Adventures in Scotland - Day 5 To the Isles

We started the morning with a hearty breakfast and were ready to drive to Skye via Loch Ness and the normal 'tourist' route that takes you by a few other lochs and castles. Our hosts told us we should definitely not go that way - "too much traffic with lorries (trucks), tourists, and especially the slow Japanese drivers" (apparently they have a bad rap in Scotland). They told us another route to go - much prettier and no traffic. Well, they were right! Beautiful views, and little traffic (which was lucky because a good part of the way is a one-lane road with areas to pull off when another car is coming). I took 324 pictures today so that should tell you something about the amazing views - each turn was more beautiful than the previous one. I will not attempt to post all of them here, but if you are interested in a more thorough viewing let me know and I'll be happy to share my album! 

Loch Ness! Didn't see any monsters...

Next stop - Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness. Had a wee Scottish rain shower while we were there (we've had very little rain on our trip).

We had lunch in a pub nearby - it displayed over 600 different kinds of whisky on shelves around the room! We headed along the north road through the Wester Ross region. The views were amazing!

Everywhere you turn there are more mountains!

Another loch...

Next stop Eilean Donan Castle - you know, the one you always see in movies and postcards. Add in a little Scottish weather and you get the picture!

We took the bridge across to Isle of Skye and entered a whole new world. What should've been a two-hour drive along the island coast ended up taking four hours - we just kept pulling over to absorb the breathtaking scenery. 

Have I mentioned that there are sheep all over Scotland? Well, there's even more of them on Skye - I think I read there are more sheep than people. And since it's an island, they just roam all over!

We stopped in Portree for a quick dinner. They do a lot of fishing here and that's pretty much all the restaurants serve (although luckily Eric got some venison stew)!

The Old Man Of Storr - 160 ft tall tapered slab of basalt - created by massive landslides 6,500 years ago.

One of many fairy pools on Skye.

Mountains in the fog.

Hello sheep on the road! The farmers paint the rams' butts different colors so they can identify their own flocks.

I call this one "Sheep with Foggy Mountains"

It looks like a painting!

These lambs were chasing each other around while we were hiking out to the cliffs. They kept head-butting each other and we kept waiting for one of them to run off a cliff (which thankfully they never did).

This was taken at 8:00pm - the sun was still high in the sky (and as I type this at 11:30pm I can still see the cows outside my window). There's a little waterfall below the road.

Evening view from our hotel room.

We will be here two nights and will spend all day tomorrow hiking. I can't wait to explore more of this magical place!