PlanetHolt.com

The events described happened on May 24, 2009. Clearly, I’m a bit of a moron to have put off writing this for so long, but c’est la vie, I guess…

Tom and I woke up bright and early in Portree, on the Isle of Skye, ready to board our coach and tour the island. Unfortunately, the weather was uncooperative, with a cold drizzle blowing horizontally. Fortunately the weather cleared while we were at Neist Point, so we saw some beautiful views of the western peninsula near the end of the day.

In reality, Tom was up bright and early, but I didn’t leave myself quite enough time to enjoy breakfast at the hotel. This was unfortunate, because Tom was feasting on the traditional Scottish fare. I did have some toast and cereal, which did the trick.

We were among the first to be picked up, so we climbed on and off the coach a number of times as we collected our companions from their respective lodgings. Eventually, we reached the hotel hosting the family of Indians. The ordering was quite intentional; our driver did not expect them to be ready on time, and so, by picking them up last, gave them an extra 15-20 minutes to get themselves in order. This was apparently insufficient, as we waited outside for another 15-20 minutes. Very frustrating.

Ultimately, this didn’t matter too much, because the weather was pretty poor. We started up the coast and saw some sights that would have been quite beautiful had the air been clear.

Our first stop was at a waterfall near Kilt Rock—geological formations that are very similar to those at the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. There were a couple of lakes that had formed literally 100 yards from the edge of the cliff, with a small stream leading to the waterfall.

We stopped at a cliff overlooking an old dynamite factory. It’s lucky that the wind was blowing from offshore, as there was nothing preventing us from being blown off the cliff. We did not spend very much time at the site, due to the wind and the rain, but it was pretty neat.

There was a section where an entire section of the mountain had slid down, quite intact. Very cool, but it was a bit nerve-wracking (Although, to be truthful, less nerve-wracking than your average driving on Indian roads…) to reach. It can barely be made out through the fog and rain in the picture above.

At lunchtime we went back to Portree, where we found sustenance at a local pub. I enjoyed a cup of tomato soup and a smoked salmon & cream cheese open-faced sandwich, and the requisite pint of Guinness.

The afternoon consisted of a trip to the westernmost point on Skye, Neist Point. The cliffs there are quite spectacular, and are, in fact, a bit taller than the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. (Still, the Cliffs of Moher are like 8km long…) Our driver told us that the hike from the parking lot to the lighthouse on the western end would take about an hour, so Tom and I set off immediately.

We descended probably 50-60′ before making our way back up to climb the rock that would allow us to see the lighthouse. It was very beautiful, and thankfully, had stopped raining.

As we made our way back, a good half-hour into our trek, we noticed that the family who were continually delaying our group at every opportunity had just decided to set off toward the lighthouse themselves. Just incredibly rude. We were furious, and when we finally did get back to the coach, the entire group was complaining about those five.

After everyone was back on board, we made our way back to Portree for the evening. Since the weather had cleared by this time, Tom and I were furiously taking pictures of the countryside.

Back in Portree, we stopped at a little chippie where we feasted upon haddock and chips with cheese near the Portree harbor. We then made our way to a pub on the main square, just across from our hotel. We drank a few Dauchen IPAs until the same guitarist and violinist we had seen the night before came in and started playing. The violinist kept eyeing me… (I’m pretty sure she wanted me to give her my gift.)

At about 10:30 p.m., we were starting to get worn out, and decided to hit the sack. We needed to be up early again the next day, as we were scheduled to make our way back through the Highlands to Edinburgh.