The Northwestern Highlands - Part 1

June 15: It isn't easy to find sparsely populated areas in Europe. But one will find solitude and serenity in the Scottish Highlands.

The mountainous area was once formed by glaciers with peaks varying between 700 and 1000 meters, and its rock is the oldest to be found in Scotland.

The Gulf Stream brings warm but wet weather to the region which we noticed. It drizzled continuously on our way to John O'Groats.

John O'Groats, not quite the most northerly point of the UK attracts however quite a few visitors, some of them likely inspired by Evan McGregor and Charley Boorman when they were undertaking their motorcycle journey 'Long way down' to Capetown in Africa.

After getting warmed up by a hearty veggie soup at the local cafe we then followed the route westwards along the coast.

We checked the weather report and were pleased to hear that the rain would not follow us for the rest of the day. Yay! Every once in a while we would stop to take in the beautiful vistas, and they were plenty.

The next part of our round trip would lead us on a Southwesterly route through the highlands, were we could roam freely (as freely as we could manage with sheep grazing along the single track road).

The weather continued to improve and we even got to a tentative 20C that day. But when traveling in a four-wheeler weather was not really one of our concerns. It was however nice, with the receding clouds to see the full glory of the mountain peaks.

Streams and lochs (lakes) and waterfalls. A scenery to write poems about. Not that we had the talent to do so. We were just standing there in awe.

And while the sun was fighting its way through the layers of clouds the landscape became a bit less rugged, almost mellow.

Filled with the impressions of the day we decided that we have to return to this area, and next time around take our time to explore. The ever changing scenery was way too much to digest in one day.