Monday, July 27, 2009

Isle of Skye & Inverness, Scotland: 26-27 June 2009

The Inner Hebrides

Skye or the Isle of Skye, is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is often described as the shining jewel in the Hebridean crown. Skye is one of the top three tourist destinations in Scotland besides from Glasgow and Edinburgh.



The drive from where we stayed to Isle of Skye was around 6 hours. It was a long ride but yet scenic and pleasant. Along the highway, there are many viewing points where people can stop the car and enjoy the scenery.



The island's capital, Portree, in the northern side. It has busy shops and attractive harbor.
We did camping at a campsite a few mile from the town.
In Summer, the day was so long here that, we woke up at 3.30am, been waken by the sun and thought it was already 9am.
We had to leave the camp at around 8am, as the tent was scorching hot under the sun.



The beautiful harbor is still in used with fishing boats and fishermen busy with their own business, while the eager tourists taking pictures.



In the island, traffic is not that heavy and there are many sheep walking around, sharing the road with the traffic users.



Loch Fada, Trotternish, looking towards The Storr.



We made a loop around the Northern part of the island and passing by Uig, a town in the sheltered bay and also the terminal for ferries to Lochmaddy and Tarbert.



No visit to the Highlands is complete without the sighting of the highland hairy cows.

Inverness, the Highlands Capital

The name Inverness is Gaelic and translates as 'mouth of the river Ness'. This is the city where you will pass by or visit, in hunt of the Loch Ness monster.



Inverness Castle.



The River Ness flowing through the city.



We drove around the other side of Loch Ness in search of Loch Ness Monster or Nessie and to avoid the crowd at the other side.
Loch Ness is large, deep .... and very cold.
It was a bravery to try to swim in it, but unfortunately, without the sun, it was just too cold to even try to deep one's feet, not to mention to swim.

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