Lost In Translation - A Trip to the Scottish Higlands

Ever since I saw Mel Gibson run around like a mad Scotsman, I have wanted to travel to the Scottish Highlands. The beauty of the lush wild mountain lands, its history and ancient culture have always fascinated me. Plus I wanted to see if I could actually understand anyone.



I had been living in London for some time, and saved enough money to head north on a one way ticket. It’s not like you’ll be turned back at the boarder if you don’t have a return to England. I set off for Edinburgh on a wet evening in late spring. For a splurge I booked a sleeper carriage but ended up having some very strange dreams. Maybe it would have been better not to watch Trainspotting the day prior, but I had wanted to brush up on my Scottish slang.

Edinburgh is a fantastic, there is a sense of life going on that is completely different from London. It did help that the sun was shining and the streets were full of happy people. No Trainspotting here. I spent the morning strolling around Princes Street Gardens and the area around the castle, eating lunch in a local cafe and then did the climb up to the famous castle.

But this is not why I had come to Scotland. I stopped here only to get a feel for the place, and see if I could travel on and still understand that crazy accent. Aside from a few minor incidents, it was still mostly English to me. I booked an open train ticket, stopping in Dalwhinnie and then on to Inverness. I hadn’t chosen Dalwhinnie for any particular reason, I just liked the name. Imagine my complete surprise when the traine stopped and there was almost nothing there. Well, not exactly nothing. A school, some rustic stone houses, what looked like a church and a distillery. I guess there was hope after all. But Dalwhinnie also sits right at the end of a expanse of water some 20km long called Loch Ericht. Try pronouncing that with out sounding silly. I wandered around the town, visited a distillery and walked along the loch. But to my surprise the nearest place to stay that had any availability was 10km away in Newtonmore.

I found a local that offered me a ride there. People were very friendly in this part of Scotland, as long as I assured them that I was not English. I ended up at Crubenbeg House, run by a lovely older couple whom I could barely understand. I only remember he was called Graham. Language was becoming a problem, but I was not going to let that stop me. They arranged a local horseback ride for me, and even sent me out on an easy to find walking trail. But I was missing at least a pub, some company and a conversation. There was literally nothing here except nature and snow covered mountains. It was a nice relaxing few days, and I could completely understand what it felt like to live in rural Scotland, even though I could no longer understand what most people were saying to me.



So after a few days I got a lift back to the train station and continued on to Inverness. It’s a tiny city, but when I got here, I REALLY felt like I was in Scotland. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if Mel Gibson would appear all painted blue. The further north I went, the less I could make out what people were saying to me, but that didn’t matter. Everyone was quite nice. When I was there, all the pubs shut at midnight, though I think this has changed now. My first days were spent looking around this cozy little city, and there is a wicked castle near the pedestrian walking streets. I decided I badly needed a night out so I went to Hootananny's on Church Street. It was traditional Scottish music that night, and the crowd was actually quite young and really getting into it.

Morven and Graham (yes, another Graham) were a great couple that I met at the pub. They invited me to go with a group out to Loch Ness and have a few beers after the pub closed. It’s only about 4 miles away, so I jumped in the car and joined my new friends. It is quite a place to behold at night. At dawn, feeling quite cold but entertained by the barely intelligible tales of Nessie, they took me back to my hotel and I managed to sleep through the day.
They had given me so many travel tips and so much information, that I had no idea where to go next. The islands of the far north were calling me, but it still felt quite like late winter here and I realized that going even closer to the Arctic circle was probably a stupid idea.
I spent a few more days at Inverness, took an organized trip to the Loch, saw no monsters and not even a ripple on the surface, but I did buy a lochness monster fridge magnet.



For the next 2 weeks I traveled the coast of Scotland, staying in Nairn, Mcduff and Fraserburgh. The moors in Scotland are magic, and I highly recommend this trip to everyone. The countryside is wild here, the people very genuine. But be prepared for wild weather to arrive at any time. It did get easier understanding people, by the way, I simply had to let lose my grasp on English as I knew it. However, don’t go to the Scottish highlands if you are looking for a wild party atmosphere, but rather for solitude and views of nature that you will never forget.

Pan Martinez