Why I’m a failed blogger? It’s because I’m not consistent in making new content and procrastination always has the best of me LOL. Nevertheless, I’m going to share my recent trip to Scotland. As usual, I’ll be sharing lots of pictures as well. So it all started with my parents decided to visit the UK, hence I planned this trip with a few help from some of my friends. Not going to lie, I did a lot of research to make sure everything went smoothly. We also went to the northern part of England but that’s for next week post (fingers crossed as I’m working next weekend).

First thing first, I rented a car at enterprise.co.uk as I never had any problems with their services before. I decided to rent a SUV as we’re going to Scottish Highland, but we got an upgrade for free to a bigger SUV as the one that I requested was not available. It was a Ford Kuga and it even has a sunroof! I put my dad’s name on the car as if we get any tickets it will be under his name HAHA! One tip about renting a car is to book it early as the price will be much cheaper. We drive from Derby to Dunoon which supposed to only took around 6 hours drive but there was a traffic jam on one of the highway, hence it was an 8 hour drive instead. There was an option to take a ferry to Dunoon but it will take longer and cost more, hence we just stick to the road. For those that don’t know, Dunoon is located at West of Scotland, and we passed by Glasgow before arriving to Dunoon. I booked a static caravan for my family and the price was quite reasonable for two nights. The only downside is that this place is quite far from the town, but we cook our own meal, so it’s not a big of a problem.

There’s a beach located very near to the caravan park. It took around 10 to 15 minutes walk to get here. I don’t think it’s suitable to swim here because there are so many seaweeds but the view is quite beautiful here and very peaceful as there were nobody here except for my family and I. The wind is quite crazy here. One other reason for not to swim here is because it is very cold!

This is the view from my caravan. I thought it look nice, hence I took a picture and share it with you guys. I can’t help but wonder what does it feel like to live in a house in between mountains in the middle of nowhere. Does it give you tranquility or does it makes you feel isolated. Assuming you’re living with your family, I guess it wouldn’t be very lonely then.

We went to Glencoe but I didn’t took any picture as it was raining so bad and none of my picture was good enough to be shared here, hence I’m using this picture from my previous visit there during last winter with some of my friends. As you can see, the landscape was quite different due to different season. This is the Three Sister of Glencoe. It is a very famous landmark for tourist to stop by and take picture! I was unable to take the whole mountain as I did not have a wide-angle lens. In Glencoe, they also have a visitor centre, which I didn’t visit last time. They have a coffee shop and souvenir shop. I’ve developed a new hobby of buying bookmark of the places that I’ve visited. I think it’s quite a cheap hobby and bookmark are easier to be kept compared to fridge magnet. I might make a post just about bookmark when I have zero idea on what to post. They also have a walking pathway but we didn’t go there as it was raining and I don’t have a raincoat.

I took this picture while the car was moving, hence you can see some blurry tree at the bottom of the picture. The part I hate the most about taking picture of nature is that they will never be the same with what we can see with our naked eye. One good thing that photography has taught me is that to be grateful for being able to see as we all know that not everyone in this world was given the gift of good eyesight. I don’t really edit photo that I share in this blog as that will take a lot of my time, I only edit photo that I post on instagram. I even have a website that I sell my photo (un-edited as well). This is the link https://simple-photo.picfair.com. Go check it out if you have the time.

Our last tourist spot at Scottish Highland was the Fort William, in which they film Harry Potter movie there. This is the Jacobite Steam Train railway. You will need to go for a quick hike before you get to see this view. I promise you it is a very quick one (Not the fake promise that most hiker gave you). I think the view here during winter or fall is much nicer as all the leaves have fallen and everything is brown to orange in colour.

On the other site, you get to see this view. If the sky was clear, we can see the sunset. To be honest, if I were to share all the places that I visited before I arrived at Fort William, this blog will be too long. I would recommend for you to visit Scottish Highland during winter once as they have a different vibes and also to go here during the peak of summer season because the day are longer and you can visit more places at once.

The next day, we drove to Edinburgh. To be specific, my dad drove us to Edinburgh. I can’t drive the car as I already stayed in the UK for more than 1 year, hence my Malaysian driving license no longer valid. Yes, I am a man with million excuses Haha. The hotel here is very expensive, so I rented an apartment with shared bathroom. It’s called Bernard Apartment. It was a decent place if any of you wanted to bring your family there. The car park is also very expensive as well, not to mention the horror of driving in this very busy city! I wouldn’t recommend you to drive here. The first place we visited was the Calton Hill. There are several monuments here. One of it is the picture above. I have no idea what it’s called or what it symbolises.

You will have to climb a few flight of stairs to reach the top of Calton Hill. You get to see the view of the city from above. I promise the view is much more nicer than what this picture portray. If you have the time, wait until sunset, which is the golden hour to take pictures! Last time me and my friend did wait until sunset as during winter the sun set at like 4 in the evening!

On the other side, you get to see the city and the sea! I think the sun will rise from there! Climb the hill during sunrise time if you wanted to take picture of sunrise! That’s what I think but do check the compass incase if I’m wrong.

You will also get to see this another huge hill from Calton Hill. It is called Arthur’s Seat. I did climb it last time I went to Edinburgh and the view up there is just mesmerising. I didn’t went there this time as it is quite a steep climb and I don’t think my parents are fit enough to climb it as we still have a long journey in our travel itinerary. I would recommend you to climb it if you’re up to it as it is worth the hike!

I just had to include this mosque as it is a very big one and the toilet has a bidet (something that’s very rare in the UK). We did our prayers here before checking in our apartment. It is very close to the Edinburgh university. We even met a few Malaysian here as well.

Before I book an uber to our apartment, we get to see the golden hour of Edinburgh. It is indeed very beautiful.

The next day we went to Museum of Context. This is where they sell Harry Potter merchandise. I didn’t bought anything here because as usual, all the Gryffindor items always sold out. But I did bought the Butterscotch Beer. I think it is Halal, well I hope it’s halal although the name doesn’t really suggest it :P.

We went for breakfast at The Zaza Coffee Shop. It is a halal restaurant that sell Scottish Breakfast. All 4 of us had the Scottish Breakfast. I just thought that everyone that came to Scotland needs to experience this breakfast otherwise their trip to Scotland wouldn’t be complete. Haggis is what made the Scottish Breakfast special. If I’m not mistaken, Haggis is internal organs of an animal that has been processed. I’m not sure which animal though.

This is the view of the Edinburgh Castle from the coffee shop. We didn’t really go inside as it is just a huge museum and I don’t think my family and I are a history enthusiast. I already been into the castle once and I would definitely not repeat it as it would at least take you half a day to finish touring the castle because it is huge. But they do have this unique cannon being fired at 1 PM every day! However, if you are interested to know more about Scotland in general, do enter the castle and indulge yourself with their history.

UK are famous for their Cathedral, so I just had to stop by this St Giles Cathedral.

The last place we visited in Edinburgh is the famous Dean Village. When I first went to this place, it does appears very beautiful but the second time I went here, it just look like the usual village in UK. But do visit if it’s your first time in Edinburgh as they have this famous bridge where tourist will take photos.

That’s the end of our trip to Scotland. We continued our journey to northern part of England but that’s for another post. When I was writing this post, I wasn’t feeling very well and my parents just went back to Malaysia, hence I’m not in my very best mood but I hope you guys enjoy reading this post! Hopefully I will write better in my future post. You know that feeling when you’ve just parted ways from your family and they are many continents away from you, it’s just sad and sorrow. I hope I recover from this soon! Alright then, stay tune and see you guys in my next post!