Day 2: Isle of Skye

My favourite day. We had the wackiest guide, and her name is Allison. First she made us play Poohsticks at a bridge that we passed by earlier, then at this little jetty she tried to make us step into the icy cold water. Lo and behold, don't be deceived by the generous amount of sunlight!

Also, because I was wearing skinny jeans, I couldn't roll them up at all. Smart right.

My mom was convinced that I was quite half mad

Guess who were the only two clever people who went into the water?

Allison and me!

And for that little stunt, I earned 300 points! Allison created this game where she would allocate points for things you do, e.g. answer her questions correctly after story telling (100 points if she's pleased, -10 if you're American, haha!), if you shut the van door as the last person to leave (10 points), etc. Later in the evening, she taught us a Scottish folk dance - it's called Gay Gordons (apparently the easiest, but I kept stepping on my partner's foot; not very graceful obviously). Imagine dancing (or at least trying to) at a place surrounded by snow-capped mountains and beautiful lakes. You should try it.

Take dance lessons, or never dance again. Haha! My new friend from Brazil!

If you're planning to book for a Highlands tour, ask for Allison - you won't regret it!

p.s. I'm sending the first photo for a competition entry, it would make me very very grateful if you could go to this link and help me vote! It takes just one simple click, no registration or anything! Thank you so much!

Scottish Tours: Day 1

It snowed heavily again on the day we left for Scotland, which felt as if we were running away from the storm. In Edinburgh, we stayed at Best Western Kings Manor Hotel. It is away from the city centre, but easily accessible by bus. However, I would suggest that you take a taxi first if you're carrying many bags, as we did. I would tell more about Edinburgh in a later post, but here's the highlands part of my Scottish holiday.

Don't wanna get lost here

Yup, my dad went for the front seat since everyone went for the back seats first. Best view!

We went on a 4-days highlands tour with Scottish Tours, and we stayed at Duncraig Villa, Inverness, during our trip. What I did was randomly google Scotland + tour, and easily enough I found a good one. It was £375 per person if you're sharing, and £420 if you're taking a room alone; breakfast and tours included (excluding castle entry tickets and ferry rides because these are optional). Since there were three of us, I booked online for a single and a sharing room. What I would suggest is that you call them up to ask if you could have a family room if you have a situation like mine. Because we ended up having two large family rooms to ourselves, and each room had one king size bed and a single bed (which was really cool, but a slight waste of money).

On the first day, we joined a coach of about 40 people. We were the only ones staying overnight, for nights, so I guess day trips are more popular (although I think it is definitely better to go for a few days, and I will tell you why). Our guide was a happy capable man; I'm not sure how he drives AND speaks at the same time, for the whole journey. And it's not a short journey up.

We passed by so many lochs, and glens (pronounce "loch" with a distinct "h", loc- kuh). I can't even remember those names, unless I type out my itinerary, which I won't, haha! In a few words, Day 1 was all about: beautiful sceneries - one after the other, Scottish music, soup stops, endless fun. 

Looking for a good cuppa tea?

More updates soon!

The Horse and His Boy

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

This kind of weather must be some kind of good wizardry

We brought the Sun around as if it were a kite

We found Narnia inside our guest room wardrobe