Because it's summer and we love getting out into the hills we've been thinking about camping a lot in the last few days. As we've browsed the web, we've come across a couple of posts we've enjoyed reading. So we thought we'd share them in case any of you guys are in the same headspace:

https://dailygram.com/index.php/blog/525498/a-beginners-guide-to-essential-camping-gear/

https://www.givology.org/~malays/blog/674257/

What are your favourite camping posts?

Killicrankie

The Pass of Killiecrankie is a really beautiful area. At the bottom of the pass, there is the River Garry and on either side of the river are lots of lovely trees. Much of the woodland is classed as ‘ancient’. Not many ancient forests survive in Scotland, but here you can see how Scotland looked thousands of years ago.



There is lots of wildlife here, and you can see lots of different birds. You might even see a red squirrel!



Killiecrankie is also famous for the Battle of Killiecrankie when an army loyal to King James VII of Scotland defeated government troop who supported William of Orange in July 1689.

We visit Killiecrankie on our English language holiday and July is just the perfect time to see it. Visit our website to book onto our course.

Photo 1 was taken by Bocian & Tusia and is available to view on Flickr. Red Squirrel was taken by aldenchadwick and is also available to view on Flickr. They are reproduced here under a Creative Commons License.

Etape Caledonia

This is a cycling event held in Perthshire every year. The course is 81 miles (130 kilometres) long. It is an open event, so anyone with a bicycle can join.

It is held on public roads and the roads are closed to cars. This is the only cycling event in the UK that is held on closed public roads.

As you can imagine, cycling 130km around the Highlands must be really difficult and amazingly beautiful! The event starts and finishes in Pitlochry, which is very near where we stay on our tours.

2009 Sabotage!

Last year someone sabotaged the event. They put thousands of ‘tacks’ in the road which ‘punctured’ the tyres on the bicycles. Apparently some members of the local community were angry that the roads were closed for 6 hours. You can read more about it here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/

This year the event is taking place on Sunday 16th May. For more information visit www.etapecaledonia.co.uk

Picture was taken by Windy and is available to view on Flickr. It is reproduced here under a Creative Commons License.

Storyteller

A storyteller is a person who tells stories (the suffix –er on a noun often means ‘a person who...’).



Storytelling is an important part of human language and culture. Although it is now in competition with other methods of telling stories (radio, TV, cinema), it is still a popular activity in many parts of the world.

Storytelling in Scotland is starting to become more popular again with the help of The Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh. If you listen to a storyteller they might tell historical stories, legends (stories told like they were history and might contain some fact), myths (stories that use religion to explain things) or a completely new, modern story.

I strongly recommend that you visit the Storytelling Centre if you are in Edinburgh. If you come on our course you will spend an evening with a storyteller who will tell stories exclusively for LEIS.

http://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk/

Highland Games

It’s the start of the Highland Games’ season, which means that all over Scotland people will be celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture.

Highland Games celebrate the kilt and the bagpipes but there are also many competitions and athletics. The most famous event is probably ‘the caber toss’.

The 'caber' is the big bit of wood. The object is to 'toss' (throw) it as far as possible!

If you are in Scotland between now and the end of August, I strongly recommend you visit one of the many Games going on around the country. You can use the link below to find one that fits in with your itinerary.

The website is a bit ugly but it has all the information that you need: List of Highland Games in Scotland 2010


Photos were taken by Foxypar4 and many more are available to view on Flickr. They are reproduced here under a Creative Commons License.

Iron Age Brochs

Brochs were tall stone buildings (up to 10 metres high) from about 2000 years ago. Nobody really knows what they were used for but there are two main ‘schools of thought’

1) They were ‘defensive’ buildings (‘defensive’ from the verb ‘defend’, the opposite of ‘attack’)
2) They were farmhouses

We can only guess at their history but the amazing thing about them is their architecture. They are just stones placed one on top of another! So for 2000 years they have survived the Scottish weather!

We visit some Brochs in Glenelg (near our accommodation in Kintail). It is a really, really beautiful place.

All photos were taken by Sandchem and are available to view on Flickr. They are reproduced here under a Creative Commons License.

Beltane Fire Festival

This is an old Celtic festival that celebrates ‘fertility’ (the ability to have babies) and the coming of Summer.

The biggest celebration is in Edinburgh, but Beltane is celebrated by many people all over the UK.


The main part of Beltane is the lighting of fires which people believed ‘purify’ (make pure) and clean our minds and bodies.

There are many people performing at the festival, but the main characters are a May Queen, a Blue Man, a Green Man, Red Men and White Women, all representing different parts of life.

See more photos here at the BBC website



Photos were taken by *Debs* and can be viewed on Flickr. They are reproduced here under a Creative Commons License.