The Search for the Heilan Coo Part 2

The second and final two nights of the tour were spent on the Isle of Skye in a city called Portree.  On the third day, before we reached the Isle of Skye, we paid a visit to Loch Ness to go monster hunting. It was our first misty morning and it gave the perfect, mysterious feel to Loch Ness. While at Loch Ness, I purchased Highland Cow earmuffs. They are quite possibly the greatest things to ever exist. Our guide told us that if we do spot Nessie, it only counts if there is more than one person that saw, and if both can prove that they are of sound mind. We went on a cruise on Loch Ness and got to see Urquhart Castle from the Loch. Unfortunately, there was no time to tour that castle.
























After Loch Ness, we stopped at Divach falls, where we walked down to see a gorgeous waterfall, and then hiked up an even steeper path (thanks, Alice) and walked along a road to see some sheep and get back to the bus. This whole tour was hiking, I swear. We stopped in Fort Augustus for lunch, which was cool because it was on Loch Ness. From Fort Augustus, we stopped at a viewpoint to hike up and see Loch Garry (aka Loch Scotland, because it is shaped like Scotland). It was amazing. Even though I was getting really freaking sick of hiking, it was worth it every time he made us get out of the bus. After stopping to look at Loch Garry, we made a quick stop to look at the cairns, which are man-made piles of rocks. Don't knock them over, the fairies don't like that. Also, don't ask me what they are for. I have no idea. 








One of my favorite views on this whole trip was the Five Sisters of Kintail. I can't remember the story (I swear I did listen, but we went to so many places and he told us so many stories, that even the notes I took don't help me). It was so hard to believe that places that beautiful actually exist. My mind is blown. I would have had no problem sitting there and looking at it for hours. No words can describe it and no pictures can do it justice. It is just amazing. We got to then tour Eilean Donan Castle. This castle is very pretty on the outside, but a bit tacky on the inside. There are these life-size (and very life-like) figures standing all over (they scared Gill and I on multiple occasions), and they have just made it cheesy inside. Many movies are filmed there, people get married there, and it is really interesting to look at, but it is more interesting on the outside than inside, in my opinion. There was also a very attractive piper outside the castle, he was nice to listen to and watch as we ate ice cream cones.











I think it was at this point that we crossed over on to the Isle of Skye. There is one rule on the Isle of Skye: DO NOT WHISTLE BECAUSE THE FAIRIES DON'T LIKE IT. We drove in Portree, and were dropped off at all our different places of accommodation. We walked into the main square (which, no matter where your B&B was, was within walking distance of the square) and had dinner at Antlers Bar & Grill (where I had a steak and ale pie, which was my second that day) and they made me try a bite of Haggis (it doesn't taste bad, but when you know what it's made out of, it's really hard to get yourself to eat it. Our new Australian friend, Gill, could not handle drinking her ale warm, so she put ice cubes in it, despite the looks of horror Alice, our guide, James, and I gave her. After dinner, we listened to a youth group of some sort play their bagpipes in the town square. It was really lucky that we were there that day, it was fun to listen to them. We got ice cream and wandered around the harbor and then walked back to our B&Bs because we were exhausted. 


Day four of the tour was one of the most magical days. First thing, we had to admit to James that Alice and I had both whistled. We had listened to Mary Poppins and completely forgot until we both looked at each other horrified. He stopped the bus and jumped out, got back on and made us both ring the bell that he has hanging from the rearview mirror.  We hiked up and around the Fairy Pools. The mountain peaks were misty and the path along the pools was very sunny. It was a difficult climb (both ways, we walked down then up going into the Fairy Pools and coming out of them). There is one rule of the fairy pools: you can leave shiny, silver things, but not money, and you cannot take anything but pictures and a drink. It was so pretty up there. The farther you walk, the more crystal clear pools and waterfalls you find. The water is cold, clean, and extremely drinkable. It's so peaceful up there. There was a bagpiper playing on our way down (there's a story about that, but I wouldn't be able to do it justice for you, plus I can't remember it all), and it made the journey even more amazing. As I've said before, pictures do not do any of the scenery in Scotland justice, words cannot describe how you feel as you're sitting there, looking at these unbelievable views; everyone needs to experience this feeling.



















Following our trip to the Fairy Pools, we found ourselves at a pub in Carbost having a drink and taking a break after that extremely strenuous walk. From Carbost, we dunked our heads in the Fountain of Youth! It was pretty amazing. I got dirt all over my face, my shoes got soaked, and my makeup ran, but was still fantastic. We then hiked up a hill to get a good view of The Old Man of Storr, which is a rock that sticks up like 163 (I could be wrong and I can't be bothered to look it up) feet, like the raised fist of a giant, or a memorial built by the Wee People (Brownies). We drove around the mountain to the cliffs of Tobhta Uachdrach and it was breathtaking. There are no words for it. This is the point where I didn't do something that a couple others did, because I'm clumsy and I didn't want to fall to my death. Our guide and two people in our group climbed down a vertical slope to sit on a little ledge. No matter how much I channel my inner sheep/mountain goat, I would not have come out of that safely. We then moved down the road to Kilt Rock, which is named because the rock looks like the pleats in the back of a Scotsman's kilt. The views were again, too pretty for words, and there was a piper who wins most attractive piper award by far.
















Our next (but not yet final) stop on day four was the Quiraing walk. We drove up, got out of our Wee Red Bus, and hiked, yet again. There were two sides to hike up, Alice and I did them both. There were sheep (making their adorable and hilarious sheep noises) all over the place, as well as sheep poop everywhere. I need to wash EVERYTHING when I get home just in case it stuck to my shoes. Our final stop was to the Fairy Glen. The Fairy Glen was amazing. There was a fairy castle that we climbed (to get to the top, we had to squeeze through a tiny space between rocks), stone circles (if you enter a stone circle DO NOT touch the stones. As much as I'd like to find myself a burly highlander like Jamie Fraser, I could not handle the 18th century), and more sheep! There are sheep all over Scotland, if you didn't know. Like. All over. As we left the Fairy Glen, one of the guys sitting by us pointed out the window and said, "Oh look, there's a big ferry!" and me, being the dumbass that I am, thought he was talking about a FAIRY. Everyone had a good laugh at that one. We finished off day four and started our final night on the tour at Antlers Bar & Grill again with the entire group. We ate dinner, had drinks, and had a blast. Our tour group was really something else. 





















On day five, our final day of the tour, it was cloudy and turning back into normal Scotland weather. Our tour guide called me a bonnie lass (which is extremely exciting, believe me), we stopped at a waterfall, and then we were off to the village of Ardvasar to get the ferry back to mainland Scotland. It wasn't all that eventful, we were all exhausted and ready for a nap. The water in Scotland and all around Scotland is so damn clear. We could see the rocks all the way at the bottom almost everywhere we went, except Loch Ness, that place is mysterious as hell and the water is really, really dark. After we got back on the bus, I believe the next stop was the Glenfinnan Viaduct in Glencoe, which is well-known because of the Harry Potter movies (!!!). It had just finished pouring when we arrived at the viaduct and the Glenfinnan monument dedicated to Bonnie Prince Charlie, so the midges were everywhere. If you don't know what midges are, count yourself lucky. They get all up in your face and swarm you. They bite, fly in your throat, and up your nose. They really suck. The viaduct was awesome to see. Pictures make it a little hard to see though, it's not super noticeable in the background. The monument was set up on a little beach and besides the midges, it was really pretty. I didn't look too much at the monument to be honest. I need to read up on the Bonnie Prince to see what he was all about (Outlander doesn't tell me much). We drove deeper into Glencoe where we saw the Three Sisters, which were used as a backdrop in Harry Potter (!!!). There are big black slugs all over and they are gross. Once we got to where Glencoe ends and Rannoch Moor begins, we got out to see the perfectly U shaped valley. As we carried on, James told us about the horrible massacre of the MacDonald clan by the Campbell clan and that some places on MacDonald land still do not let Campbells in. 
























The whole trip, many of us were pestering James to take us to see a highland cow up close because god dammit they are adorable. As we left the Highlands and we got closer to Edinburgh, I was convinced that we were never going to see one, and I had come to terms with it. AND THEN we pulled in to see Hamish the Highland Cow. He wasn't super close to the fence and the little store wasn't open so we couldn't feed him, but it was amazing. There was Hamish the reddish/auburn cow, and then there was a black one as well. Our final stop, which I didn't even know we were going to, was Doune Castle. This is where they film Castle Leoch in Outlander, some parts of Game of Thrones, Monty Python, and Ivanhoe. It was closed, we couldn't tour it, and Jamie Fraser/Sam Heughan (I'd take either, honestly) was no where to be seen, but it was great. There was a time when me and two other ladies on the tour got the crap scared out of us by a bird flying out of the tall grass we were walking through. The shrieks we made were hilarious. We took a bunch of group pictures (which we may never see because the phone they were taken on belongs to the least-social media using couple on the tour), and headed off to Edinburgh, where I proceeded to tear up and almost completely lose it when saying goodbye. We all hugged and went out separate ways. Alice and I ate a ridiculous amount of Nando's and went back to our Airbnb to just chill. Alice and I spent our last day in Edinburgh laying around (we did go out, but not for long). We went to dinner at our favorite restaurant in Edinburgh and watched movies when we got back and the next morning before we parted ways.














This tour was the best thing I have ever done. I am not and have never been that adventurous of a person. I've always believed that being there and seeing things from distance was good enough, but this trip taught me that it is not. When I get home, I want to hike and find all the beautiful places home has to offer. It might not be the beautiful, mysterious, wonderful Scottish Highlands, but it will still be wonderful.

So. I will be coming home a believer in monsters, fairies, brownies/wee people. I will forever dream of the Scottish Highlands. But for now, I recommend all of you go listen to Caledonia by Dougie MacLean and dream of the Highlands with me.

Also, stay tuned, because at some point, there will be something about my final four nights in the UK up here. Who knows when I'll actually get that finished, eh?

Thank you for reading!

Jess

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