We waited anxiously in the chaotic bus terminal hoping that our Scottish tour group would be as enjoyable as our Irish tour group had been. We weren't sure what to think when a large yellow bus with the words "Wild and Sexy" displayed prominently on the side pulled in. We had, after all, signed up for a small group tour. Why was the bus so large?
It turns out that the parent company sells two categories of tickets under two different company names - Highand Explorer and Haggis Adventures. Tickets sold by Highland Explorer are more expensive, and travelers are booked into small hotels and bed and breakfasts. Travelers buying the less expensive tickets from Haggis Adventures are booked into hostels. We were really two small group tours combined onto one bus with one guide, and, as might be expected, half the group were mainly senior citizens and the other half was much younger.
When we piled on the bus, the younger people headed straight for the seats in the back, and the older people arranged themselves in the front, except for us. The far back seat had the most leg room, so Walt snatched it up. This was probably for the best because the people our age were mostly kind of annoying and we ended up spending a significant amount of time trying to avoid them. Walt and I referred to the younger members as "the kids".
Our guide on this tour was an amiable man named Rich. He barrelled competently and fearlessly down the narrow Scottish highways much as Angela had barrelled down the Irish ones. Like Angela, he kept up a steady, entertaining dialogue. The man sure could tell a story. At times it seemed like he was performing a stand-up comedy routine. Also, his music was less mournful, which we appreciated. It must have been difficult for Rich to keep the two disparate groups happy, but somehow he managed to do it.
Our first stop was the little town of Dunkeld.
Walt and I shared a cup of coffee at a popular bakery and then wandered about until we stumbled upon Dunkeld Cathedral. In ancient times, there was a Pictish monastery on the site, but all remnants of that are long gone. It took 241 years to build the current cathedral (from 1260 to 1501) so some aspects of the building are Gothic and some are Norman. Part of it is in ruins, but services are still held regularly, and the church welcomes visitors.
The cathedral sits on the bank of The River Tay.
Our next stop was the Highland Folk Museum, Britain's first open air museum. The attraction consists of 35 buildings spread out over 80 acres, and its mission is to educate people today about the lives of Highlanders between 1700 and the 1950's. The area has also served as the setting for several movies and television series including "Outlander". Volunteers are sometimes found in the buildings acting as residents or giving presentations about crafts or aspects of life in the past. A lot of the area is peaceful farm land.
These are a couple of the buildings I wandered into. They have all been moved to this location from other places in the Highlands.
Knockbain School House dates back to the 1920's.
This is the traditional sort of house that was built on the Isles of Lewis and Harris. It had to be strong and well insulated to withstand the winds and storms.
Lochanhully House was built by 2 brothers for their parents in the 1920's.
I was fascinated by details such as these recipes.
There were so many interesting displays in the buildings like this one showing the weekly ration for an adult during World War II. Although the war ended in 1945, rationing of some items continued until 1954.
I wandered through as many buildings as I could during the time we were given. I probably could have happily spent most of a day here, but it was time to move on to the Balnuaran of Clava.
There are three large cairns, or burial mounds, on this neolithic site.
Each cairn has an inner chamber. The photo on the left below is taken looking outward from the chamber in the center of the cairn.
At some point during the Bronze Age, stone circles were erected around the cairns.
The site also includes this stone circle which was built much later by the Picts sometime between 500 and 600 AD.
We posed by some of the larger stones.
The day had become surprisingly warm, and I was pretty much beat by the time we rolled into Culloden. If you have read Scottish history or watched "Outlander", you are aware of the brutal battle that took place here in April of 1746. I opted to relax in the air-conditioned Visitor Center cafeteria with an ice cream bar, but Walt wandered about a bit and took some pictures.
He even found some Highland cows.
Our final stop of the day was at the foreboding shores of Loch Ness.
Some of the kids couldn't resist jumping in for a swim.
Steve Felthan, who has been searching for proof of the Loch Ness monster for over 32 years, lives in this camper van beside the lake. Unfortunately, he wasn't around when we were there.
At the end of the long day, we finally rolled into Inverness where we spent the night. The rain poured down, and the restaurant we chose for dinner flooded partially as we ate, but we awoke to another beautiful unseasonably warm day. The weather was perfect as far as we were concerned but the Scots were already complaining about the heat.
Fortunately for me, there was also no wind. Today we would travel to Ullapool where the bus would be loaded onto a huge ferry and we would sail for 2-1/2 hours across a body of water known as The Minch to the Isle of Lewis. I had worried about this for weeks because the crossing could be quite rough, but on this day, the sea was absolutely flat.
We managed to grab great seats at the front of the passenger lounge on the top level. The ferry engine was surprisingly quiet, and the seats were extremely comfortable. Dolphins cavorted about the ship as it slowly made its way to the town of Stornoway.
Because the weather was so unseasonably beautiful, Rich declared that there would be a change of plans. We would head for the beach, making a scenic stop or two along the way.
As it turned out, it wasn't only people who had decided to enjoy a day on Horgabost Beach.
The kids let out a gleeful shout, striped down to their bathing suits, and jumped into the surf.
It certainly looked like they were having a lot of fun, and I would have loved to join them, but I'm sure the water would have been much too cold. We contented ourselves with sitting on the hillside enjoying the view.
In Stornoway we stayed in a lovely B&B owned by a kindly couple. Unfortunately we didn't reckon on the fact that Stornoway is a place where businesses close early and by the time we were ready to head out to find some dinner, all the restaurants were closed. We were about to settle in for a hungry night, when there was a knock on our door and the owner presented us with two bowls of delicious homemade pasta which we gratefully accepted. What a wonderful man.
