Travelogue (Scotland/ London) - Part 3

Day 4 – 28th April (Tues)
8 am

Had to get out of bed around 8am as Karen would swing by at 9am to pick us up. After freshening up, I walked over to the common area to prepare my breakfast.

The common area I’m referring to is essentially a kitchen cum dining area that all the other fellow inn mates would linger about. And it was there that I bumped into Nanna from Finland. It started with an awkward “hi”, followed by brief exchanges of the weather conditions at Skye to knowing the weather differences between Singapore and Finland. Weather – seemed to be quite a good conversation starter after all.

We chatted on as I indulged in the oat cereal that Emma had introduced me to and she in her sandwich. The oat cereal I had was simply delicious! Tried searching high and low for it when I was back in Singapore, but to no avail. *sob* sob*

I was also introduced to figs by Emma, which was some sort of a semi-dried, preserved fruit that tasted sweet and juicy. Nice!

Before we even realized it, we saw Karen’s van backing up at our doorsteps. Nanna and I quickly exchanged our contacts and the trio (Emily. Emma and I) hurried off to Karen.



Our itinerary for the day included going over to Skye’s most westerly point at Neist, pass the Quiraing and the Old Man of Storr.

Photos below were taken en route to Neist.



And here’s Neist!
The photos might fool you into believing that the Neist lighthouse wasn’t that far from the top (where we alighted to climb down the steep steps). But in actual fact, it took us over an hour to get down and back up again.



The wind was strong that day and it nearly blew me off my feet and over the cliff if I wasn’t careful enough. The steps were quite steep and I had difficulty focusing on the track as the treacherous sides kept distracting me. I kept having this “vision” of falling over, tumbling down and knocking into every single boulder and rocks that filled the slopes. Oh boy, if I ever fell over, it was going to be a long way down and a really, really painful one.

Although I was tempted to give up halfway and head back to the van, I couldn’t stand the thought of letting the sheep grazing nearby beat me to it. So I grinded my teeth and got through it.

After the entire group returned to the van safely, we made our way to the next destination. And en route, we spotted these cute creatures:



We also passed by quite a number of two-metre-wide roads that accommodated two-way traffic. “Passing places” (basically wider portions of the roads with the “passing place” signs) were erected to help facilitate the two-way traffic where drivers from opposite directions drove with care and signaled to one another at these points to give way to one another. It was an interesting sight as the drivers were all smiles and giving – unlike quite a handful of Singaporean drivers who would frown or simply ignore your signals.

What was even more amusing (at least to me) was that even if a sheep was to stop in the middle of the road, obstructing the traffic, no horning, shouting or shooing of the sheep was allowed. If a person was to do any of the above, he or she would have to face prosecution. Although my group was stalled for a couple of times, we were quite fortunate on these occasions as the “intruders” stayed on for only a minute or two before prancing away.

Next stop? Skye black house.

According to Wikipedia:

“The black house… is a traditional type of house which used to be common in Highland Scotland, the Hebrides, Ireland and areas of Gaelic settlement in Nova Scotia.”

“The buildings were generally built with double wall dry-stone walls packed with earth and wooden rafters covered with a thatch of turf with cereal straw or reed. The floor was generally flagstones or packed earth and there was a central hearth for the fire. There was no chimney for the smoke to escape though. Instead the smoke made its way through the roof.The black house was used to accommodate livestock as well as people. People lived at one end and the animals lived at the other with a partition between them.”



If you noticed the smoky room in the picture above, the smoke was due to the burning of peat (an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter). From what I understood from Karen, people in the highlands generally have three choices of power supply – the conventional electricity, hydro-power and peat-generated heat. As the last of these three options could be easily found in abundance in the highlands, the locals generally turn to peat as it was free and a form of renewable energy that was friendly to their environment too.

They were also mindful of the need to preserve it as well. For instance, after they dug out the peat layer to dry, they would cover the top soil and let it rest for some time before “re-harvesting” again. By doing so, the soil was given time to rest and reinvigorate over time.



Next up? Fairy Glen.

According to Karen, there were two kinds of fairies – the good ones and the bad ones. And Fairy Glen was the entry point to the fairy world.



It was also said that the fairy princess once came into our world and fell in love with the MacLeod clan chief. She then gave birth to a boy and left the mortal world, leaving behind a blanket (which was later known as the fairy flag) to protect her son and the clan. But the flag could only be used no more than three times as a catastrophe would befall the clan if they used it more than that. It was an intriguing story that added a layer of mystic as we wandered around the Fairy glen and observed the Fairy cave (which was supposedly the entrance to the fairy world). Check out “Fairy flag” at Wikipedia for more info!

We also popped by the Fairy pool located in another nearby area!



After the fairy "feast", we went on to explore the archeological remains of the Iron Age farmstead in the highlands. One of the remains was open for visitors to enter. But after having gone through the Cu Chi tunnel in Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), I decided I was claustrophobic and was pretty contented in just watching others entering the dark tunnel.



Apart from sharing the archeological history with us, Karen also brought us through the history of Jacobites and the female heroine, Flora MacDonald. We later on moved on to visit the Kilmuir Graveyard, where her tombstone was erected. There were also other historical tombstones in the graveyard that shared the magnificent view of the mountain ranges and lake. And there was one uncompleted tombstone that stood out from the rest (see picture and description below).



On our way back to Portree, we made a brief stopover to see The Old Man of Storr – a huge pinnacle of rock that stood in front of the Storr Ridge, which was located a few miles north of Portree. Myth had it that there used to be a witch living around the area and the locals were warned to stay indoors when night fell. But one night, an old couple took an evening walk and did not mange to return in time. As they hurried home, the old lady heard a voice calling her. She turned, faced the witch and was turned into rock. And the old man walking in front did not realize that his wife had met with mishap and kept on walking until he too, heard the voice and turned. Since then, that iconic pinnacle of rock has been known as “the Old Man of Storr”. The old lady on the other hand, could be seen as well (not in this photo though), but not as easily recognizable as the old man’s.



When we finally reached Portree, Emily, Emma and I happily invited our new bunk mate, Makiko, to join us for dinner. We first went to the restaurant called “The lower deck” (recommended by Karen and a few other locals).



But it was fully occupied. So we decided to try out another restaurant, Bosville, which was recommended by the owner of the backpacker’s inn.



Well, honestly, it turned out to be quite a disappointment. We weren’t quite sure if it was due to the lady who had served us (it was her first day on the job) or was there a dip in overall service – ‘cause it was supposed to be highly recommended by the Scottish tourism board too.

Firstly, we had waited for at least 40 mins and had to ask three times before our drinks were even served. By the third time, we were so pissed off by the lack of attention that we almost stomped out of the restaurant.

Secondly, the attitude of the lady didn’t help either. At first she explained that she was new at her job and would find out the status of our order as soon as possible. But when we asked again, she seemed impatient and was unapologetic. She even “blamed” the delay in drinks on the overwhelming orders at the bar. But the fact was that Emily/ Emma had walked past the bar a few minutes ago and there weren’t many people over at the other side. On top of her unjustified explanation, her tone and manner weren’t good at all. That kinda heated up our temperaments and spoiled our mood for dinner. Although I do need to be fair here to say that the guy who came to our assistance in the interim was very helpful and even apologetic that our orders were late.

When our food finally came, it was not as good as we had expected. Perhaps it was partly due to the mood “spoiler” as well. The fish that I had ordered was ok but a little too dry. In the end, we decided to hit the local pub for some “cooling” session. By then, it was past 8pm and most of the shops on Portree were closed (even the ice cream shops *sob* sob*). So we went back to the same pub and ordered some local desserts.



Although this was kinda sweet, it was really yummy!!!

After having the nice dessert and amused myself with the variety of sauces available, we headed back to our bunks and rested for the day.