Isle of Skye and Highland Games

Two hours on the water and the ferry spit us out, as the very first ones, in Uig on the Isle of Skye.

Only a few kilometers down the road is one of the island's main attractions, Fairy Glenn, which reminded my human of the Chocolate Hills in the Philippines, just smaller.

It's a very green valley with small grassy hills. Imagine Kermit the Frog having- goosebumps and you see that under a microscope. Kinda like that.

Because we were there pretty early, it was still rather quiet. But the size of the car park suggested that that was subject to change.

And this seems to be true for all of Skye. In comparison to the Hebrides, this is Disney World. So many people here from all over the place! Many French and Italians, but also a score of Asian people, many motor homes from the Netherlands and Germans, of course.

If Duntulm Castle was still peaceful (no surprise there, it's just a very ruined ruin) and there wasn't much traffic hiking up Hushin, a great whale watching spot (sure), this was about to change as we reached the Quiraing.

That's pretty much all that is left

A Highland cow, my new favorite animal

This tourist magnet is part of the Totternish Ridge and this whole area was formed by landslips, with the Quiraing still moving. It has brought forth some cool features, some of them were even given names like The Needle, The Prison and The Table. 

We drove on to Staffin Beach, a beautiful location and our camp for the night. Some dog walkers discovered dinosaur footprints here in 2002. We couldn't find them, though, and apparently they are covered by sand or high tide most of the time.

In the morning, we went to see Kilt Rock and Mealt Waterfall. The rock is supposedly pleated like a kilt. Well, decide for yourself.

After seeing The Old Man of Stoer in the Hebrides, we visited the Skye version as well, of course. Rather than sticking out of the ocean, this one here is also part of the Totternish Ridge and equally as popular as the Quiraing.

The landscape is pretty fantastic, really, with a few lochs down below and many rock features sticking  out everywhere. 

As was to be expected, it was really windy up here as well, but at least it didn't rain.

After a quick stop in Portree for lunch and some shopping, we drove on to Dunvegan Castle. Which, as the website says, isn't a must see. If only they were all so honest about their importance. But it was on the way, anyway, so at least we had a look at it from the outside.

Portree

On the left there, you can make out the castle

Love it!

After the Fairy Glen, there were also the Fairy Pools. If you are un-romantic about it, it's just a small river running off a mountain, forming some small waterfalls and pools on the way down. But pretty, no doubt.

To flee the masses, one only has to go past the first 500 meters and suddenly you are by yourself. Many people jump into the pools for a refreshing dip, but truth be told, it was quite fresh already, so my human passed on that one and rather did a big loop around the whole area.

In Silgachan, pretty much only a hotel and pub at a large junction, we again met a couple we had seen four times already in Scotland. You might remember me telling you about a big version of myself we parked up next to for a night in the moorland some three weeks ago? Them. It's a small country after all. So naturally, there being a pub and all...

That's all there is to Silgachan

Another nice spot for the night

Loch Coruisk can be reached by foot from Silgachan. There are many legends about Kelpies in Scotland, shape-shifting aquatic creatures, mostly "seen" in the shape of a horse.
This loch is reputed to be the home of some such creature. It lies right in the heart of the Cuillin Range, said to be the most spectacular range in the UK.

It's a long hike in from the road through a wonderful valley with great scenery all around. Initially, my human had planned to hike down to the loch and back, but the weather being really good for a change, she decided to climb up Sgurr Alasdair, the highest point of the range, 992m.

And the views were well worth it. 
Lucky she went early. By the time she got back, the whole range was clouded in again with a light drizzle to top it off.

Thank you, weather gods

At least once while in Scotland, we wanted to visit some Highland Games. Lochcarron was our only shot, being in the right area at the right time. 

We had a day to spare which we spent on a campground in Ardelve, only a kilometer from the most photographed castle in Scotland, Eilean Donan. Some might recognize it from films like "Highlander" and "James Bond - The world is not enough". 

The Highland Games were good fun. It all felt a lot like "Bundesjugendspiele", with the difference that adults were taking part as well. 

There were many track races, a hill race, dancing, piping, high and long jump and of course, the "Heavy Events" like hammer throwing, weight for distance and of course, the caber. It all finished with a great Tug ˋo War.

Nothing happens without a bagpipe band

Highland dancing

The strong men. They were big.

Start of the hill race

This is where they are going. The record is 19min 11 sec. Return!

Throwing the cabber. The pole weighs 170kg.

All this accompanied by many food and drink stalls, of course, as well as some crafty stuff.
These were comparatively small games, but we had a great day nonetheless.