The Lochs and Glens of Scotland...

Raena, my daughter, finished university this month and Fareeda and I decided that we should tour the highlands of Scotland before we attend Raena's graduation. How I wished my son, Rastam ( who is working in Tokyo) could have taken some time off from work to join us in another family reunion for this happy occasion.

Our most recent family reunion in Melbourne in February 08 to attend Natasya and Neil's wedding.

It took me about an hour to reach Glasgow from Edinburgh driving along M8 on a fairly quiet Sunday morning. We decided to take lunch here and found a nice Mediterranean restaurant just outside of Glasgow before we took the A82 which took us to our destination of Fort Williams - our first stop.

Lunch at the El Stazione in Glasgow

The A82 is a winding slow drive that took me another hour to skirt the length of Loch Lomond. We passed by the venue of the Barclay's Scottish Open to be held next week, but due to the inclement rainy weather we decided to push on to our destination

.The cruise terminal at Loch Lomond

Leaving the wooded stretch of A82 along Loch Lomond, we started our ascent into the Scottish Highlands.

The wooded stretch of A82 along the length of Loch Lomond

The terrain now becomes hilly and rugged. This is exactly what I imagined the Scottish highlands to be like. However the weather was not conducive for much photoshoot - it kept raining in sheets - but hey! ...this is Scotland and I was told it rains most of the time here in summer!

We braved the rain at a few spots to capture the feel of the highlands with our cameras.

It took us another 2 hours to reach our first destination - Fort Williams. Along the way we drove past Loch Tulla and Loch Leven before we parked ourselves at Corran Inn - a typical Scottish bed and breakfast - located overlooking Loch Levern.

The Corran Inn - located 8 miles south of Fort Williams

The Corran Inn has 5 rooms for rent and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in its own restaurant. It also has a comfortable reading room where you can read and sample the various local 'spirits'.

The reading room of the Corran Inn