WEE BIT WINDY ON ISLES

Shoshana: We woke up early in the morning near Invergarry, with bites from mosquitoes all over our bodies. It turned out that while we were building our tent we were attacked by the overpopulated insect group. I had like 100 red dots on my forehead and looked like infected person. Really great start for hitch-hiking. Nevertheless, we did not let ourselves discouraged from our trip to the Isles.

Natalia: Again we were very lucky and hit upon two really nice people. They were army veterans, great friends and coming home from a business meeting. On their way home, they desired to make some panoramatic pictures of the landscape and didn’t travel long our way. However, our charming personalities hit again and we ended up in each company for the whole day.

Shoshana: At first, we hunted for photos of Loch views on our way to Eilean Donan Castle, the most romantic castle in Scotland if not England. The entrance was 8 pounds but we decided that we want to see at least one castle from the inside. Our friends wanted to stay for the coffee while we take our tour, so we took a leap of trust and enjoyed the time free from our belongings.

Natalia: The castle was worth it. It was magical and peaceful with lots of corridors and secret passages. The movie Highlander was made there and we watched it later from curiosity. We also went for some views up the hill, and listened to some nice and sad stories that only life can tell, from these two gentlemen. In the evening they took us to the beginning of the Isle of Skye where we watched some sea-bulls and jellyfishes. We split up with our friends, shared contacts and had something to eat in the village Kyleakin. While we charged our phones in the local bar we observed the community of alcoholic regulars served by lovable waitress.

Shoshana: We had a little problem to decide where to set our tent. We were never able to tell if it is safer to be closer or farther from the people. We found a hidden place under the bush on the beach few hundred meters from the village. We drank our cheap bottle of Shy Pig wine and went to sleep. The scariest part of the night was when a single person walked in our forsaken camp with the flashlight. We immediately took our empty wine bottles and waited on guard what will happen. I was so prepared to fight anybody that will enter the tent if needed but fortunately the person disappeared. We talked for few hours in case he would come back and then fell to sleep anyway. I guess you have to be prepared for such situations when sleeping in wilderness.

Natalia: The next day we were again lucky on our hitch-hiking adventures. We took a ride with two french people Lilian and Frederick that were on holiday in Scotland. They had the same plan for day and after a shopping stop at Portree (the more distant you are from populated cities the more expensive it gets), they took us to famous Man of Stor stones. We had a hiking trip exchanged cultural tips and continued on our way to Uig where we wanted take a ferry to the Isle of Lewis. We managed return tickets for 20 pounds. Boys were nice and kicked us out in the Staffin campsite (enough of the wilderness for few days)

Shoshana: In campsites in these lands, you can get a place for a tent for 5 to 10 pounds. We tried to go as low cost as possible but this is a reasonable price for shower once in a while :D. Next day we drove with Chinese-Italian friends, visited outdoor museum with houses of old Scottish ancestors. Nearby was a grave of Flora MacDonald, believed to smuggle Bonnie Prince Charlie during Jacbite Risings. After that we took our ferry and landed in Tarbert, the Isle of Lewis.

Natalia: We didn’t know where to camp as we arrived quite lately so we asked about places in the Tarbert ferry station. The guy that worked there said he is visiting his sister and nearby is a very nice campsite and he will take us there. We took a ride and got ourselves into the heart of Isles countryside. Sheep everywhere.

Shoshana: Hitch-hiking in Scotland Isles is surprisingly hard. I always think that the more in the countryside you are the easier it gets. Well, we were wrong. It took us freezing hour in the windy Tarbert and creepy hour in the company of local boy that we couldn’t shake off. So we listened to the stories of him hacking Pentagon, him murdering random people, him planning to murder us and so on 😀 I’m often scared of children but this was too much even for me. We were so relieved when a nice German family picked us up. Even more when we discover we have common goal – Callanish standing stones, a free version of Stonehenge.

Natalia: They were enjoyable people with two cute dogs, but we had to say goodbyes as our ways diverged. We continued to the Stornoway, a port city. We wandered around, did shopping for supplies, spent time in the parks around and went back to the Tarbort as we had a ticket for morning ferry. We changed at least five cars on our way back because no one was travelling more than dozen kilometers, but we met kind-hearted people and received traditional Scottish sweets that taste like mint. Our last night was really freezing but we slept inside the sheep fence few kilometers out of Tarbort. You know how they say here, if they don‘t trow you out you can sleep anywhere. So we did and spent our last night protected by sheep and lambs.