Inverness, Scotland to Isle Of Skye, Scotland

This morning five of us caught a mini-bus around Loch Ness.

Our first stop was the Official Loch Ness Monster Exhibition. This was a little 40-minute tour explaining the legend of Loch Ness, which the whole area bases its tourism industry around. The exhibition is good, in that it didn’t say that there was or was not a monster, but gave stories of sightings, fake photos, and exhibitions of scanning the loch. The exhibition finished with the usual souvenir shop, with this one selling kilts in the tartan of various clans – I kind of wish we had a Scottish background.

After this the bus continued around the lake to Urqhart Castle. This castle, in ruins since being destroyed in 1692, sits on the loch’s edge, and with the fantastic weather, creates the most beautiful scenery I have ever witnessed. To top it off, above the entrance to the castle, was a man playing the bagpipes. Perfect! The serenity was only once destroyed – by a low flying RAF helicopter heading to a base further north.

Urqhart Castle, Loch Ness, Scotland

Urqhart Castle, Loch Ness, Scotland

We stayed at the castle for about half an hour before going down to the wharf to catch a Jacobite Cruise back to Inverness along Loch Ness. This trip took us an hour and a half. With the morning fog lifted, and not a cloud to be seen, the cruise along the loch, with the surrounding mountains, was so relaxing I didn’t want to get off.

When we got back to Inverness, we had time to grab some lunch before jumping on the Haggis bus at 2.30 pm, heading for the Isle of Skye. We drove along the same road as the mini-bus this morning, dropped some people off at Loch Ness Backpackers, and continued on our way.

We stopped at Loch Cluanie for a photo break, as this is yet another brilliant landscape, as well as Eilan Donan. Eilan Donan is a castle owned by a Scottish clan that is still in working order. The castle had been destroyed in a battle, but rebuilt when a man dreamt a vision of the castle and was paid by the respective clan to do so. It was also used in the movie Highlander.

Loch Cluanie, Scotland

Eilan Donan Castle, Loch Cluanie, Scotland

We got to Kyleakin on the Isle of Skye at six pm and checked into Dun Caan Backpackers, where I shared a room with Kathy from America, Ania, Catherine and Yvonne from New Zealand.

I had a packet pasta for dinner on the second attempt, after I left a lasagna in the oven and set off the smoke alarms. Even though I was embarrassed, I stayed in for the night, watching TV before heading off to bed at 11 pm.