After getting a not so restful night’s sleep, I got up early the next day and walked around Broadford with friends for a little while before leaving on our tour bus. The hostel came almost right up to the edge of a body of water which looked so serene in the morning light despite some spitting rain. We boarded our bus around 8:30 and continued on our travels. During the drive, the rain came and left leaving us with perfect sunny skies for our first stop in Duntulm. Our tour bus pulled up on the edge of the road, so we could all get out and observe the wonderful views of the sea and the highlands. Some of my fellow travelers decided to hike lower to get a closer view of the few sheep nearby. Other travelers, including myself, hiked higher to inspect some ruins that laid there.
Turns out the ruins I saw at the edge of a great cliff were actually what is left of Duntulm Castle. Built in the 14-15th centuries, the castle was at the center of many feuds between the MacLeod and Macdonald clans. The rubble that now stands overlooking the sea looks insignificant at first glance. Actually, if you were to drive past it, you might not notice it at all. Upon closer inspection though, you can find a plaque informing any visitors of the historical land they stand on. From Duntulm, our bus took us to the iconic Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls.
Our bus was too large to drive to the closer look out for Kilt Rock, so we stayed at the Mealt Falls look out point. There were a few other tour buses also there gazing at the magical wonder of the waterfall. Because of the sea and the force of the wind, the water from the falls got blown upwards creating a sideways rainbow. It was stunning, especially with Kilt Rock in the background, which I believe is accurately named. Kilt Rock was actually on my list of places to see in Scotland and I am so glad I got to actually visit it. With the waterfall and rainbow, it looked unreal. The Highlands makes you believe that all those mythical creatures that are written about in relation to Scotland exist. How could it not when the land looks so mythical and magical. From Mealt Falls, we had a very short drive to Old Man of Storr.
I feel a mix of dread and wonder when I remember Old Man of Storr. Before getting off the bus, our tour guide told us that the hike to the Old Man of Storr is an easy one, just a little steep in places. What. A. Liar. The hike was awful!! The walk up was EXTREMELY steep and long. Every time we went around a bend, I thought we were there but no. NO! We were not there. After doing about 2/3 of the hike, I stopped (about half my group called it quits also). The view from the Storr was breathtaking enough for me (metaphorically and physically). I am very glad I did stop when I did because if I continued up, I wouldn’t have had the time to take as many photos as I did during my leisurely walk down the mountain. A couple of friends continued up to see the Old Man of Storr, but they didn’t see the old man face in the Old Man of Storr (it is a rock formation). I thought I would regret not going up the last leg, but I am quite content with my decision. By the time everyone got on the bus, an epidemic of hangriness enveloped us. We did not stop for breakfast, so we were starving by this time. Our tour guide appeased us by promising the next stop to include food.
We continued on to Portree which I have read to be the best village to visit in the Isle of Skye. Much like my experience with Fort William, I did not get to see much of Portree beyond the inside of a restaurant. It was a fantastic café though. My friends and I luckily got a table at the hopping Caledonian Café. What followed was the best meal we had all weekend. We got an amusing and extremely helpful waiter who made our dining experience a lot of fun! Understanding that we only had an hour to eat, he put a rush on our food and we got everything all at once. There was barely a free inch of room on our table. Ordering on an empty stomach is never a good idea. We all got a ton of food. My order consisted of a mocha, a scone with butter and jam, a ham and cheese toastie and a bowl of sweet potato soup. Everything was delectable. The price was right too! Everything I ordered came out to be just over eleven pounds. If you are ever in Portree, I highly suggest the Caledonian Café. Sadly, from Portree, we began our journey back to Edinburgh. Luckily though the sun was still shining so we got to witness the beautiful spectacle of the Highlands for most of the way back to the city. Right at twilight, we stopped in Pitlochry for half an hour to stretch our legs. What a charming little town! Most of the shops were closed for Sunday but a lovely tea shop was opened called Hettie’s Tearoom.
What a wonderful place! They had an entirely separate tea menu from their food. And they didn’t have just tea. They had specialty coffee, specialty hot chocolate, cold tea, milkshakes, and even Butterbeer! I am definitely going back to Pitlochry, and not just to drink my way through Hettie’s. The town already started to decorate for Christmas, so it looked exactly like the town in Frozen, just without the body of water.
The weekend felt both very long and very short; very long because there was so much packed into just two days and very short because we came and left Isle of Skye so fast. For such a picturesque place, Isle of Skye is very remote and hard to get to. It was definitely worth the twelve hours of being in a bus though. I am jealous of the few people who live up in Skye. They get to look at that scenery every day, though I do feel lucky to have seen it with my own eyes.
As always wishing you warm drinks and new adventures,
Maria
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