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Inverness from the hostel
Inverness from the hostelWe left the hostel in Inverness around 9am, but had to make a detour to a wholesale store so the manager of our next hostel could buy some supplies for us to take with us. After loading up with the supplies, we headed out of Inverness. Having done the hostel manager a favor, she bought Neil a bottle of Scotch (which he swears we are going to share, but it disappeared as soon we reached the hostel!) As a reward for our patience, he took us to a "special" place, the Clootie Well at Munlocy, on the Black Isle. Don't ask me why it's called the Black Isle, as it's not Black and it's not an island. The Clootie Well is a very unusual "attraction." More or less in the middle of nowhere, just off a small country road is a small spring that some time way back folks decided was holy or magical. If you dipped a piece of clothing in the water, sprinkled it on the ground 3 times, then circled the well 3 times, whatever illness the owner had would be cured or fixed. Although not very large, there must be thousands of bits of cloth (along with
Inverness Student Hostel
Inverness Student Hostel pieces or plastic from those that had no cloth) stuck on every branch around it.
Our next stop was the Corrieshalloch Gorge. There was a small concession stand near the entrance offering coffee and hot chocolate, along with some interesting food. Since it was pretty cold, I bought a nice cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and we hiked down a trail to a verrry deep gorge that could be seen well from a suspension bridge stretched across the gorge. The wildest part of it was that only 6 people were allowed on the bridge at a time, for safety's sake. Made you feel real comfortable being the 6th person! After crossing the bridge, you can hike down the gorge a bit further and get some great photos from a metal overview suspended somewhat over the gorge, but again, only 6 people at a time. Since it was getting close to lunch, and we had no plans for lunch, I decided to check out the little concession stand where I bought the hot chocolate. I ended up getting a "broom burger", which was two beef patties with cheese and lots of fixings. It was delicious, and enough for
Clootie Well
The Clootie Well at Munlochy, Black Isle both Manoli and I.
We drove back towards Inverness, then took a smaller road that passed a couple of lochs (lakes) until we reached Loch Maree and the Beinn Eighe Trail. Loch Maree was quite large and very pretty. It was named after someone named Maol Rubha, or some such, and rather baffled by the jump from Maol Rulha to Maree, I asked our guide who simply said it was a combination of Maol and Rubha (???). Anyways, here we left the bus to take a nice hike up one of the very scenic trails next to the lake. Not too difficult and very pretty. I guess Neil wanted us to enjoy one of his favorite glens (or valleys), so we drove back to Kinlochewe and took the smallest, paved, commercial road I've ever been on. It was basically one lane wide, with occasional wide spots that oncoming vehicles would pass or be passed in. Not only was this slow going, but it seemed to last forever. Oh well, at least the scenery along the way was awesome.
Our guide had made reservations for the Eilean Donan Castle, so we continued another 40 or 50 kilometers, on a
Corrieshalloch Gorge
Looking down into the Corrieshalloch Gorge from the suspension bridge somewhat better road, to the castle near Dornie and just south of the bridge to the Isle of Skye where we would spend the next two nights. This castle has been featured in a number of movies, including Highlander and 007. The entry fee was 6 Pounds and I have to say it was worth it. Although the castle was pretty much completely reconstructed between 1912 and 1932 after being pretty much completely destroyed in the 1700s, it was still very cool and looked original. There were guides in the entry "foyer" and the great hall that provided some good insight to the original castle and the reconstruction. The castle has a cafe and a nice little gift shop (where I bought another thimble of course).
We left the castle around 6pm and headed to our next hostel. We crossed the Skye Bridge and turned into the small town of Kyleakin. The whole town is two parallel streets about a mile long, right along the oceanfront and very quaint. Our hostel was right in the middle and looked pretty decent. Originally we were supposed to stay in there add-on building, but when our driver call to tell them we
Corrieshalloch Waterfall
The waterfall under the bridge, from the overlook were coming, they told him we'd be put up in the main building, apparently another reward for bringing supplies. Although a bit tiny again, with a maze of halls and rooms, it is quite comfortable. This time we are in a room with just two sets of bunk beds which were are sharing with the only other married couple on the tour. After getting settled in, we headed out for dinner. The whole town has only 2 or 3 restaurants, plus a pub that only opens sometimes. This week, Thursday through Sunday, and since it was Tuesday, we only had two choices, Saucy Mary's or the King Haakon Restaurant/Bar/Store. We chose the later and were not disappointed. We both decided to try a soup and salad. Manoli's soup was carrot or squash and mine was a sort of chowder with haddock. We both had a salmon salad. Everything was quite tasty and with an Irn Bru came to around 21 Pounds. We strolled a bit after dinner, then returned to the hostel for the night. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but it doesn't seem to get dark at all in Scotland until almost 10pm, so it works
Beinn Eighe Trailhead
The Beinn Eighe Trail's entry point out nicely to take a stroll after dinner.
Tomorrow we are supposed to do some hiking somewhere around the Isle of Skye, but again, Neil hadn't decided... err gotten our choices yet, so we'll have to see tomorrow.
P.S. Since I didn't get a chance to take photos of our hostel in Inverness, I'm including them at the beginning tonight.
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