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Published: September 7th 2008
Eilean Donan
Hard to believe this shot is taken from a major road."Could ... an undiscovered animal as large as the Loch Ness monster possibly exist? The answer is yes. Animals previously unknown to science have been found more than once in the past hundred years. For instance, there's the megamouth shark (megachasma pelagios), a fifteen-foot-long creature weighing nearly a ton. The first specimen was discovered on November 15, 1976, when it was found entangled in the drag anchor of a U.S. Navy ship. The new creature wasn't described scientifically until 1983 ... The megamouth remains the only species in its genus, and the only genus in its order."
-- Martin Delrio, "The Loch Ness Monster"
I awake this morning and realise that something is wrong. Still half asleep, I keep trying to figure it out. Finally it hits me - no sound of rain! Thinking this is too good to be true, I turn on the BBC. Never fear, the forecast is for sun and showers all day. Oh good, wouldn’t want the sun to shine for too long!
Coffee and toast for breakfast and I am on my way east to Loch Ness by 8.30. The first stop was the one castle that everyone says is the best in
Eilean Donan
The other side of it. Scotland - Eilean Donan. In all the lists of things to see and do in Scotland, this is always on the top ten. In my mind, I pictured a desolate castle on a remote island. Oh no, it is right off the main road running between Skye and Loch Ness. I had a similar experience in San Antonio years ago. I got off the plane and into a taxi. I gave the driver the name of my hotel and asked him if he would drive me past the Alamo on the way there. He looked at me a bit oddly, but agreed. The next thing I knew, we were pulling up in front of my hotel.
“I thought you were going to take me to see the Alamo!”
“Lady, it’s right there!” pointing out the left side of his cab. Sure enough, the thing sits right smack in the middle of town. Tends to detract from the romance a bit. Same feeling with this castle.
Having said that, it is a wonderful place. There has been a building here since the Iron Age that was turned into a proper castle in the 13th Century to defend against
Eilean Donan
The view from the top of the tower. the Vikings. It was the home of the Clan MacKenzie, but they were constantly warring with our old friends the MacDonalds and the MacLeods. According to the legends, the MacKenzies never had to give it up.
That is until 1719 when they blew the place up rather than have it taken over by the Government (they were Jacobites). It sat in ruins until 1912 when the Chief of the Clan MacRae took it over, fixed it up and now his descendents still live in it. Once I was inside, I could get a real sense of the history of the place and the romance tended to come back a bit. I wouldn’t say it’s the best castle I’ve ever seen, but I am very glad I got to see it.
From there, I drove over to Loch Ness. The sun was shining (!!), so I got a whole different look at the Glen. My, but it is gorgeous. Every time I turned a corner, a whole other vista would open up and my breath would catch in my throat. I hope the photos give you some idea of how magic this place is.
I started in a
Eilean Donan
The brass pans in the kitchen. I just loved the colour in this shot. town called Drumnadrochit because this is where the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre is, or as some of us who travel a lot like to call these things, tourist trap. It’s basically a half hour multimedia discussion about the history of the Loch and the legend of Nessie, the monster. There were some interesting bits. Loch Ness has more water in it than all of the water in England and Wales combined. The entire population of the WORLD could be submerged three times and there is still room left over for, as they so quaintly put it, a mystery or two.
They then go on to completely debunk the myth. Every photo is shown to be a hoax; every theory is explained another way. The most interesting was an experiment they did with 100 people lined up on the bank of the loch. They asked them to watch for something to come out of the water and then to describe what it was that they had seen. 75 people said it was a telephone pole (which, in fact, it was). The other 25 had other descriptions. They used this to prove that people don’t always know what it that they
Eilean Donan
An old kitchen order form. I guess posh is posh, even in Scotland! are seeing. I don’t care. I believe in the unexplained and I believe in gentle monsters. In fact, I have named the car I’m driving this week Nessie as she is definitely a gentle giant and has taken very good care of me.
After a quick lunch of a nuked hot dog, I decided to leave the tourist trail for a while and head west into the Glen. How lovely! No tourists, small back roads and a series of villages each smaller than the one before. I stumbled across a village called Corrimony. Just outside is a cairn, or a burial place, that has been dated as being over 4,000 years old. Turns out that Scotland is littered with these places.
The other thing I noticed was many shells of what used to be stone houses. Literally ruins now, they sit on hilltops, some with trees growing out of them. They certainly add to the mysticism of the place. Later I read that these are crofts that used to be inhabited by tenants of the land. During the clan system, they would pay their rent in the form of work on the land or military service. Once the
Croft
One of the old stone crofts. I saw dozens of these. clans were disbanded after Bonnie Prince Charlie’s debacle, they were ordered to pay financial rent. They couldn’t, so they literally walked away from their homes and the landowners allowed the houses to fall into ruin. Many of the tenants emigrated to the US and to Oz, literally starting over.
I was on my way back to Loch Ness when I saw a sign for the Moniak Winery. Now, we are all aware that Scotland is not known for its excellent wines, so I had to check this out. Well, it turns out that they don’t make wine; they make cordials. If you’ve never been subjected to that horror, count yourself lucky. Once I realised what it really was, I beat a hasty retreat.
Deciding that there was time for one more sight, I made my way over to Urquhart Castle. This is the castle that sits right on Loch Ness and is one of the most photographed castles in the world. I got lucky. I arrived around 4.30, so the vast majority of the tourists had left. I got to wander around for an hour and half with the place more or less to myself. The light was
Loch Ness
My first view of it. perfect and I took loads of photos. The history is not dissimilar to the others I have related to you on this trip. A settlement has been there since forever; the clans fought it over it (our friends the MacDonalds again trying to enlarge their territory), etc. But, this place has the added romance of being right on the loch.
I stayed until they threw us all out at 6.00, then drove over to Inverness to my hotel. First one that is a disappointment. It was obviously quite something in its time, but it is resting on its laurels. You’ve heard me say a thousand times that it’s all about the details. They get very few of them right. I amused myself at my awful dinner by writing down the number of things that were wrong. I stopped when I got to 20 - life is too short!
One of the funny things about travelling alone is the hours one keeps. I am usually in bed early because, after dinner, there is not a lot to do on one’s own. This means that I am up at the crack of dawn. This morning, I was up and out
Corrimony Cairn
These stone have been here for 4,000 years. by 8.30.
I had decided last night that I had to do a boat trip as one cannot come to Loch Ness and not look for Nessie. I boarded a boat called the Queen of Caledonia for a three hour cruise (OK - you can all sing the theme song from Gilligan now….). The boat left from a pier about two minutes from the hotel, so I had some time to kill. I sat, drank coffee and watched the world around me. There was a golf course just there. I noticed it by hearing the thwack of golf balls. I smiled - one must see a game of golf when one is in Scotland!
The cruise was magnificent. We went down the Caledonian Canal and actually got to go through a lock. It’s not as exciting as one might think, but I love being able to say that I have done something like that. This canal is actually quite something. 60 miles long, it connects the North Sea with the Atlantic. But what is really cool is that only 20 of those miles are man made. They just connected three lochs. The canal is still used by boats
Corrimony Cairn
The entrance into the crypt. of all shapes and sizes (it can take boats us to 150 feet long) and when one considers that it was built over 100 years ago, with the lock system, I for one am impressed.
We then went into the Loch and I was spellbound. I am always much more impressed by sights from the water than I am from land, but this was really something. I got a real sense of the Loch - how deep and old it is. It is easy to believe that something otherworldly lives here. It is truly a fairyland.
I met an American couple called Greg and Barbara. We had a lovely time sitting on the bow (it was raining again, so we were on our own!), talking about New York, London, travelling and the election. They were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, so I bought us a bottle of champagne to celebrate. I didn’t get a photo - stupid me.
After the cruise, I decided to drive all the way around the loch. I drove down the western side which leads to Fort Augustus. This is the main road, so it is filled with tour buses and towns filled
Urquhart Castle
Coming into it. with tat. Fort Augustus itself is not so bad, but not somewhere I would want to spend a lot of time. I found a place for lunch called The Mooring. Run by Greeks, the food was excellent and the service was even better. I ate my lunch while I watched the cooks playing backgammon. One of them asked me if I knew I how to play. I admitted that I did, but not at his level. He challenged me to game; I chickened out. I wish now I had played,
As I walked out of the restaurant, I noticed that half the town was down by the locks. I went down to see what was going on. A HUGE passenger ship called the Lord of the Glen was coming through the locks. It is, actually, really something to see. So, I stood there and watched before realising that my cook friends had come out to watch as well. I ended up talking to them while they cadged cigarettes from me. I really should have kicked their butt in backgammon!
I then proceeded to drive up the eastern side of the Loch. Oh my! The entire way is a
Urquhart Castle
Looking across the walls to the Loch. single track road. Not the first one I have been on in Scotland, but definitely the scariest. On this road, the shoulder is either the Loch or the forest. The locals come barrelling through (as we do on the back roads of the beach) and get annoyed when I am in their way. I learned quickly to get out - and fast!
But, it was worth it. About twenty minutes into the drive, I arrived at a place called Suidehe Summit. It looked as what I imagine heaven looks like. There were mountains, covered in evergreens, leading down to lakes that were in the clouds. I got out of the car and, quite literally, cried. One of the great things about being a traveller is that every once in a while you see a slice of eternity. This was one of those times.
I carried on, expecting to get back to the Loch. Instead, I saw a sign for Foley’s Falls. OK - worth a look. And how! One parks and then one hikes down to the falls. Not the most impressive thing I have ever seen, but they seem to be perfect in this part of the
Urquhart Castle
Another view of the Loch. world. The only bad thing is that one walks DOWN to them; it means one walks UP to get back to the car. Considering that is was pouring rain; I was trying to protect my camera (first things first - I’ll dry, my camera won’t) and that I was fighting my fear of heights (steep drop on the one side!!), I think I did all right.
I carried on along the east side of the loch. It took an age because I kept stopping to take photos. I had another new experience. At one stop, I got out of the car and realised that it was raining. Protecting the camera, I looked down. The sun was shining so much that I was casting a shadow! So, at one point in time I was not only casting a shadow, I was getting rained on as well. I love this country!
Eventually back to the hotel for a hot shower, a change of clothes and a welcome retreat to the bar. I met a couple called David and Ann from Columbia. South Carolina. I told them about Mom and Lynn. They recognised the names, but couldn’t remember how they knew
Caledonian Canal
Leaving the pier. them. It really is a small world. After dinner, we met again for a drink and to talk about London restaurants. After a while, it was time for bed. Except, I wasn’t tired.
So, I decided to sit up and write for a while and knew that another glass of wine would help the creative process. I went down to get it and fell into conversation with the night porter. She took me into the kitchen and she and I sat there for an hour while she cried about the fact that her son has just left for China to study. I held her hand; I told her that at 45 I still cry when my mother leaves; we drank single malt scotch and I had one of the great travel experiences of my life.
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