Travelogue (Scotland/ London) - Part 2

Day 3 – 27th April (Mon)

8.50am
Turned up at the doorsteps of Rabbies and got ready to start my 3-Day Isle of Skye Tour.

As described by Wikipedia:
“Skye or the Isle of Skye, is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides (an archipelago off the west coast) of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills.

The island has been occupied since the Mesolithic and has a colourful history including a time of Norse rule and a long period of domination by clans Leod and Donald. The main industries are tourism, agriculture, fishing and whisky-distilling. The largest settlement is Portree, which is known for its picturesque harbour. Just over 30% of the residents on Skye speak Gaelic.”

Although there is no one definite definition to “Skye”, I was told by my guide, Karen, that they refer it as “mist” – i.e.: Isle of mist.

And here’s the route map for my tour:


After a few hours off Edinburgh, we made a quick stop over at Trossachs Wollen Mill (Kilmahog, Stirlingshire) for a wee toilet and tea break. And it was here that Karen introduced us to Hamish, the highland cow. In fact, his full name was Hamish McKay Denovan. I was pretty amused that he had a surname and middle name. Sounded kinda cute, right?



It was said that he came from England during the peak of mad cow disease some years ago. The original owner was ordered by court to give up Hamish and put him to sleep. But the Scottish protested and eventually got Hamish over to Scotland and settled him at this mill. But he never had any friends of his own kind at the mill, as part of the deal was to separate him from the rest to avoid any possibility of an outbreak, and stay within the mill for the rest of his life. He seemed contented though as humans came to be his friends over time. I was also told that he was a gentle creature and the only time he (or any of his kind) would attack, would be if he sensed that you were going to harm him or if you were to approach too close to a young (whereby the mom would get rather defensive). Otherwise, they would usually walk away and stay clear of trouble.

As we left Kilmahog and head up along Loch Lomond, I could sense the atmosphere getting colder and colder. Perhaps it was the increase in altitude. And it didn’t help that it continued to drizzle outside.

Soon after, Karen stopped by the Falls of Dochart (Kilin) for us to take a few photos and to enjoy the scenary. The falls’ beautiful and the small town gave you a sense of peace, a moment of “zen-ness” – though I was shivering and trying to steady my shots. So before long, I hopped back into the van.



And next up?
Glencoe and lunch!



Although I’m not that adventurous with food, I kinda decided that I should give the Scottish traditional dish, Haggis, a try. It was basically a mix of sheep's internal organs (i.e.: heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and usually boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. The output looked very much like sausages and was traditionally served with "neeps and tatties". The nice dining atmosphere kinda did its magic to calm my nerves and before I finally mastered enough guts (no pun intended) to gulp down the first bite, I made sure my glass of water was somewhere nearby.



Well, it tasted much like our mashed meat, but texture-wise, much more minced and slimy. Once you got over the inertia and shook off the “intestines” imagery in the mind, it tasted pretty good actually.

And oh! Back in decades ago, it was said that an animal or bird species called Haggis, used to exist – pretty much like a DoDo bird. Although it was a fast runner, it had a deadly weakness – it could only run in a single direction (i.e.: if they run in clockwise, they could never run in anti-clockwise) and had evolved to have one leg shorter than the other to help them increase their speed as they ran in that one direction. Before long, it was completely wiped out and no one really knew how it looked like today. People could only refer to documents that made brief mentions of this species and imagine.

Around 4pm
Just some pictures taken en route to Eilean Donan Castle.




Around 4.30pm
Pulling over for a wee toilet and tea break.




Around 6pm
Eilean Donan Castle (set of “Highlander”) – so near yet so far…
After a quick discussion with the group, we’d decided that we were rather tired and would visit the castle the next day or on the last day instead. So we took a quick breather and headed up for Portree to rest for the night.



En route to Portree…




Around 7pm
Portree, at last!
Checked into a backpackers’ inn called “Bayfield backpackers” with Emma and Emily, two of my fellow tour group mates.


Bayfield backpackers, Bayfield road, Portree. Tel: 01478 612 231
4-Bed female dorm available at £14 per person, per night.

Without a minute to lose (as shops in Scotland usually were closed by 5pm and eateries around 8pm), we freshened ourselves a little and headed straight out to the nearby supermarket to grab breakfast for tomorrow and hunted for dinner.

In the end, we decided to walk into “Café Arriba” for dinner. Aside from being recommended by Karen, it was also one of the eateries recommended by a guide book which Emily had brought. The place was really cozy, the service was great and more importantly, the food was delicious!



So after our dinner, all three of us were unanimous – we needed to have a taste of the local whisky. So we hopped by one of the local pubs called “The Isles” – a very decent and cozy pub-restaurant.



Imagine drinking or having dinner whilst listening to live music performances... what a joy! There was a guy playing the fiddle, another playing the bagpipe and a lady who played guitar. Very relaxing and cozy for talks with friends.

As I was not exactly a good drinker and I didn’t really know how to appreciate whiskey (I’m into sweet stuff), I ordered a Barcadi breezer instead. Both Emily and Emma ordered different shots of Whiskey (one of which was smoked whiskey) and I took a sip from theirs. Well, even though I didn’t finish it, I could at least say that I had tasted Whiskey when I was in Scotland before. :p

And Karen did mention that they (Scottish) were very proud of the whiskeys they made. So they couldn’t understand why people had to put ice into their whiskeys and ruin the authentic taste. The ice, as she had said, diluted the purity of whiskey. So from now on, if I was ever to drink whiskey again, I would take note this – not to add ice into it.


Around 11pm
Finally decided that we were really tired and retired back to the backpackers’ inn.
zzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ….