Du-Enter

Car or bicycle? Well, let us wait few more days and lets see the weather forecast. You know it changes up there everyday. Exactly! That´s why we have to decide once and for all…”OK then” Lets risk it and take the bikes no matter what! Then the bike it is. I went to buy some waterproof trousers and we set off Sunday morning trying to get through half of the London to Kings Cross, which by the way, is not as easy as it sounds with two fully loaded bikes.
Finally there, this chaos of Kings Cross train station really got into me and the only thing I wanted was to sit on a train taking me away from this loud, smelly, fast moving metropolis, enjoying the new adventure.
I love trains, same does Jan, and we were really looking forward to spent 8 hours there, reading, playing games, eating and just relaxing. After hanging our bikes in the area provided we headed to our seats. I was much more relaxed and already fully engulfed in the new adventure. Just before leaving Kings Cross, our “neighbours” arrived. We had a table seats and I was wandering how was Jan, who is reasonably tall, going to spend 8 hours on a train sitting opposite even a taller male with no room left to move legs! The pair decided to move soon after we left London and we had our four seats to ourselves. Thanks god as the journey nearly killed me!

We arrived in Inverness just after 8pm and as it was July, the sun was still high up on the sky. We started looking for our B&B and got the taste of the first, although gentle, hills. It was lovely being in a town where Sunday is still Sunday and shops are closed, restaurants are closed and people are at home with their families or having a walk around the town. Next morning we went out getting to know the town, hearing some bagpipes for the first time, Jan trying Scottish kilts that suited him soooo well and just relaxing and getting ready to set off tomorrow, hoping and praying the weather would stay with us and it will not start pouring down with rain like it did for the last week during the Scottish Open!

Next morning a sunny day awoken us and with full bellies after our first Scottish breakfast with black pudding and potato scone, we packed our staff and headed to Loch Ness. It was just under 30 miles that day so we knew we had plenty of time and could take it easy. The ride was very pleasant and I never imagined it to be so pretty and so huge. The lake just goes on and on and on and on. Just after lunchtime, around 2pm we came to our accommodation for that night – the Hobbits!

We both were looking forward to this as on the web it looked really cool. We got the keys and went to discover our hobbit. It was literally on the lake – Loch ness was a meter from our wooden porch. The hobbit itself was very simple, heater, kettle, 4 beds, one window, hangers and a fridge, but it smelled of wood and was nicely warm. As the day turned out to be amazingly hot, we spent the afternoon sunbathing on our wooden porch, eating, drinking and just chilling out with only sound being the gentle waves of the Loch Ness. What a day! Our tranquility was slightly spoiled when we realised that there are no pillows/duvet and we, of course, did not bring our sleeping bags to minimise the weight. I literally thought for one minute that I will be sleeping under my pink Karrimor trek towel, but as always, Jan saved the day and got us all we needed for just around £7.00. Yuppie…

Next morning yet another superb sunny day awaited and I started to think we were extremely lucky, weather concerning. We diverted few miles before Fort Augustus and followed A887 to Inner Hebrides. We especially decided to take the A887 and It paid off, as most of the day hardly any cars passed us. The scenery was just amazing, slight climb all day as we had to move up from around 50 masl to 250 masl through vast hillsides full of rivers, stone bridges, blooming flowers, lakes, evergreen needle-leaved trees and magnificent mountains surrounding us. I think that on a bike you get much more personal and private experience then scrolling around in a car making the compulsory stops for a photo. We stopped for a night at Cluanie Inn – lovely hotel with great accommodation, food and friendly stuff in one of the most beautiful and quite remote sceneries I have ever seen.

In the morning we got out quite happily knowing that today´s journey would be pretty much all downhill, which I was really glad for as my knee started to give the first signs of overuse. We left the highlands behind and passing the 5 Sisters we slowly made our way towards Dornie Castle. All this area should have been covered with the Scottish mountain cow, but to my great disappointment we have not seen one! Later on we spoke to some locals, who explained that this will in few years most probably be a forgotten species in these places as people just give up the farming of these amazingly looking cows for being just too expensive for local farmers with the imposed EU laws and requirements. What a shame, especially when you find them portrayed in every souvenir shop whether it being on a postcard, T-shirts or so on.

Passing Eilean Donan castle we finished the day in a nearby village of Nostie. As the weather turned and showers were imminent, we headed to our B&B for a well-deserved rest.

We stayed here to rest for one day, swapped the bike for some walking and visited the castle, which is really well preserved and there´s loads to see.

Our 7th day marked our visit to the first of the Inner Hebrides islands – the Isle of Sky. From Kyle of Lochalsh an uphill climb through the bridge took us to this remarkably hilly island, although the visibility was not the best. Mind you, again, it was NOT raining. As we were climbing one of the many hills, we have seen more and more cyclist coming from a path, which looked like it belonged to a private property. It turned out to be an alternative cycle route completely traffic free. What a joy!

We happily turned from the road onto this cyclist path and after few meters we heard this big explosion… I thought Jan got a puncture, but the sound was so loud that I could see fear in Jan´s eyes. He said it was no way a puncture, got off the bike and the fears were confirmed… his back tire blow up, leaving a very large hole. Obviously, this is something we did not plan for… we had enough extra tubes, but no spare outer tire… and being in the middle of nowhere, on an island where there is NO bike shop, it was bit desperate to see how we gonna cycle for another 20 miles or so. Jan decided to change the wheels to alleviate the pressure and somehow tried to, at least provisionally, fix it. I hurried to the last village we past 5 miles back – Broadford – to try to get somehow, from somewhere a new tire. I asked 4 or 5 people if there was any cycle hire around and managed to find a B&B that hired cycles. It was an elderly couple and yet again by an extreme luck that was accompanying us since we left, the gentleman happened to have exactly the size of tire we needed! I could not believe it! I rushed back to Jan still full of adrenalin with the brain new tire around me and smiling victoriously… Jan could not believe it and poor thing, had to redo the fixing once again . In 30 min we were finally good to go!

We came starving to our todays destination – Armadale – and were rewarded by a spot on family run tiny restaurant or rather take away with few tables … right on the ´beach´ front and with magnificent views of Scotland mountains, Morar area and Mallaig, our next destination. The sun was shining, the food was great and I could not believe they say the weather is horrible in Scotland! With full bellies, we headed to find our B&B for tonight.

Unfortunately, the weather turned the next day and for the first time it was properly ´raining´, We did not feel much like cycling, but yet again there was an alternative! From Mallaig, you can take a train heading towards Glasgow, so once we got off the ferry, we run to the train station to catch the connecting train, ´hanged´ our bikes and were happy we did not have to get wet . By the time we got off in Lochailort it stopped raining and we were once again lucky. With train, we cut a lot of our journey for today and were left only with short cycle of around 10 miles and with loads of time to explore lakes with the local salmon and mussel farms, nature and scenery as yet again, we were alone on the roads, with hardly any car passing us at all. What a joy!

We arrived at Glennuig Inn to which we were looking forward to a lot, since the owner spoke our language! The world is really small! The shop on the main road was closed when we arrived and as we were running out of energy supplies I went to check opening times, 2pm till 5pm, wonderful… loved the simple, laid back lifestyle these people must have. As it was still time for the shop to open, we went to check in. The place is brand new and has a beautiful restaurant with great food and even better – live ales! Can only recommend it and if you are into kayaking I recommend to get in touch with Steve and arrange a hire for few days as this is a great gateway to explore some of the smaller Inner Hebrides or this part of west Scotland with its white sand beaches! Unbelievable…

Next morning we woke up bit earlier and had a massive breakfast with fresh salmon, said our goodbyes and prepared for one of the toughest days ahead, due to the numerous elevations we had ahead of us until reaching Kilchoan.

Hills aside, the area we passed – Moidart, Acharacle, Loch Sunart and Ardnamurchan – were stunning, and although it was a hard work with never-ending ups and downs, it was definitely one of the nicest days we had. Scenery was just amazing and different from the past days. The last elevation of 500m after 30 miles cycling nearly did it for me and I was starting to lose my humour, but what goes up must go down as Jan sais so after speedy descent we finally arrived in Kilchoan with my knee on fire. Thanks god we had a day off next day.

We took early morning ferry to Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. A short ferry ride, where if you are observant, you can easily spot dolphins splashing around the ferry.

As we had basically a whole day to spend in this lovely town, we wanted to try to get a ferry to another island for a day trip, but unfortunately realized it is IMPOSSIBLE. If you want to visit any of the islands, you basically have to go to Oban and catch a boat from there that will pass Tobermory, but will not stop here, and the same on the way back, If you ask me where is the logic in this I will say there is NONE! Speaking to the locals about this they share the same view and explained that this happened around 30 years ago and completely killed the town. Before you were able to get to the islands from here as well, which is very convenient if you are coming from the north, besides of course having the islands much closer then if you are traveling all the way from Oban! Mind you, that this is one of the most beautiful harbours we saw on the way. Truly picturesque with some very good seafood restaurants worth trying.

Next day was our last day of cycling through the Mull and as we did not have time to go round it entirely and visit Iona Island (definitely something we will be back for) we headed for Craignure and Duart Castle.

We took evening ferry to Oban and staid the night there. It felt very strange, coming to a proper town after more than a week in places where the village has 5 to 10 houses and the only grocery shop is a filling station. I think both of us, Jan and me, we were quite sad of leaving this behind and were not much looking forward to the `town´ tourism. Oban, although little town, looked to us as a city hihi but a thought of Edinburgh and finally London was even scarier. We checked-in and went for a walk along the town´s sea front. It had nice feel to it with the sun warming our faces, people sitting around, chatting, walking, eating, harbour full of little boats and few tiny islands and at the end of it all a beautiful ivied castle ruin, giving that romantic feel to it.

We bought train tickets to Edinburgh with the stopover in Glasgow for the next day – and nearly got a heart attack when we saw the price! I really recommend buying these ahead as on the spot the cost is ridiculous!

6 hours later and we are getting off in Edinburgh at Haymarket station. Unfortunately it is rush hour and we need to stand back for few minutes to change our super relaxed chip and get into the flow of people rushing, running and looking through you rather then at you. Thanks god the hotel is not far away… Luckily, we booked a studio with fully fitted kitchen, so we checked-in, did some food shopping in Tesco round the corner, where with such a variety after the days on the road and limited storage we literally wanted to buy and eat everything .

Next day, we went off to explore Edinburgh and I have to say that it is a lovely city. Really loved the romantic feel of the Old Town. We went through typical touristy points and as Edinburgh is quite small, it can be easily done in one day. As we were staying there for two days, we did the first one on foot and the next day (our train was leaving around 5-ish) we went round on bikes. I was bit scared as I do not like to cycle around quite a busy towns that I do not know on a bike, but I changed my mind completely as I think it is the best way to go around! We were able to scroll around parts further out of the city centre and get some nice views and panoramas. The weather once again was spot on and I even managed to get sunburn  (not mentioning Jan, who by now was like coming from a Caribbean … although, only on some typical cyclist parts … a typical T-shirt tan).

Leaving Edinburg I felt like I have been gone for at least a month. I was completely relaxed; full of new memories, beautiful places and great moments we experienced… and even with some new friends!

But the adventure was not all over … hey we still had 8 hours on a train and then journey from Kings X to Wimbledon! Arriving at Kings X, Saturday evening, 10pm, with two fully loaded bikes, you can just imagine all that was going on. We both just wanted to be home, in our reasonably quiet and calm Wimbledon.

But London welcomed us just greatly! No trains from North to South due to Blackfriars being closed, no district, circle or Hammersmith and city lines, so in a nutshell, no way to get from north London to the South London with a bike except cycling, which I did not feel like doing. Anyway, bad luck, so we took out the phone and tried to figure out the best way to take… when the station staff approached us again and recommended to go to Highbury and Islington and take the Overground … apparently just round the corner. Well I never lived in the north and I can assure you it is not round the corner and certainly without a map, we would never have found it. So off we go, getting off at Shepherd Bush and from there cycling to our place, overall another 2 hours at least. That’s nearly half the time you need to get to Edinburgh!

Sitting at home on a terrace with a cup of tea, I reflect on the holidays and smile to myself thinking about the people we met and the beautiful places they decided to stay and live in … but we will be back! In the end more Inner and Outer Hebrides are still awaiting us.