Les pieds dans l'eau

Note: we republished the posts in their correct order and updated the post Highland Games with a few more lines about Glencoe.

Day 10: Isle of Skye to Lewis and Harris.
Km driven: 180

The morning was spent driving around the northen peninsula of the Isle of Skye. We dutifully stopped to take a picture of the Old Man of Storr, a jagged bunch of pointy stones jutting out of a mountainside, then stopped for a waterfall where diatonite (?) used to be mined, and again for the Kilt Rock and finally at Duntulm Castle.

The road going around the peninsula is a well-maintained single track road, with a few of our favourite cattle grid: an horizontal grid spanning the road that cattle obviously wouldn't want to walk on and which advantageously replace a gate (which would have to be opened and especially closer by all the vehicle driving by).

We arrived early at the ferry at Uig, then boarded and took advantage of the crossing to catch up on writing this blog (the android app allows me to write my posts off line). We are officially up to date!

Did I think that the Isle of Skye was rugged? Compared to Harris, it is soft and green. Harris is green, but the rock is nearer the surface and the land is a patchwork of stones and grass. (What's the difference between a rock and a sheep? Both are the same size and colour, both can have a black face; but only the sheep will try to cross the road in front of your car. And that's debatable.)

After leaving the ferry in Tarbert, we drove south and west to Luskentyre beach. Very wide, the sand is fine and white, the water a clear blue, and the beached jellyfish added a the last tropical touch to the scenery. The weather is holding up for us, with enough sun today to work on a tan (the pale eggshell white is so much nicer than snow white).

On the way to the Youth Hostel, we passed a cyclist who arrived later on. We three are the hostel's only guests. Since the hostel is so small and out of the way, there isn't a permanent staff: the lady manning the adjoining shop is in charge of thing... and can only take our paiement when her till is on tomorrow morning.

It's funny how this hostel, that we had so much trouble finding (it's hidden behind a fuel station in the middle of nowhere) offers us simple but very enjoyable confort : a room for ourselves,  with plain single beds (instead of bunk beds), free wifi and a very cosy kitchen. To us it feels like luxury.