Mismatched Travel Diaries #3 - SCOTLAND - Part 1 - The Highlands call.
The Scottish Highlands are a frontier to be reckoned with.
The mountainous landscape is beautiful but clearly hides its dangers with alluring sunsets and perfectly still lochs.
Snowstorms literally pour out of valleys which are so large that they somehow look small.
Snowcapped peaks surround Loch Torridon, towering over the ocean inlet like giants overseeing the lands below them. It is pretty easy to see how the highlands inspired writers such as Tolkien and George R.R. Martin.
The water is still, but the weather changes at the drop of a hat. When we arrived there were 100km/h winds blowing in through the heads whipping up Atlantic water and forcing us inside.
The local crofter sends his working dogs ahead to herd his flock of sheep bag up the hill into the barn to hide from the oncoming storm. The sheep don't notice, nor care what is coming, they follow orders and nervously obey the dogs barking commands. Up the hill they go.
Temperemental weather patterns still do nothing to silence the call of the highlands. The views force you outside, into the wind, driving rain and snow. A weathered castle stands tall and proud, weathering the daily storms like its nothing. The locals do the same. But the sun still presents itself in cloud breaks as if to say "I'm still here!"
