Scottish Highlands

We drive north from Inverness, across the Black Isle, past the beautiful Victorian buildings of Strathpeffer and stop at the dramatic Rogie Falls in the Torrachilty Forest. There is a car park and a short walk down through pines brings you to a suspension bridge over the Blackwater River. The water is cold and black with peat. From the bridge you get a great view of the river as it powers through the gorge. There is a ladder beside the river for the salmon to by-pass the falls on their way to spawn. some don't use the ladder and do it the hard way. You can take one of a number of trails and walk for as little or as long as you like up-river and through the forest.
We arrive in Ullapool to see a trawler being unloaded. The crew have been out for ten days. There's 20 tons of fish coming ashore, all packed in ice and by hand. We notice that when the supplies go on board for the next trip they include whiskey - for medicinal purposes no doubt. The crates are loaded onto a lorry by forklift. The lorry driver does not know where he will be taking the fish at this stage. The capatain of the trawler is on the telephone negotiating prices with various wholesalers. What a hard live these men lead.

On the east coat, we cross the Dornoch Firth with its basking seals, Loch Fleet through Golspie to the magnificent Dunrobin Castle, the most northerly of Scotland's great houses and the largest in the Highlands, with 189 rooms. You cannot visit all of them but a tour of the 'house' is fascinating. The castle resembles a French chateau, with its towering conical spires, it has been inhabited since the 1300s, and is the nacestral home of the Dukes of Sutherland. From the castle there are panoramic views of the sea. Immediately below are the gardens where we saw one of the best falconry displays ever. The falconer is very knowledgeable, professional and friendly. If you want an eagle owl to sit on your head, it can be arranged!

Near the head of the mysterious Loch Ness above the village of Dores.

Meydan Racecourse

Meydan racecourse. Entrance is free and thousands take advantage of that to enjoy an evening's racing provided by the world's top jockeys. We pay 100 dirhams and for that bargain price gain access to the saddling and unsaddling enclosure, the parade ring, comfortable seats near the finish line - with refreshments brought to you if you wish. You can also step down to the rail for a close up view of the racing. Even a non race-goer like me cannot fail to be impressed, what a place, a great evening of horse racing and people watching!

It is lovely and warm outside in March but if you can't stand the heat go inside! Ladies from different cultures enjoy coffee and chat whilst watching people dressed from head to foot in winter sports clothing skiing behind glass a few metres away in sub zero temperatures. And all this inside a shopping mall. One cannot be anything other than impressed by the contrasts and ambition of the place.

Dubai - the old and the new

One dirham for a ride down and across the Creek on an Abra is great value and a splendid way of seeing the traders busy at work loading anything from lorry tyres the refrigerators onto the dhows.
Fancy a lie down but it is too hot indoors? Then this is the bed for you! Get a close up look at the very interesting dubai Museum, which charts Dubai's history from 3000BC to the present day.

Water pipe in Al Ras, across the Creek from Bur Dubai.

One of the Dubai's many souks. This one is a centre for the garment industry. no cars, but beware men pushing handcarts!

Mesmerising hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road.
I cannot decide if the Emirates Towers remind me of the Division Bell or Rene Magritte. They are wonderfully eye catching. The outward facing elevators of the hotel give you fantastic views.

The nearby art galleries host exhibitions of contemporary and 20th Century artists. I decided that the Chagall at $8million was just over my budget.

Bastakiya

Bastakiya, close to the Dubai Museum, is cool in more ways than one. The sand and stone, thick walled buildings of this quarter of old Dubai have been beautifully restored. The narrow alleyways provide shade and tranquility just steps away from the busy streets of Bur Dubai.

The wind towers have four open faces to funnel cool air down into the rooms of each building

The name Bastakiya derives from Bastak, in Iran. Bastakiya was founded by traders from Bastak who settled in Dubai about 100 years ago.

Bastakiya is a great place to spend a tranquil hour or two. some of the buildings have been turned into cafes cum art galleries and one is a small hotel.

Dubai Life

I missed out on the Dubai Marathon because of my kneee operation. That enabled Gebrselassie to win but not in a world record time because he fell asleep in a chair the night before and woke up with a stiff back!

I went for a walk to the beach instead. you can see the magnificant Burj Khalifa from just about anywhere in anmd around Dubai. The air has been very clear this month, with just a couple of windy days when the sand blew in from the desert.

Just behind the glitz of the hotels on Sheikh Zayed Road are the houses where some of the workers live. A few interpid souls ride bicycles, many have cars and all seem to have satellite dishes.

Fun and games on the Dubai Metro

Now ‘sailing’ across the Dubai Creek is very easy: Just get on an Abra, which is a flat bottomed, open sided water taxi, pay the ‘captain 1 Dirham, squeeze yourself in amongst the locals and enjoy the waterfronts of Bur Dubai and Deira.

I thought that the recently opened Dubai Metro was going to be almost as much fun and that turned out to be true too, but in a slightly different way.



The Metro stations are immaculate, direction signs are and fares are cheap. The trains are driverless so on my first two journeys I got in the front carriage to enjoy a head on view of the track and the city.

Unfortunately I began to take my front row ‘seat’ for granted and came unstuck today. Here’s what happened… I walk in the front carriage, head for the window and begin sight seeing. A smartly uniformed lady then says hello to me. “That’s good,” I thought, “they occasionally have staff on board to help people out.” She asked me for my ticket and told me that I was in Gold Class!

Gold Class? Yes, before being politely ejected, I noticed leather seats and carpeted floors although there were still people standing. Madam kindly asked me to join the masses further back so I headed into the next carriage and got lots of stares. How come? You guessed it, I was in the ladies carriage! Ooo errr missus, that’ll teach me to take more notice of the signs.

I think I’ll sit in the middle from now on…

3 Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea is a book by Greg Mortenson and David Relin. It describes Mortenson's transition from a mountaineer to a person committed to reducing poverty and educating children in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The book's title comes from a Balti proverb: "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family...". The book is a marvellous, inspiring and uplifting read that I strongly recommend you to.

In 1992, Greg Mortenson attempted to climb K2, the world's second highest mountain, in northern Pakistan. After more than 70 days on the mountain, Greg and three other climbers had their ascent interrupted by the need to rescue one of their tea.m who was suffering from altitude sickness Greg got disorientated and lost during the descent, became weak and exhausted, and by chance and alone, instead of arriving where his porters were waiting for him, he came across Korphe, a small remote village. There he was greeted and taken in by the people of Korphe and its chief - Haji Ali.

To repay the impoverished community for its hospitality, Mortenson promised to build a school for the village. After lengthy difficulties in trying to raise capital, Mortenson was introduced to Jean Hoerni, a Silicon Valley pioneer who donated the money that Mortenson needed for his school. In the last months of Hoerni's life (Hoerni was dying from leukemia), he co-founded the Central Asia Institute, endowing the CAI to build schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mortenson faced many daunting challenges in his quest to raise funds for the building of more schools, including death threats from a mullah, long periods of separation from his family, and being kidnapped by Waziri tribesmen. As violence raged in Afghanistan and more and more young people came under the influence of the madrassas, Mortensen emphasised that education was the key to lasting peace – books not bombs was his mantra!

In the post-9/11 world, Mortenson tried to convince Americans that extending the hand of friendship and fighting ignorance by educating people was the best way to eradicate extremism. The people of northern Pakistan were convinced by him, though some Americans took a lot more persuading, feeling that all Muslims were enemies of the USA. 'Dr Greg', as he became known in the region realised that educated rural boys tended to move to the cities to find jobs, and seldom returned to their villages. By contrast, educated girls tended to remain in the community and pass their enhanced knowledge to the next generation.

The story is heart-warming and as much a tribute to the generosity of spirit of the tribal people of northern Pakistan as it is to Greg Mortensen. Three Cups of Tea – read it!