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Published: October 15th 2007
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I'm becoming very fond of bus tours, and I'm not sure why. You'd think that, as someone who suffers from motion sickness and acute bouts of boredom, I would hate the thought of being cooped up on a bus all day, driving along winding roads, up and down hills, getting out for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time just long enough to hike up hills in the rain or stand on lochshores in the rain. But I don't.
Then again, maybe I've just gotten lucky with really good tour guides and tour groups so far.
We started out from Stirling University on a Haggis tour bus (the driver was a Haggis tour guide, and a very funny one at that). From there we drove through Bridge of Allan to Callander (again, someday I'll have to go back there and walk around instead of just driving through), where we stopped to buy something to eat for lunch later. There was a little bakery there that was AMAZING...I got a scone and an apple turnover that was delicious. Our next stop was a smallish pier at Lochearnhead. The scenery there was beautiful, but I spent most of the time watching the
Moi
Me, Ruben the stuffed Hairy Coo, and the ducks at Lochearnhead. ducks. I took so many pictures of them, you'd think I'd never seen a duck before and never would again. Then we drove for a while, getting closer and closer to the mountains. Stopped at Rannoch Moor (I think) for our first view of Glencoe, and then at the same spot in Glencoe that the MacBackpackers Skye Tour took us to! It was still lovely, but different: everything is now starting to turn gold and orange for the fall.
After Glencoe we drove some more, but got out to walk across the Ballachulish Bridge for some spectacular views of the fjord-like sea inlet there, and then on to Oban we went! I really liked Oban, but I couldn't put my finger on the exact reason. It's a small little seaport town, but it seemed busier than any place I've yet seen in Scotland. From Oban we took the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry across to the Isle of Mull, passing Duart Castle (owned by the chief of clan MacLean, if I remember correctly, the clan with which "MacPhadden" and "MacFadyen" are associated names) on the way. The ferry trip was very enjoyable. I might be wrong, but I think it was
my first real boat ride? I feel like I've been on a ferry before, but I can't remember the specifics, so I'm not sure if I'm imagining things or not. But I digress. We didn't get a chance to explore Mull, because we had to catch the last ferry back to Oban immediately after we docked (basically we stayed on the boat), but it was still an enjoyable experience. And a cold, windy one. Stayed the night at a youth hostel in Oban, getting as much sleep as possible despite the EXTREMELY drunk girl who came in to go to bed at 12:30 and kept us all up another hour after that. Otherwise a very nice hostel, however. 😊
Day two commenced with yucky instant coffee but improved drastically after that. First stop was to see the yacht yard at Craobh Haven, then on to an old church at Kilmartin. The churchyard had a special little structure holding about a dozen ancient grave markers from around Scotland...complete with celtic carvings!!! Very cool. From Kilmartin we took about a five minute drive to see standing stones!!! Very ancient, very big, very cool. Probably used as some sort of astronomical marking
device, but our guide called them "Neolithic Goalposts."
After that we climbed up a steep hill to see the spot that is called Dunadd Fort, although there's nothing there anymore. Apparently it was very important strategically for most of the different people who've controlled that part of the world because you can see for miles around. Great views, but thought I was going to topple down the hillside and die on the way down. The stop after that was a relaxing one, however: the small town of Crinan, where they have a very important canal. That's all I know about it: it's important. I'm afraid canals have never held much interest for me, but the little baker/coffee shop where I bought the world's largest (and one of the best) scone held a LOT of interest. We stopped for lunch and a walk around the bay at Inverary, which I also liked in spite of its touristy-ness...or maybe because of it. Our last stop was after that in Luss on the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. A wedding part was having its pictures taken on the pier while we were there...how cool would that be?
That's all for
now. Next week I'm off to London and Brussels, though, so expect updates the weekend after!
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