to Oban, stopping at the Kelpies, the William Wallace Monument, past the Doune Castle (Monty Python fans will recognize the castle as the one in the Holy Grail) and through Glencoe.

A short 45 minute drive had us arriving at our first stop, the giant 30 metre statues of the Kelpies. The kelpies are a mythical water creature who is said to have come ashore in the shape of a pony or a horse. They were stunning, and through its demure attitude and beauty, would attract people (especially young children) to come pet or ride them. Sometimes they would appear as a beautiful woman, again enticing young men towards them. However, these creatures were not actually beautiful horses, but evil sea creatures. Once someone had mounted their backs, they would become stuck, and the kelpies would then dive back into the water, dragging the child with them, never to be seen again.

We continued onward after lunch in Tyndrum to the valley (glen) of Coe. We passed one of Scotland’s 5 ski hills, which I must admit took me by surprise as I don’t think of skiing and snow when I think of Scotland! The mountains surrounding Glen Coe were shrouded in clouds, giving the valley an eerie feel. This is the site of the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692, when the Campbell clan abused the Highland hospitality of the MacDonalds, and, under the orders of William the Orange. This murderous act was carried out as a warning to other clans who were slow to sign an agreement with the new English monarch, recognising him as the King of Scotland, and giving the Highland Clans pardon for their part in the Jacobite uprisings (Jacobites= followers of James, the previous king). The Highland clans had pledged allegiance to James VII (James II in England), and were reluctant to sign the agreement with William without the consent of James. When they finally received word that they should sign, bad weather made it such that the representative for the Clan MacDonald was late (after January 1) to sign. As he had signed the agreement, he returned to the glen, feeling like everything was fine. The Campbells (and others from Argyll), who wanted revenge for thefts of livestock, were met with Highland hospitality, a tradition of accepting other clansmen into your homes and housing them while they needed it. After about 2 weeks, word was sent to the Campbells to eliminate the MacDonalds. Even though they had relations through marriage, the Campbells carried out their orders from the English government, and murdered 38 clan members were killed in their homes or while they fled, and many others died from the frigid winter conditions as they tried to escape.

Just before 5pm, we rolled into the town of Oban (translating to the little bay). Set along the Firth of Lorn, and is known for their seafood and their distillery. It is quaint little town, and our first experience of how ‘modern’ life has not made it to the Highlands. It was quite a shock to find out that the shops closed at 5pm, even on a Monday! Claire, Tinghy and I wandered into town, after checking into our Harry Potter named bunks (I was in the Bellatrix bunk). We were hoping to get some groceries, but the supermarket was a bit disappointing and the Tesco was too far away. We made a stop in the Oban Distillery as well, and I managed to get a few drams to taste before they stopped serving at 6pm! I discovered that I very much like the Dalwhinnie, which has heather and other fruity flavours, making it much lighter and smoother to drink. I also tried the Cardhu, which I enjoyed (but not as well…). Claire and Tinghy don’t drink, but were willing to look around the distillery as I had my tastings. We also decided to have seafood, as that is what Oban is known for. We ended up at the same restaurant as Mel and Kat (two Australian teachers that were on our tour as well). The restaurant was right on the bay, and we had wonderful views of the sunset. It was a spectacular
sunset!

Later in the evening, Gillian, our guide, had arranged for us to go to a Ceilidh, which is traditional Scottish music and dance. As a former highland dancer, I was very excited for this! I love any opportunity I can get to dance. She also told us that she had a special surprise… What a surprise it was! We went downstairs to be greeted by Andrew, the piper from Skippinish, who would be performing the music at the ceilidh. Claire was my partner for most of the dances (there were not that many guys who wanted to dance). We danced the Canadian Barn Dance, the Flying Scotsman, a Jig and others. I danced every single dance possible! Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I’m a pretty decent dancer! It was great fun, and an experience that I think most people should have. Even if you don’t enjoy dancing, go and experience the accordion (the box) and bagpipes. I earned my ciders that night!