On to Inverness!
The ‘Kyle Line’ train runs from the ‘Kyle of Lochalsh’ on the mainland across from Skye to Inverness. We used ‘Gus’ Taxis’ again for transport from our hotel to the train depot with a stop at Eilean Donan Castle along the way.
Our driver, Sandy Gray, was great. A colorful guy, he told stories the entire route. In an earlier life, he was a police officer in the department responsible for all of the northern isles, including the Orkneys and Shetlands. This is a huge area with only a few officers.
One of his tales involved the sighting of ‘two large fins’ in the waters of Loch Ness while on patrol with a fellow officer. Per Sandy, they hurriedly took pictures but later realized they had forgotten to remove the lens cap from the camera. Uh-huh. He also shared with us the story of an obsessive figure who also had seen the beast. Here’s the link: The Obsessive Life and Mysterious Death of the Fisherman Who Discovered The Loch Ness Monster (narratively.com). Worth a read.
Eilean Donan Castle is one of the most famous views in Scotland. ‘Eilean Donan’ means ‘Island of Donnan’, named after a martyred Celtic Saint. The castle sits on a tidal island at the confluence (Pittsburgh folk will recognize that term) of three lochs – Loch Duich, Loch Long, and Loch Alsh. Originally built in the 13th century it was the stronghold of Clan Mackenzie and destroyed by government siege during the Jacobite rebellion and later rebuilt.
We boarded the train at ‘Kyle of Lochalsh’. ‘Kyle is of Scottish origin meaning ‘narrow land’ or strait so the term refers to the ‘straits of Loch Alsh’. The route took us from views of Skye and Loch Alsh, through the seaside village of Plockton (note to self – ‘come back here’!), views of the Torridon Peaks and Ben Wyvis, through moors along the banks of the Beauly Firth, through the Mull of Ord, terminating in Inverness.
Our lodging is at the ‘Ronas House’ B&B. Google maps suggests a 15-minute walk from the train station. Uh, wrong – they didn’t calculate the massive altitude change as Ronas sits at the top of a steep hill overlooking Inverness. An Uber query yielded nothing available. We later found out they don’t operate in Inverness or any of the communities outside Edinburgh or Glasgow. Nice
The B&B is owned by a couple from the Orkney Islands, our next stop. Nice people. It’s a pleasant place with the requisite 2 -story walkup to our rooms. Lots of Arcadian artwork on the walls.
The walk down to the city center for dinner at the ‘Kitchen’ restaurant was easy – it’s downhill all the way! Getting back was a little more demanding, but not too bad without luggage. While having a pre-meal pint at one of the city pubs we ran into the Canadian father and son travelers we met on the ferry to Skye. They were also having a pint – great minds think alike.
