Scotland’s Moonscape
Travel Location: Portree,United-Kingdom
Day 1: Today was nice, as we didn’t have to get up at 7am. We treated ourselves to an 8.30 breaky, which we hadn’t done since Edinburgh.
We departed on the Jacobite Steam Train, which apparently features in a Harry Potter movie, along side the Glenfinnan viaduct. I don’t do Harry Potter.
This place is so different fro any other place in Scotland. One might call it a ‘Wild Celtic Appeal’.
The train took us all the way to Mallaig, known for its fishing, according to a Southern Scotsman we met on the train. “If you can get fish and chips in Mallaig, its well worth it” he told us. The fare for the train was £20pp one way, and I would class it in the overrated-tourist-attraction-rip-off scheme. The service on board was good, but when we made our bookings, the girl was a bit out of it, making a half hearted job, not really trying to help, and groaning at our seat request. And she got it wrong too.
But we didn’t know to request a seat on the left side of the carriage (left being as train travells Fort William – Mallaig), and I think if we had have thought to research that, it might have made the ride just that little bit more enjoyable seeing as about 70% of the views were on the left of the train — including 5 star views of the Glenfinnan Viaduct.
Upon arrival in Mallaig, we queued for the toilets – or should I say toilet for a good amount of time (why do the guys always get 5 toilets and the girls only one?). Then we wandered down to the main town area. Its a nice town, Mallaig, with plenty of colourful fishing boats and sea birds. Remembering the fish and chip advice, we ducked into the nearest fish and chip shop to get lunch.
Let me just say this: We spent £11 for the worst tasting fish and chips I have ever had in my entire life! At least now I will find it easier justifying handing over that kind of money for something that will actually last.
After that we jumped on the ferry, which took us from Mallaig across to Armadale, in Skye. It was a funny thing, but the views leaving Mallaig are to die for. Mountain formations are indescribable. Pity it only takes 20 minutes to cross.
The bus driver from Armadale to Portree was a laugh and a half. He told us about all his stories where he had created his own answers for the Americans when they ask him about landmarks along the journey. I can’t resist chucking in an example:
Tourist 1, pointing to a thing in an inlet which looks like the top cabin of a submarine: “what’s that?”
Driver: “Oh, that’s an old sunken German submarine from WWII. We can’t move that because its a war grave” He even sounds like such a know-it-all.
Tourist 1,3,4 & 7-12′s cameras: *click click click*
If you really thing about it, there is no way on earth a submarine could have possibly manoeuvred it’s way into shallow waters like that. Really, it is a simple power plant which powers the nearby town – this dude is hilarious! I must admit, he did make up some crap which I believed, like how the council built a road over a large boggy area by laying four layers of logs criss-crossed on each other then filling it with all kinds of interesting items, held together with the road seal. And don’t let him try to tell you that the road signs in Gaelic are cryptic clues for the school kids to solve on their way to and from school every day.
He does deserve credit for his efforts, however. We received an informative commentary, along with some true stories, facts and experiences of life on Skye, including one story of some of the worst weather Skye has experienced (not much less than a cyclone), which left trees snapped in half. Now that ticket was value for money.
Skye is just amazing. It looks like some kind of moonscape, only theres clouds. There are huge rugged wind-blown mountains consisting of only dirt and grass, but still as mesmerising as any other mountain. Theres not many trees, and some islands seen on various bus rides consist of huge mountains with a black-roofed white cottage right by the water. This place is so different from home, even compared to other places in Scotland. One might call it a ‘Wild Celtic Appeal’.
Day 2: Part of the reason for visiting this isle was to see Dunvegan Castle. We set off this morning for it – even after a warning from the B&B host that it really isnt worth the money (£6 or something). So we went anyway, our curiosity getting the better of us. But I have to say, our host was spot on. It really isnt worth it.
The gardens there are fantastic, there’s about seven of them. But they’re are free, so walk round the gardens first, and if you think those are boring, then stay away from the castle. I thought they were quite good, but unfortunately couldn’t see them all thanks to the bus timetable, which only visited the castle twice a day. There was no way on earth we were about to hang out with the castle for another 4 or 5 hours for the next bus to arrive.
You can get inside the castle, but you can’t take pictures. There’s nothing much to take pictures of anyway. There’s a few nice Scottish…. things – furniture, paintings, weapons and stuff… but it is all furnished like any 400 year old house- nothing castle like, you seriously could nearly have been in any rich person’s show house anywhere in the world.
So we got over that pretty fast.
Next in line was actually another recommendation of our B&B host. Which was good, because she recommended something we had already planned. A nice long bus route on the Floddigarry Circular, which takes you as north as I will go on my Scottish holiday. After riding this route, seeing the castle and arriving from the ferry port in the south, there really isn’t much of Sky that you miss out on.
The biggest bummer of the bus ride was that the bus windows were really dirty, really really dirty. It takes 2 hours to travel the loop, as most of the road is one lane with passing points, and is windy and hilly. Theres not a huge amount of attractions you get to see from the bus window – no Kilt Rock or Quairang (that I noticed). The best view I got was of Old Man of Storr (of course, featured in another bus driver tale). And even thats not fantastic with dirty bus windows and sun shining in your eyes. Still was better than the castle and I enjoyed it a lot.
I found Skye to be not all I had expected, although still very different. It’s just one of those places which is a ‘must do’ in any Scottish holiday, and even if it may not be the highlight, its great to say you have been there, none the less.
