The morning rail trail blazed from London’s busiest rail port like a snake meandering along the jungle to the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Plain lands, recently harvested fields, flock of grazing sheep and ruminating cows gradually disappeared as the train approached the suburbs of the Scottish capital. As we entered into the ancient city of Edinburgh, the sight of the railway station evoked my memories alive. The Princess Street, its immaculate green and colourful garden, the seaside hotels and of course the one and only famous Edinburgh Castle all aroused my faded past. A recruit, barely 20, I had treaded the paths many years ago.

While many cities, in the name of modernisation, have lost its past glories and legacies, every nook and corner, all the historical sites and structure of this place maintained its glorious history; nothing had changed. Destroying heritage not only defaces its values but also destroys humanity and history altogether. Standing on the majestic hilltop, overlooking the entire city, the Edinburgh Castle enchants visitors from all over the world. Its history is unique with a number of battles fought against the invaders, it never surrendered and many lives perished as a result of such attribution to the nation. The Saltire flag on top of the castle still flies high despite the fact that this proud nation falls under the United Kingdom. The magnificent sound of bagpipes echoed against the stone paved streets leading to the Castle and beautiful tartan and whisky shops lined along the paths.

A renowned Military Tattoo is held throughout the month of August in the very foreground of the Castle. However, we missed it this time. It was a great miss for my wife, Ambika and aunt, Krishna as this was their first visit to Edinburgh. Uncle Ramesh and I had had the opportunity to witness the well-choreographed parade and eye-catching dances whilst we were still serving this nation, many years ago.

The statue of Adam Smith, known to be the father of modern economics, is the assembly point for a highlands tour covering 598km of the city. The luxurious mini-coach drove through the city along Queens Ferry Road before reaching the half-mile long Forth Road Bridge. Two bridges, one made of concrete and metals in suspension model for vehicles and the other constructed with metals alone for rails, run in parallel a couple of hundred meters apart over river Forth. These two bridges, according to our splendid driver cum guide, have played a significant role in connecting Edinburgh with the east and the northeast and also paved the path to the ancient Kingdom of Fife.

Traditional Scottish folk songs and music reverberated throughout. The journey passed through Perth, the old capital city of Scotland, and to a hamlet called Pitlochry where it stopped for breakfast. Each time as the journey regained its way after a stopover, Laura, a typical Scottish woman would speak through the microphone describing the surroundings, its connection to history and even the battles, the Kings and the Queens. Being a guide, Laura’s knowledge of the surroundings was not only enormous but her expression and interpretation of Scotland’s A to Z was also eloquent.  As Laura warned us of the topographical changes soon after Perth, the flat land like ground raised gradually to gentle slopes then to rapidly undulating land. The vegetation too changed as the journey ascended. Pine forests substituted the meadows, scattered settlements along the roadsides and the distances both vanished. Roads narrowed, twisted and turned as we moved onto the middle hilltops.

The mini-coach was full of visitors; all eyes opened wide, curiosity flicking through our hearts and minds. It was the moment of utmost excitement; I didn’t want to miss out a sight of this amazing nature. Below lay a beautiful blue river and the glaring bridge over it. It was Inverness, a medium sized beautiful town. Laura explained to us that Inver means ‘mouth’ and Ness is the ‘name of the river’ that flows through the town. Inverness, ‘mouth of river Ness’ as said by Laura, is the biggest town in the northern part of Scotland.

Laura drove further ahead pointing towards the Fortress situated on the bank of river Ness. The sun was shinning all along making it a perfect day out. She drove along the beautiful river emerging from loch Ness. Stories have it that a monster resided in loch Ness and someone had even posted a recent video of the monster on the Internet.

Travelling on a glorious day overlooking loch Ness was perhaps a dream come true for us. If not completely ruined there stood dilapidated Urquhart Castle with its rich history enchanting the visitors. Fort Augustine marked the ending point of this enormous lake.

After a short drive, came another fascinating lake, the gigantic ‘loch Lochy’. This was followed by river ‘Nevis’, rushing down from the mountaintop of Ben Nevis, Great Britain’s highest mountain to merge with river ‘Lochy’. This is where a lovely town of Fort William is situated. This impressive town offered us an opportunity to taste its local product, ‘tear of angel’ the substitute name for a famous Scottish whisky. Numerous distilleries were seen on the journey, just before Fort William, we crossed through Ben Nevis Distillery. Scottish Whisky and Tartan are as famous as Scottish people and these brand names are the true identity of this marvelous country.

Laura continued disseminating her knowledge on the locality. She now drove us towards the pinnacle of the tour. Passing through Glencoe, a small lakeside hamlet, along the river Coe we were now entering into the land of extreme tranquility. Oh! What a blissful moment it was, the landscapes we had been through were mind blowing. High mountain ranges on either side of the landscape stood as if guarding the procession of visitors. The cascading waterfall along the mountain cliffs sounded like rhythmic melodies; the meanders of river ‘Coe’ and its tributaries were full of surprises. The railway track running a few meters apart, parallel to the road on either slopes of the river was perfect. The stretching of green valley with the pine trees somehow added up to the beauty that was already glorified by mountain ridges, lakes and streams.

After 10 hours, we arrived at the final stop before Edinburgh, a beautiful small village situated in down hill slope named Tyndrum. Then we started the final round of the tour down river ‘Fillan’. Along the way, many beautiful lochs were seen and crossed. We drove through the small villages of Callander and Doune, situated on the bank of river Teith, the main tributary of river Forth. As we travelled nearer to Stirling, gentle down hill now disappeared into flat lands spanning miles away. Stirling, a fascinating city, is rich in culture and history. The journey was fast coming to an end.

Laura dropped us off at the very place where Adam Smith was passionately waiting for every visitor. He was the master of modern economy and still is as tens of hundreds of visitors flock to this beautiful city.