Welcome to another post from Fabulous Journeys!
The Scottish Capital
I was just chatting up with one of my friends who now lives in Edinburgh the other day, and it reminded me of my previous visits to this historical Scottish capital city and how much I’ve missed the place. I’ve visited this place over three times already, and each time I always feel enchanted by it. The city has so much character and history and its people celebrate it with a great flair with the numerous festivals throughout the year. From the picturesque Princes Street Gardens to the imposing Edinburgh Castle, this place will give you a great impression the minute you see it. Edinburgh is definitely one of my favourite cities in Europe.
Edinburgh – Getting There
I’ve arrived into this city by train from London and by flight. The train from London is a great way to see the English countryside and some of the Scottish countryside. It generally takes 5 to 6 hours by train from London, and similarly on the bus. I also managed to fly to the Scottish capital on bmi Airlines, the best value airline I found flying from London Heathrow, and it only takes an hour to get there (which saved me a lot of time on my second trip).
Edinburgh’s Best
Edinburgh’s charm is evident once you get into the historic centre. You’ll find old Georgian and medieval style buildings, monuments, the winding road up to the cobblestoned Royal Mile, and the Edinburgh Castle. The city’s rugged and hilly terrain makes it a very picturesque city.
There are a lot of things you can see, do and experience in Edinburgh. Here are some of the top 8 things you can do and experience in Edinburgh (these are in no particular order):
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle sits on top of a hill and overlooks the old town of Edinburgh. The castle can be seen from Princes Street Gardens and Waverley train station. It has been in existence since the medieval times, and over the centuries have been destroyed by numerous wars and uprisings and then rebuilt. Its last purpose is as a military garrison, and up to this day, has some military significance to it. The Edinburgh Military Tattoo happens each year on the castle grounds, and is a military exhibition by the British armed forces.
On the castle itself, you will find fantastic views of the city of Edinburgh and a glimpse of Leith and the eastern shores of Scotland. There are numerous displays of what the castle used to be like and a great detail of the history of this castle. Names of famous Scottish legends like William Wallace (for those movie buff, the main character of the movie “Braveheart” by Mel Gibson) and Robert the Bruce.
The Royal Mile
This cobble-stoned strip of road starts from Edinburgh Castle and stretches all the way down to the Holyrood Abbey. It has a great collection of medieval and Georgian buildings including St. Giles Cathedral, a distinctive feature on the Edinburgh skyline, the Scottish High Court building, and many more conjoined buildings that have now been turned into shops. There are small passageways in between some of the buildings, and some offer a great view of the old town. This is a well-preserved historical area of the city, and it takes you back in time as to what the high street (or main street) of a medieval town must have looked like.
Princes Street and Scott Monument
Edinburgh - Princes Street Gardens
Princes Street is the new high street of Edinburgh. This is where you find all the UK high street label shops and boutiques, and where Edinburgh’s very own Jenners department store is situated. Jenners is Edinburgh’s version of Harrod’s in London, and is a great Scottish institution. Along Princes Street is also where you’ll find the Princes Street Gardens. Princes Street Gardens hold a distinctive monument called the Scott Monument, a gothic-style edifice dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, a great Scottish novelist and poet in the 17th Century. It’s a nice place to sit around and enjoy the view of Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town on the other side of the gardens.
Arthur’s Seat
This hill starts from the Holyrood Palace and is situated on the opposite side to the Castle Rock, where Edinburgh Castle is located. It climbs to about 250m above the city and is a popular walk. It offers breathtaking views of the New Town, the Edinburgh Castle, and the Royal Mile. On New Year’s Eve, fireworks are planted on this area, as well as around the 7 hills surrounding Edinburgh, and can offer a great vantage point.
Rosslyn Chapel
This medieval chapel used to be a small not-so-visited church in the village of Rosslyn, which is around 15 minutes away from Edinburgh city. However, in the recent years, it suddenly gained significant popularity. It’s claim-to-fame is its inclusion as one of the location of Dan Brown’s mega-popular bestselling novel “The Da Vinci Code”, which has already been turned into a Hollywood blockbuster. I have heard of this chapel being mentioned by my friend on my first visit, years before The Da Vinci Code novel came out, as it has a lot of intricate stonework and great history around the chapel. I didn’t take much notice and wasn’t in my must-visit places. But since I read the novel and became a fan of it, I made it a point to see this chapel on my third visit to Edinburgh. I must say that the hype made the novel has done me a huge favour, as it is one of the best preserved medieval churches that I’ve ever visited in the UK! It’s really worth the visit, with or without the hype.
Haggis and Scotch Whiskey
Oh, the Haggis! This famous (or infamous, depending on how you see it) Scottish dish is something you must try while in Edinburgh. There are a lot of pubs that offer this, and is typical served with turnips and gravy. I won’t describe the Haggis on my blog, as it may not be very appetising to those who don’t know it, but being a traditional Scottish dish, it is worth a try. If you just ignore or refuse to know what it’s made of, it actually tastes great! Another great contribution of the Scots is the Scotch Whiskey! There are a number of shops that offer whiskey tasting, and it’s definitely worth checking them out. I’m not a big fan of scotch, so I can’t recommend any, but there is definitely a wide range to choose from.
Edinburgh Ghost Tour
This may seem odd to some people but it is one of the most worthwhile tours to do if you’re into spooky things! Edinburgh had a dark past. Being an ancient city that has gone through wars and conflict, it definitely has its fair share of horror stories and gruesome deaths. The boom in the medical profession in the late 19th Century and Edinburgh’s reputation as a great centre of learning for the medical field led to a shortage of fresh dead bodies to be used for experimentation and learning. This led to several mysterious murders around the city which were done all for the sake of science. The Ghost Tour will take you to the places where these have taken place, into some old, cold underground caves, cemeteries and cathedrals that is guaranteed to spook you out! According to the guides, some of the tourists who have a strong sense of the spirit world have seen and heard the ghosts appear and speak to them!
Hogmanay
Hogmanay is perhaps the biggest festival that Edinburgh puts out each year. It happens during the week of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day and is a week-long celebration. Legend has it that this started out as a Viking tradition that has become part of the Scottish tradition. Princes Street Gardens is covered with an ice skating rink, a giant ferris wheel, and lots of small booths selling goodies and products. There are processions and activities in the lead-up to New Year’s Eve, where they have lots of bands and stages performing around the city. Fireworks around the 7 hills is one of the great spectacles. It’s one of the liveliest New Year’s celebrations in the world, and the biggest in Britain.
Definitely more can be experienced in Edinburgh, but these are just a few of the highlights that I’ve experienced. I hope you’ve enjoyed this post.
Til the next Fabulous Journeys!
When you land into Fiji from overseas, you will most likely land into Nadi International Airport (pronounced as “Nandi”). This is the biggest airport in the country and is located on the western side of the island of Viti Levu. The airport is near the town of Nadi, the third biggest city in Fiji. This is where you’ll find a lot of shops catered primarily to tourists, and where you’ll find this very colourful Hindu temple at the end of the Main Street. There are a number of hotels and resorts around Nadi town and many tourists would opt for one of these resorts upon arrival. If you’re after some shopping, the most popular shops/department stores you will find in Nadi (and the rest of the major towns in Fiji) are Jack’s, Tappoo, and Prouds. It is also one of the few places in Fiji that has fastfood chains like McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut.
My friend Pete and I drove down the island from Denarau along Queen’s Road (the only fully-sealed road going around Viti Levu) to the Sigatoka area (pronounced Sing-a-toka). This area is where you will find the Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park, which has a few walking tracks to the sand dunes leading to the beach. It’s quite a sight to see, and it’s worth a visit. We took a walk that takes 1 hour return and goes by the sand dunes and along the beach, and then through the mahogany forest back into the car park. In the mahogany forest, we found some ingenious artwork done by the caretaker of the park. It’s called Treehuggers, and basically it is made of branches that got swept away from the nearby Sigatoka river onto the shores of the sand dunes area, and they have collected them as part of the cleanup program of the coastline. They then turned it into an artwork! Another piece they did is called The Tree of Lost Soles, and basically it is a collection of worn-out soles and flip-flops/slippers that got washed into the sand dunes and are hung onto this huge banyan tree. Well worth checking out!
Further from Sigatoka, roughly 20kms from the town is an area called the Coral Coast. It has a few resorts scattered along this strip of beach. The beach isn’t great for swimming, but is good for snorkelling. My friend Pete and I stayed at The Crow’s Nest resort, which is along this area called the Sunset Strip. It’s a small road that offshoots from the main Queen’s Road, and has a few small resorts lined up. It’s a great small resort with self-contained units and balconies overlooking the sea. It’s a much reasonably priced one among all the resorts in the area, with the Outrigger on the Lagoon being the most expensive. We had some other friends staying at the Outrigger, so we managed to check out their facilities. I must say that they have 5-star facilities, and they even organise activities for kids and adults alike to keep them entertained. There are no towns or places to go nearby, hence they want to entertain some of their guests through organising activities. The snorkelling was ok. I saw some colourful fish, but the corals were not as beautiful as in the other parts of Fiji.
Despite the slightly patchy weather, I managed to see a nice sunset on the Sunset strip. It’s worth waiting for it and hanging out on the beach while it sets.. After the Coral Coast, the next place we visited along Queen’s Road is Pacific Harbour. It’s a nice area with a lot of private residence and some nearby resorts. There is an Arts Village, which has shops selling indigenous Fijian craft and has cafes, supermarket, and a bank. It also has a golf course, for those golfing enthusiasts. Right across the road is a camp site run by the Seventh Day Adventists. It’s a nice campsite with A-frame units to hire, and the beach looks great to hang out on. It has a view of the other islands off the main island of Viti Levu.
The frenetic capital and biggest city of Fiji was our next destination. This is where the Queen’s Road ends and the King’s Road starts going up to the northern part of the island. Unfortunately, since we didn’t have a 4WD vehicle, we were not able to travel this piece of road. The people at the car rental company told us that because of the massive rains they’ve had, the roads have become too rough to drive on, and not the entire stretch of it is sealed as well. So, on our way to Suva, we were welcomed by this torrential rain that just poured like a huge waterfall! We could hardly see a thing on the road, and our windscreen wipers were going full blast! I had heard that it often rains in Suva, so I wasn’t surprised of the weather. When we got to the city itself, Pete and I asked a local if there was a storm or cyclone coming through. He then said, “Nah, this is normal rain here”. So, having said that, we made sure to take our umbrellas to get around. There are heaps of Indian shops around, selling anything from clothing to food to general merchandise. Near the harbour itself, we found the new shopping mall of Suva called MHCC. The waterfront by the harbour was so tempting to us, but we were warned that it’s a dangerous area, as a lot of people get mugged. If you have seen how big the Fijians are, you would be cautious about these dangerous pockets. Having said that, I went around the government buildings and near the Fiji Museum, and it was a pleasant place to get around, with Albert Park between Fiji Museum and the government buildings. I took care on which ones I photograph because the military presence is quite obvious in the area. Suva looks like another buzzing city. Something I’m glad to have seen, but not too sure if I’ll go back. Fiji’s biggest city is not really a place to lounge in the sun and chill. If you’re after the beach and sun, head back to the western side of the island, or better yet, to the other outer islands!
From Suva, we head back along Queen’s Road to head to Lautoka, the second biggest city in Fiji, which is a 30-minute drive from Nadi. Our friend was getting married in Lautoka, as that was his hometown. However, we still had a day before any of the activities started, so we decided to stay the night at Momi Bay, which is also 30 minutes away from Nadi, but on the other direction from Lautoka. It took us a good 4 hours to drive that way.
From Momi Bay, our final stop was Lautoka for our friend’s wedding. Lautoka is a pleasant town that is not packed with tourists. Lautoka is a great reprieve from the constant pulling by the locals in Nadi and Suva into their shops for people to buy their wares. There is a market at one end of town, and the shops run along the main street and the next block from it. We stayed at the Tanoa Waterfront Hotel. It’s perhaps Lautoka’s best hotel, and the location by the waterfront is nice! One of the best sunsets I’ve seen on my trip was from this place, so well worth checking out the sunset from the walkway in front of this hotel. If you are looking for a good place to have breakfast, check out the Chilli Tree Cafe. It has a good selection of breakfast menu items and good coffee as well.
After the great wedding celebrations, we had a day left to ourselves. Pete and I decided to go up to a national park just behind Lautoka called the Koroyanitu National Park. To get there, we had to get to the village of Abaca (pronounced Am-ba-tha). We had to find a 4WD pickup to take us there, as the road was quite rough, and the vehicle had to do 2 river crossings, which was quite exciting. It’s a 10km journey but took 30 minutes to get to the village of Abaca because of the rough roads. When we got there, we had to pay F$10 for entry to the national park. There are a few walks around the area, and the one we managed to get to was to the Savuione Falls, which is a 2-hour walk return through the rainforest. It is considered an easy walk, but it is nowhere as easy as the Sigatoka Sand Dunes walk. Nevertheless, if you want to explore the different side of Fiji, this is definitely worth checking out. Just be careful of the spiders and caterpillars around, but otherwise, there are no predators in the jungle. The odd cow or horse may sound out, but nothing that you should be worried about.
Bells Beach was a gorgeous stop. It’s one of the best surfing destinations in Australia. A lot of surfers flock to this beach for competitions and championships and just to enjoy the waves. The town of Torquay (where this beach is situated) is also known for producing surfing gear like RipCurl and Quiksilver.
The highlight of our trip was seeing the Twelve Apostles. They’re the rock formations that used to be part of the mainland and broke off. They stand just a few meters from the shore, and they look stunning! Unfortunately, due to erosion over the years, only 8 of the original 12 remain in the area. Also, due to the gradual erosion along the coastline, there will potentially be new ones that will be created, as the land breaks off to the sea.