| Within two hours you can reach just about | | | | towards Mull. |
| everywhere if you stay in Glencoe, Scotland. | | | | |
| It is a remote and bautiful glen and you can | | | | "How about taking our little North Shian |
| get to the lovely misty Isle of Skye, to Loch | | | | road?" |
| Ness and the Monster country, to Edinburgh, | | | | |
| to the West Coast and you can watch whales. | | | | "Ok" |
| | | | |
| But don't try to do it all. That is a | | | | Single track road, with hardly any passing |
| terrible mistake. You'll wear yourself out. | | | | places. If you meet a car coming the other |
| The beauty will rush past. You'll meet no one | | | | way the chances are that one of you will have |
| interesting. | | | | to reverse, but you'll exchange a wave. |
| | | | |
| This is what most people do. | | | | "Wonder where the old slipway is, we found it |
| | | | before remember?" |
| You are 12th in line behind the caravan at | | | | |
| the front. A slow right hand bend comes up | | | | This is where the people, and cattle, used to |
| and you drift out to see if cars are coming, | | | | cross in a big rowing boat ferry 200 years |
| but you notice the car in front has edged up | | | | ago when they travelled the down the coast |
| to make it difficult for you to overtake. | | | | from North to South. Cuts off a days walk |
| | | | round the coast, and many famous people in |
| "Look at that castle over there, Dad," | | | | history have used it. It is about a mile |
| | | | across and the Spring tide flows strongly. |
| "In a minute, son," | | | | |
| | | | So we stopped to ask Charlie Moore who was |
| Then your concentration slips and disaster | | | | planting some larch trees in his garden. We |
| strikes. You took your eye off the car behind | | | | didn't kow him, but that does not stop people |
| and now he has whipped in front of you. The | | | | from talking together with strangers. |
| speedo tells you you are doing no more than | | | | |
| 45mph. You are tired, irritable and bored. | | | | The answer lasted for an hour as we swapped |
| That's not a holiday. | | | | stories of the roe deer in his garden, the |
| | | | old ferry, the new pier restaurant owners in |
| To-day Gillian and I toured Scotland the | | | | the village, and the evening when he froze in |
| correct way. We started out as usual with | | | | his garden as an otter walked by his feet. |
| little idea of where we were heading. | | | | The answer included his early days in the |
| | | | Orkney Isles. |
| "South?" | | | | |
| | | | His neighbours get some groceries for him, |
| "Ok." | | | | but he walks three miles to the nearest bus. |
| | | | Lovely man, didn't sound Scottish at all, but |
| "Stalker Castle for soup and a roll?" | | | | that's the Orcadians for you. |
| | | | |
| "Why not?" | | | | Back to the cottage half an hour later taking |
| | | | in little Port Appin and its small passenger |
| A ride along the edge of Loch Linnhe, on a | | | | ferry to Lismore on the way. Total distance |
| little road, with the mountains of Morven | | | | travelled? About 25 miles. |
| across the water. No traffic. Yesterday's | | | | |
| cold front had passed over leaving a cool, | | | | That's the way you tour Scotland properly. |
| clear and sunny day. The air was fresh and | | | | You don't go past it in a car. You go into it |
| you could see for miles down the Sound | | | | with the people. |