Day 5 - Carbisdale to Loch Ness

We left the castle at 8:30 as usual the next morning, enjoying a bit of a lay-in because of the restless sleep the night before. There would be a bit of driving to do that day because we had to get to Loch Ness for our last night. It wasn't too far away, but enough to give us sleepy-heads enough time for a nap here and there.

Our fist activity for day 5 was another climb up a mountain to some caves, though this climb was by no means as steep as the one from day 2. It was actually quite a nec walk, ascending slowly up the mountainside, and only getting steep near the very end when the caves came into view. We took a rest once we got up there, and Ruaridh told us about the bones and skulls which had been found deep in these caves throughout the last two decades. They were far too deep for us to explore without proper equipment, but Ruaridh grabbed my digital camera and crawled a bit deeper to get some shots to show us how far back it went. After everyone was rested and all photos were taken we made our way back down to the bus, stopping every so often for Ruaridh to point things out, like a river that started from nowhere, and a single tree which had grown on the mountainside even though there was nothing even slightly resembling it for miles.

Back on the bus, we continued on our way, stopping at a few nature spots, including a gorge and a waterfall which was full of Atlantic salmon trying to make their way upstream to spawn. It was neat to see them jumping out of the water, trying to get up the waterfall. I wish I had such determination to complete such a seemingly impossible task! We didn't see any actually make it up, but there were quite a few admirable tries!

Ruaridh stopped at a supermarket for lunch, and though they didn't have much, Lauren and I managed to up enough for a warm baguette and some meat and cheese. We ate on the bus, thinking about the three options for activities for the afternoon and evening. Ruaridh had given us three possibilities of things to do: 1) did we want to attend a small show which would teach us the customs of the clansman (yes!) 2) did we want to go on a boat cruise down the Loch Ness with a biologist who whole-heatedly believes there's something down there (yes yes!!) 3) if we opted for the cruise, did we want the hostel to make us a dinner of baked potato, beans and other such fillings (no!)? Lauren and I were both very excited about the show and the cruise, but a baked potato for dinner (especially one that cost £4.50!) was not very appetizing, so the two of us and Robyn (who felt much the same way) headed back to the Safeway to get some fresh pasta and turkey meat to cook up once we got to the hostel.

The clansmen presentation was really neat. We watched a really cheesy, low-budget film on the way of life for many clansmen. Though the costumes and props were very authentic, the acting was absolutely horrible, with a special emphasis on gruesome death noises. There was a live speaker, and he was very impressive. He showed as the uses of the original kilt (it wasn't called that then, it was simply a 'plaid') which is actually just a long piece of clothe in the clan's tartan about 8 metres long which folded and pleated into whatever shape was needed. It was used as camouflage, a blanket, and of course, covering for the body.

Scott, one of the guys in our tour, and who we'd come to know as G.I. Joe because of his tall stature, rugged good looks and his tendency to wear army fatigues, was volunteered by the rest of us wear the full dress of the clansman. Isabelle volunteered to be his wife. I must say, I'm sure their clothing was very practical and very warm, but sure wasn't flattering to the figure! Both of them were good sports though, and received and well-deserved round of applause at the end.

After the show and a quick tour around the shop (we got a necklace for Shannon!) we were herded back on the bus to hear some very disappointing news: the cruise down Loch Ness which we'd all been very much looking forward to was cancelled due to the impending thunderstorm that was being predicted for the reason that night. Ruaridh said he would ty his best to find another one in the morning, but insisted that there were no guarantees. We were all a little disappointed, though Lauren, Robyn and I were slightly relieved that we wouldn't have to rush to make and eat our dinner as soon as we got to the hostel.

The hostel was our next and last stop of the day, and though it did have a four-star rating for its facilities (very decent, though nowhere near as nice as the Globetrotter!) we found the staff to be quite condenscending and unwelcoming as they herded us into a line like 4-year-olds and organized our rooms so that hardly any of us from the tour were together. Lauren and I both booked at the same time, so we were together in a room with three other girls from a three-day tour which had just begun. We had an ensuite bathroom in our room, though, so we really had nothing to complain about (unlike Robyn, who was alone, not even in the main portion of the hostel and had a shared bathroom with a bunch of people she didn't even know!).

The staff was also most unhelpful when Robyn, Lauren and myself tried to make our dinner, telling us first that we'd have to wait (even though all the other cooking had already been done) and then being very rude and inhospitable once we did finally get in there. We still wound up having a very good meal out of it though!

The one good thing that the hostel had was its own private bar, and after dinner it became the place to be. We had all collectively decided that we were going to party REALLY hard on our last night together, and Ruaridh even held back the meeting time until 9 a.m. so that we would have an extra half hour to sleep our hang-over away. The special at the bar that night was double shots and mixers for £1.80, so Lauren and I started knocking back our double rum and cokes early and didn't stop until last call. Ruaridh had reluctantly informed us all on the bus that there was a karaoke machine available for those brave (or drunk) enough to give it a try, and it didn't take long before the sign-up list came around and the machine made its way to the front of the bar.

As well as signing us ourselves up for two of three songs, Lauren and I secretly wrote down Scott and Andrew (another big hunky guy--though he's taken!) to sing "Macho-Man." Robyn, Isabelle, Lauren and myself started off the evening singing American Pie, which we'd had in our heads at Saucy Mary's and wound up singing all the way up to the castle. Ruaridh threatened to hang himself after the third verse (that song is soooo long! It's like 8 verses!!) , so we took a break after that. The four of us were the main holders of the microphones that evening, as well as Paul who is an absolute RIOT when he's drunk, but very quiet when he's sober. He and Anna, the other Kiwi, sang Summer Nights from Grease, which was easily the best song of the night (Anna has professional vocal training and Paul's just hilarious). Mike went up one or twice, the Spanish Girls did a Ricky Martin song, and to our surprise and amusement, when Ruaridh called their names with a laugh and a grin, Scott and Andrew did their duet to The Village People's "Macho-Man"!! They were, of course, a hit.

Our greatest conquest of the evening, however, was when we persuaded a song out of Ruaridh, who had adamantly stated several times that he would NOT be getting up to the microphone. He actually wasn't bad, despite his protests which used us otherwise. By that time we were all so drunk that we were all screaming along at the top of our lungs, making it impossible to distinguish one voice from the others. The karaoke pretty-well ended when Fabio and two other Italians in the bar got together to sing accapella versions of two Italian songs. Their singing finished with a loud blast of hoots and cheers from the superbly sozzled crown, and the machine was put away for another evening.

Following the karaoke I had what I hope to be the lowest point of the trip. I had been very liberal about my digicam throughout the six days, being careful to know its whereabouts at all times, but not being too paranoid about lending it out when someone wanted to take a shot from a better angle, or just to see how it works. Throughout the week, however, someone (I don't know or care who) were pushing buttons they weren't supposed to and had inadvertently changed the resolution of the pictures I'd been taking from the highest setting to the lowest, meaning the photos were most likely to turn out small and blurry. Finding out that my memories from what had undoubtedly been the best trip of tmy life were basically ruined, coupled with copious amounts of alcohol, the realization that this amazing trip was in fact ending the very next day, and left-over stress from the last year's tumultuous events sent me into a downward spiral which even Lauren had a hard time bringing me out of.

She managed to do a very good job of cheering me up, and though I still didn't feel like going back down to join the party, I went to bed a little lighter than I had been the hours before. Kind words from both Mike and Fabio (who's expressionism with such broken English was both impressive and touching) also helped to ease my overwhelming disappointment. I'm very thankful to have met such amazing people on this tour, but I'm even more thankful to be traveling with the best friend I've ever met, and though she may be harsh at times, always knows just what to say!