We stayed over night in Lairg, a sleepy village situated directly at the beautiful Loch Shin. Lairg appears to be a good stop when you are on your way to the North, or to the Highlands. The next morning we visited the Falls of Shin in the heart of the Highlands. Enjoy forest walks and (not so) dramatic waterfalls. The photo shows the viewing platform above the River Shin, where some fellow photographers tried to "catch" salmons leaping up the falls. It was too early in the year for this, but we saw at least one or two Salmon jumping. :-)

We continued our way towards the west coast on the A837, and I could not resist to take this photo of a lonely phone box in the middle of nowhere - right before the village of Oykel Bridge.

In Ledmore, we decided to see Ardvreck Castle, so we headed north. Somewhere along the road we encountered this peaceful scenery, with anglers waiting for the fishes to bite.

This is Ardvreck Castle, seen from the distance, strategically placed at the Loch Assynt. It's definitely a must-see, even if you have to watch your steps on the way from the car-park to the ruins, because it gets very wet and muddy if you leave the footpath.

Ardvreck Castle is a three-storey construction, built aorund 1590 by the Macleods who owned Assynt since the 13th century. Around 1650, the Marquis of Montrose was captured here and was held in the castle before being sent to Edinburgh for execution. In the 18th century, the castle was destroyed by a fire.

This is Ullapool, a tiny (yet very busy) town at the shores of the georgeous Loch Broom.

Ullapools main attraction is the ferry that departs for Stornoway on the Outer Hebrides. As all the ferries on Scotlands west coast, this ferry is also operated by Caledonian MacBrayne. Because it is a busy ferry harbour, you should reserve your accommodation in advance - otherwise you will hardly find a suitable place for the night!

Next to the big ferry you will still find the classical fisher boats, even if they are not as important for the area as in former times. Today, Ullapool lives mostly off the tourists. But it's a nice picture anyway.

Along the main route you will find many excellent viewpoints like this one (off A832, showing Little Loch Broom). The skies, the colours and the wind ultimately relaxed us, which is why we came here in the first place.

While we were looking for accommodation (we were late again that night), I was able to capture this photo, showing one of the many beautiful spots along A832.

View across Aultbea in the early evening with dark coulds on the horizon. I did this photo from our hotel room at the Drumchork Lodge Hotel - all other places with more reasonable prices were gone already! Well, at least the views were great.

View across Loch Ewe with its dramatic clouds (again from our hotel room).