Travel Journal:

Across Scotland - From Glasgow to the Isle of Skye


From Glasgow to the Isle of Skye
 
We embarked upon our journey into Scotland with a plane ride from Ireland to Glasgow and from the city we rode a bus into the heart of the western Highlands, the Isle of Skye. The cheapest bus ride from Glasgow to the Isle takes about seven hours with frequent breaks, that is, if it makes it there-- with a fifty foot long vehicle trudging over slippery and narrow roads on mountains with no guard rail (the driver seemed rather indifferent as to how perilously close to the edge we were!), I was rather surprised that we made it to our destination at all.  However, the advantage of the more cost effective transportation is the tour of the ethereal scenery and "quaint" variety of fellow passengers, i. e. loud and obnoxious American tourists combined with drunken Swedes slurring drinking songs into a gargle of about five different languages and plenty of saliva.  Seeing as there was no movie on board, the tipsy Scandinavians provided us with entertainment for awhile, even offering drinks to our group members, but lost their quaintness when the decibel level of their merriment exceeded that of my headphones.  As for when not riding over the hair-raising parts of the road, the ride was an incredible scenic tour well worth the time and sacrifice of comfort; it was a seven-hour tour through a coffee-table book of National Geographic photographs which would put the Hawaiian Islands to shame.  Riding on that bus to Skye was the first time I got a feeling of what "jaw-dropping beauty" is. My group started taking pictures through the bus windows which we knew wouldn’t come out, but would serve as at least some semblance of evidence that yes in fact a place this gorgeous does exist. When passing through the dense forest I finally understood why Scotland has such a rich tradition of faerie lore: this place was exactly what I imagined every time I was read a faerie-tale as a child.  Every few minutes or so we passed a Medieval or Dark Ages castle and abandoned fortress-- something you just don’t get driving on the coast of California.
 
Map and Photos for Across Scotland
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Isle of Skye Journal : Across Scotland - From Glasgow to the Isle of Skye Travel Photos
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