IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE - THE HEBRIDES, SCOTLAND - DAY 7
One week in Scotland down! We get to actually sleep in a bit, but I kept waking up every hour since 5am. Andrea and I went out for a pint last night and there ended up being a band at the pub. An 80yr old grandmother was dancing and got Andrea to get up and dance with her haha! I definitely hope I’m like that when I’m old. Ironically I wasn’t brave enough to dance along. I felt self conscious and I wanted to watch my camera bag. A few other people at the hostel came over to us to drop their things at the bar table. Andrea wanted us to make friends, but we discovered they were French and they didn’t seem interested.
We're up at 8am, Andrea makes eggs on toast for breakfast, and we check out by 9:30. We leave for Uig to catch the Fairy Glenn. It was already swarming with tourists, and the weather was miserable with cold rain. It drove both of us to simultaneously say, “I hate people”. There were so many loud Americans, each taking turns actually shouting or speaking loudly to each other from each little hill, “LYN! LYYNN!! STRIKE A POSE! *flails arms and strikes a pose* LIKE THIS!” “Brenda! BRENDA! We’re going” “This trip has definitely increased my stamina with all this hiking”. I’m truly embarrassed. Andrea and I decide we’re Canadians for the day.
The Fairy Glenn itself is actually quite spectacular. I can’t believe all of it simply exists and came to be on its own. The rock formations are of course man made, or made by fairies if that’s what you're into. There are these beautiful green mounds completely surrounding you. It really does look and feel like you’re moving through a fantasy. I leave my big camera in my bag- Not worth getting out to get a bunch of shots with tourists though. I do manage to get some cool things with my experimental one though.
Satisfied and frozen, we head just 2mins south to the harbor for the ferry. We have an hour and a half to wait, so we order soup and coffee to warm up. I love that feeling of a belly filled with soup and tea/coffee. Plus it looks so gross outside. A nearby customer echoed my thoughts, and said the exact same thing to her friends at a neighboring the table.
The ferry is easy. We keep warm with some tea as the ship rocks back and forth. We don’t have calm seas, and the ship sways. I'd noticed the tables in the cafeteria have lips on them so the food doesn't slide off. Glad it's there, because we need it now. We befriend a few Germans sitting next to us- They often get excited to see me because I look so very German, although I'm not German at all. Thankfully they weren’t disappointed when I told them I’m from the States. They were two couples and one of the ladies hated how the sea rocked the boat, but found it quite amusing that I thought it was fun.
We come into the Isle, and drive off to the campsite. Even with grey skies, it’s actually very beautiful. I can imagine how glorious it must be when the sun is out. It has a rock landscape mixed with green, some bogs, ponds, and ocean. The layered mountains produce various purple and violet hues with the weather. Andrea finds it gorgeous as well.
We arrive at the campsite and Andrea and I just start laughing at the absurdity of what we’ve got ourselves into. There are a few camper vans, and we’re in the middle of nowhere, not just in Scotland, but in the world. There are wild sheep roaming everywhere, a small cabin with a kitchen sink, a broken washing machine, a shower, and two toilets. Thankfully, they have hot water and some chargers. We got to reception which is essentially just the back of a house. The homeowner, an elderly lady in her remaining years, Katherine, greets us. She has our reservation archaically written down in a book with scratch handwriting. She shows us the facilities, and we start to set up. We find flat ground, build our tent which is surprisingly, and thankfully warm. Next, we carry on with the fire which was easily put together, and we each cook dinner; canned Irish stew for me which was delicious, and corned sausage and Mac n’ cheese for Andrea. We also roast potatoes in the embers for breakfast tomorrow morning. On the plus side, my pants are starting to smell like a monkey’s butt from hiking, so the smoke is helping me remedy that.
Full and happy, the hours creep by, but we’re so north of the equator, it never really gets dark. We start to freeze as the fire dies, the clouds move in, and it begins to drizzle a bit. We decide to take a drive to get service for our phones. We come back to the town where the ferry dropped us off, and the tour of the town takes all but two minutes haha!
It’s Sunday so everything is closed. It’s actually quite eerie because there’s not a soul around- It’s just the two of us in a Mini Cooper on an island far, far, far from civilization. We eventually come to a hotel with a restaurant on one side, and a cafe on the other. We find life in the cafe and order some fries. I’m finally able to try some whiskey on my list as well. At first I ask for Jameson because I haven’t actually been feeling well since this morning, and I'm hoping a shot will quickly extinguish whatever is causing my nausea. The server is a jokester, and says, “We don’t serve that Irish stuff here”. I should’ve known better. Instead, I start with Jura, one of three recommendations by my good friend Madison who did audio for a documentary in Scotland about whiskey! Tasting it was dark, and very strong. It was made well but it’s the first well-made whiskey that actually burned as it went down. It wasn’t my favorite but my strategy proved affective to avoid a tourist trap distillery and just speak with the server. He said that I should avoid island whiskeys because those tend to be darker and rather strong. I tried Dalmore next which was much smoother. He later explained that they dry out the peat the old fashioned way where they have a fire on the first floor, and the grain on the floor above to dry it out. If they seal it, then it won’t have the Smokey flavor but if they leave it out, then it will. The Dalmore is already sweeter with the scent alone. It’s still strong, but much smoother- It’s rather nice on the palette.
We finish up our chips and head back to the camp. I’m going to stop here because I’m writing this in the cafe with the hotel's WiFi. I’ll try to communicate more tomorrow night if we come back here. Off to bed in the tent, with books, some downloaded Netflix and hopefully no rain!
