Day 3 - Isle of Skye

After a rude awakening (4 hours of sleep is really not enough to function!), we all piled onto the bus again for a tour of the Isle of Skye. Knowing that we were all tired from our exploits the night before, Ruaridh decided to start the day off with something that would wake us all up...mainly: dunking our heads into freezing cold water!

He told us a legend of a young woman who had been told by her clan that she would be wed to a prominent member of a rival clan in an attempt to create peace. Now, clan territory stretched on forever, so this young, beautiful woman was given a horse and some supplies and was sent on her way to make the long trip to her new home. She actually wound up doing fairly well on her own until she got near the end of the trip. Her horse slipped and she was thrown, landing precisely on her beautiful face. She broke her cheek bone and even managed to pop one of her eyes out (yes, all Scottish legends are this gruesome). Not wanting to let her clan down, she carried on and made it to the rival clan to meet her husband. However, when he saw this broken woman with only one eye (especially when he had been promised a beautiful maiden) he thought the other clan was insulting him and instead of creating peace through the marriage, he started a war.

Well the woman started on her way back home with no husband, no peace, and feeling very responsible for all the men of her clan who were dieing because of the war. She sat down by a river and started crying about the horrible situation she'd caused, when one of the faery-folk popped up. He felt so bad for her that he wanted to make things right. He told her to wash her broken face in the water for seven seconds and everything would be alright. Not really believing him, but not having anything to lose, she did it, and upon looking at her reflection in the water afterwards she saw that all her wounds were gone and that she was beautiful again. She returned to her husband to fulfill her destiny and stopped the feuding between the clans.

Because of this legend, it is thought that that river on Skye is blessed and if you wash your face in it for seven seconds you will stay young and beautiful forever! The great story and the cold water was the perfect way to wake up, and we were all wide-eyed and ready to go as soon as we got back on the bus.

Our next stop was Duntlum Castle, a ruined castle right on the coast of Skye which was often fought over by the MacLeod and MacDonald clans. Ruaridh told us that in all of Scottish history, no castle has changed hands as often as Duntlum, and finally in order to settle the ownership once and for all they decided to have a boat race, and the first hand to touch land would get the castle. Well, near the end of the race the MacDonalds noticed they were losing and that there was no hope of catching up, so the clan chief ordered one of the rowers to chop off his hand and throw it ashore...and he did! The MacDonalds kept the castle and it was never fought over again. After the castle we headed on and made a few short stops at landmarks like Kilt Rock and the grave of Flora MacDonald, the woman who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape from persecution in Scotland.

We had lunch at a nice restaurant connected to a hotel. They have special deals for the Haggis tours because they cart in busloads 2 or 3 times a week. It was a good meal and nice atmosphere, despite the rainy weather outside.

We got back to the hostel just before dinnertime, and I'd had such a big lunch that I forwent dinner in favour of catching up a bit in my journal. After a while I went down to the bar for a drink and a chat and Lauren, Robyn, Isabelle and myself decided that since our escapades from the night before had not ended with us seeing the castle, we should take advantage before it got dark and the tide came in. Armed this time with raincoats, flashlights and no beer (!!) we made our way up to the castle with little difficulty (if you're sober and have light it's very easy!).

We chatted in the ruins for a bit, talking about our homes and how we were enjoying the trip. Soon we were joined by the three Belgian girls from our tour, Loes, Liesbeth and Lies whom we hadn't yet got the chance to know that well. We had originally thought they were too shy to speak to any of us, but we found out that they were really just self-conscious about their English. Once we told them that it was almost flawless, and of all those on the tour who's first language was not English, they spoke best, they opened right up and we had a few laughs.

When the sun started to set we thought it would be a good time to head back, but with the mention of leaving Isabelle said that she hadn't climbed all the way up there without doing a Saucy Mary, and if we had any balls we'd do it too. Well, not being one to back away from a challenge, Lauren and I both agreed to do it with Isabelle. Robyn was keen as well, but the Belgians wouldn't budge. They decided instead to take pictures of us (from the back!!) while we did it. Lauren and I didn't go as far as Robyn and Isabelle, who ripped their shirts clean off, but we did it, to the delight of the fishermen below!

Soon after we headed back down to the hostel to lose our packs in favour of some drinks in the pub across the road. We relayed our activities to the rest of the group who was already there, much to Ruaridh's disappointment as he had offered his services as a photographer for anyone wanting to do the Saucy Mary (which he had wisely not taken him up on!).

The pints flowed throughout the bar and as someone who hadn't had dinner, I was feeling mighty happy when we got back to the hostel! We were expecting then to go to bed, but a local musician was just warming up so we ordered a few more rounds and danced the night away with both traditional Scottish music and oldies pop songs. The Belgians really came out of their shells when the song 500 Miles came up. Apparently there's a dance that goes along with it, and the three of them managed to do it in perfect synch with each other and the music, which of course made us laugh hysterically! Drunk, happy and exhausted, we all made our way to bed after the bar closed at 1 a.m., wanting to be ready for another day of hiking through the highlands!