Castles, Clans and Coldness - Part II

Sunday: After a restless night’s sleep at the hostel, I woke up early to board another bus – this time, it was the bus to Kyle of Lochalsh, up near the far North West of Scotland right near the Isle of Skye. And boy, was this journey wild and woolly. If I thought Glen Coe was rugged, then I thought again, as I ascended up into the uninhabited moors of no man’s land. As the one-road only access to the Outer Herbrides (the islands of Skye and Harris) went on and on, the area became more and more rugged. These areas are simply cut off from civilization come winter time and you could see why. Even in September, the wind was bitterly cold, torrential rain was sporadic and places of shelter from the erratic weather was far and few between.


Why did I head out into the middle of nowhere? For Eileen Donan Castle in Dornie, of course. The second castle of my journey was used in the film, the Highlander. Dornie is a one pub, one post office kind of place, so when I found out that there would be no return bus for four and a half hours, I became concerned that I would be stuck out in the middle of nowhere doing nothing. After touring the castle, and with three hours left, I decided to head into their one pub, read a paper from their one post office, and then wait patiently for the bus. It forced me to actually sit down, relax and not hurry (I tend to try and do too much when I travel – running from activity to activity – at the end of it, I never feel like I’ve had a rest!).



Needless to say, I was in need of a good night’s sleep yet didn’t get it at the hostel (the joys of community living). I was most relieved to receive a text message from the Boy, saying that he was going to meet me the next morning up in Fort William (a three and a half hour drive from Edinburgh, bless him!) to take me on a tour around the parts of the Highlands I didn’t manage to see by using public transport.