So we are off. Touted as one of the most beautiful train rides in the world - and it is. What we could see of it. Very stormy weather. Did the best I could on moving train and rainy, steamy windows for pictures. Nice train. They are all clean and comfortable. I think it was about 5 hour trip to Mallaig which is beyond Ft. William which is the biggest city in the northwest corner of Scotland. Some people on the train seemed to be locals going there for Saturday shopping, others on their way to Skye. Although I didn't get pictures, there were hiking trails with a lot of people on them despite the weather that we saw from the train. Also travelers on the roads near the train.
JACK SEZ--These are a hardy lot. Hikers in "mist" far from any road. Bikers everywhere--including on trains, which are designed to store 2/3 bikes per car.
This was Jack's big adventure because he didn't want to just do a return trip to Glasgow and on to Edinburgh which is just an hour further. Sooooo, he found out there was a ferry terminal near the train station in Mallaig. Which was true and would be very convenient IF it were not pouring down rain and very windy. So we put on our ponchos to cover us and scooter, pulled the bags just a couple blocks to the ferry terminal. It was packed so we decided to just chill till the next one in about an hour. Hoping the rain would let up was part of the decision. It didn't. Very short (20 minute) ride on a great ferry to Armadale.
JACK SEZ-- Consistent advice was train Glasgow to Ft. William for scenery (4.5 hours), then (4.5 hours) back to Glasgow for train to Edinburgh (1 hour). When looking at RR map, branch runs north from Ft., Willian to Mallaig--45 minutes further, then dead end. Then--maybe 40 mi. as crow flies--is eastern dead end of line from Edinburgh at Kyle of Lochalsh. Lottsa Loch between. I assumed there would be ferry. Expected some kind of six car --no cabin--rig. In fact, there is extensive ferry service with multi ramp boats and comfort for foot travelers. We saw 20-30 on foot for most boats. There is very nice lounge, elevator (need for my scooter) and even some kind of snack bar. Might be fun one day to do the various linking ferries as impromptu tour. So, if you can get from Mallaig to Kyle, the train ride is about same--instead of back track you get all new scenery to Edinburgh. Train arrived in Mallaig about 5. Departure on Kyle side was 10 a.m. Ferry almost every hour but seemed best to get as close to next day start as possible. That meant night in local inn which was plus for adventure. Nobody seems to think of doing this so it took a lot of emails to taxi ,etc to explain but I got the taxi, etc. worked out.
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At Armadale, as Jack had planned was taxi waiting for us. Real nice older guy. Still raining. Had to take scooter apart to fit into very small taxi. Pointed out things on the way to Kyle which is kind of the gateway on the mainland for the Isle of Skye. Apparently, it is very posh. Exclusive fly in resorts, some famous chef has a hotel whose name I can't remember.
We got to Kyle which is great little village. Our B&B, Tingle Creek Inn is on the outskirts of town. Very, very narrow hilly roads so we could not get back into town with scooter. But, no worries, they served dinner! and... had a great bar. We arranged to just leave scooter and big bag in the taxi since he is picking us up in the AM to get to train station in town. Then time to relax.
JACK SEZ-- Technically Tingle Creek is in hotel in Erbusaig--maybe 3 miles to Kyle depot--which was part of my problem. I told taxi we wanted to go to Kyle. Hard to explain hotel in Erbusaig. See hamlet and hotel. http://www.tinglecreek-hotel.co.uk/erbusaig.html
The Tingle Creek is simply wonderful. Andrew ,the owner with his wife, was just so great in every respect. Beautiful place, very Scottish. Wonderful meal, also very Scottish. Had cullen stink soup made of smoked fish and huge pile of mussels. Jack had lagostinos (huge) and venison stew. Yum but way too much. Shared a great bottle of wine AFTER happy hour in which I received the Tingle Creek Hotel whiskey passport. It listed a sampling of the scotches from different regions of Scotland. Andrew started me out with the "sweetest" which were wonderful. I used it afterwards too. Such a great idea. The food was great and so was the company. Couple from England who were fun and an American from Cleveland living in Scotland because of her husband's job who was touring with her visiting US cousin. Too bad the weather was so bad.
JACK SEZ-- Lagostinos is topic by itself. Simple answer they are a little lobster related to the spiny lobster of Florida. Those we see in US come from Chile, but something similar is caught everywhere from North Sea to New Zealand. Called lagoustines generically. Those I had were surely local and excellent. Nephrops norvegicus, is known variously as Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, langoustine or langostino, and scampi. As side note, they are now very important part of catch because cod are over-fished. When cod was plentiful, I heard they threw the "shrimp" back. Wonder how long before we over-fish the lagoustines? Then what?
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Scottish langoustines
Scottish langoustines
Scottish langoustines
Next morning: a little break in the weather. Taxi on time and on our way to train--early. Such a nice guy and the Tingle Creek was so great. I would go back there in a second - even if the weather was so bad. Isle of Skye is supposed to be great. Had our tummies full with wonderful breakfast buffet. They like grilled tomatoes with breakfast in the UK and so do I. Black pudding--I don't want to know. Bacon is just terrible everywhere. Kind of Canadian bacon but fatty and large pieces. Not exactly ham either. Train was the easiest to get on yet. They don't seem to relate well to pigs.
JACK SEZ-- Train depot is on jetty in a loch. Just dead ends. I could see that on google map and kept looking for ferry. I think there used to be a ferry before Skye Bridge which they are proud to show. Just confirmed my guess. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_of_Lochalsh_railway_station. Also learned others discovered Kyle. In the episode of Great Railway Journeys of the World "Confessions of a Trainspotter" (1980), Michael Palin travels from London to the Kyle of Lochalsh and returns with the railway station's sign.
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