Blue (occasionally)Skye! : trains, cars, buses, cabs and ferries

The train to Loch “Lockasomething” was an easy walk from our hotel (as was the bus). Uncrowded, comfortable (well except for sitting in someone’s reserved seats initially ) and a beautiful ride there.

Taken from the car as Donda explained the geography of the area but somehow I’m not sure if I trust his explanation.

We arrived to be picked up by Donda who delivered us to our Air bnb in Portree. We talked him into stopping for lunch where I plunked straight into a “tourist hole”. I asked him to clarify what went into making haggis. This precipitated a look of horror on Donda’s face as he explained that the sweet little animal haggis is what makes haggis of course! We spent the remainder of the trip working out the details of capturing haggi from the hills of Sky. He had all the answers. When he said part of the road was closed in a landslide, I said, “I bet you lost quite a few haggis in that slide”. Without hesitation Donda answered, “oh no, Haggis are quite smart and scampered off well before the slide, not a one lost their life”. Later Brant emailed Donda and I will try to insert his reply. Perhaps you had to be there and hear it in the sing song Scottish accent but I’m still laughing. Donda was a retired engineer who grew up in Skye which he left but returned to raise his family.

We got some fish and chips and ate on a bench by the water.

HERE IS DONDA’s REPLY TO BRANT’S QUESTION REGARDING TRANSPORT…. And people say I can’t stay on the subject:

For goodness sake, Brant, have a bit of respect. Hagii (plural – better explain that as you seem to be a bit slow on the uptake), anyway, there is an amnesty on haggis hunting on the sabbath so the cute little creatures are allowed to roam freely. It’s nice to watch them on a sunny Sunday afternoon as they joyously circumnavigate a hill, with the clockwise brigade slightly above their counterclockwise companions (or vice versa on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month) just like a circular metro system, laughing and “singing” to one another. On that note, Brant, if there’s one thing about this trip to Scotland, you’re going to go back across the Pond a wiser, and hopefully stronger, man.On the second topic of your message, …. …….

All the best,

Donda

A few moments later a rainbow appeared followed by a pod of dolphins …. I felt like I was in the middle of a Disney cartoon… too unrealistic to be National Geographic

Our air bnb was not quite ready but gave us the chance to meet Hazel and her daughter Ophelia. She advised us she was working hard in order to to be able to return to Grenada. She advised us that the island had been completely destroyed by a hurricane and thus had to leave Grenada. We were hoping this wasn’t foreshadowing for LB. It was a perfect spot… easy walk to town with a washer and dryer! But as always with the litany of figuring out appliances, heating and electrical.

The town of Portree is nice but filled with hordes of Patagonia/North Face clad folks ready for a long hike and a pub. We lucked into a boat ride out to see eagles etc and followed up with fish and chips and hot cocoa.

This the hike into the fairy pools. The water does seem to have unusual blue green color.

Not sure who that guy is but he did a great job of posing… much better than we do. The clouds appear to be dropping down.

The next day we hopped ( and continued to hop on and off for the next 9 hours) on a bus. We had a clever tour guide driver (think Southwest flight attendant with a thick Scottish accent).

Lots of folks hop in these not balmy just shy of being ice water to maintain their youth. Apparently it reverses your age. There’s Brant going in for his third dip of the day.

Stevie (our guide) also refused to play traditional Scottish music and instead played well known Scottish musicians. I had no idea… KT Tunstall, Gerre Rafferty…on and on. It really was a perfect tour as we got fairly lengthy stops allowing us to hike at each spot.

I know this because I was only 400 steps short of 20,000 steps.

This weather started moving in which made us feel like we earned:

…a flight of single malt whiskeys! Packed a punch at 11 am…(Talisker Distillery)

So nice to see some California poppies in front of this castle

… but I think these are the type of flowers you expect to see in front of a castle

The castles are kind of tricky. This had some sort of structure in the 1300s then in 1400s a tower was built. The rest was gradually added on. Then lots of remodeling in the 1900s. This one had many acres of beautiful gardens.

I believe this was the Castle Ewen. This would be your fixer up that has fallen into such disrepair that’s it become a beautiful ruin to be climbed on. Note at the top that skinny space you must pass thru… no fanny packs or back packs there!

The tour guide was not sure why this was here. He thought tourists made it. I was sorely tempted to add a rock.

The pubs were packed at the end of the day, but we managed to find a cash only Japanese restaurant that we shared with an 18 year old Chilean who was solo hosteling his way through Scotland before starting “uni”. Perhaps it’s because we knew he was from Santiago but he reminded us of Fran (our exchange student )a bit. Was wonderful chatting with him over ramen ( and just like Fran he was disappointed there was no sushi)

Brant appears to be waiting for his ship to come in. The brown stuff is all ferns that I want to come back and see when green.

We were impressed by menus having great diversity. Always lots of vegan choices.

On our “day off” we had a delicious lunch at a pub (easier to get in while the north facers are out rock climbing). Brant did extensive research and discovered a car repair and rental a short walk from our house that we could rent for 24 hours then drop it off at the ferry on the way to our next destination. My theory is that they fíx your car and if you don’t pick it up they rent it out. I was a wee worried when they asked if Brant had experience driving in Scotland. He said Shetland and they laughed.

Skye is one of those places that I think everyone has seen photos of. I am not sure why we insist on going to see these places in person… or at least I wish everyone else would stop going except me, but as John Muir said (who by the way is Scottish) “get in the bucket!” Meaning that it does not take long to loose all the people and feel as though you have the vast space all to yourself.

We found that it was easy to lose the people once you headed off on a trail. I would love to come back and do more hiking, concentrating on each area for a full day.

The animal for Scotland is the unicorn and I can see why. A unicorn matches perfectly with all its rainbows and magical scenery. Just a few more pics: