The Drive to Skye - Scotland Day 2 part 1

5.00 am: Coffee and Conversation at dawn.
I woke up around 5 am the next day, quite a bit woozy and disoriented, but driven out of bed by the realization that we had to leave as early as possible, and that none of the others would be up on time unless I woke them. In this, however, I was wrong, as Kuruvilla's bed was empty, and I saw her lying half comatose in the hall, having being awakened by a phone call from India. We felt much better once we got some caffeine in us, and we watched the spectacular sunrise over the harbour as we slowly sipped our coffee.

6.30 am: Where they were rudely awakened
The next challenge was waking up the other narcoleptic three. Gupta was up without too much of a fuss, but both George and Kumar, deeply dreaming of the women they could never get in real life, absolutely refused to get up. So I got Kuruvilla and Gupta to use the bathrooms (there were only two) first, while I woke the remaining too. I started work on George first. After a dint of much poking and prodding and guilt-trips, he finally sat up. My sigh of relief was premature however, as he saw Kumar snug under the duvet, and said - Wake him up first, and dropped straight back into his pillow. Okay, so I'll wake up Kumar, I thought. This was easier said than done as, for a skinny little skeleton; Kumar was surprisingly resistant to being woken up, clinging to his duvet and blanket and perverted dreams like a cross between a mule and a limpet.

7.00 am: Where I am tortured.
Oh, hang it all, I thought, and since one of the bathrooms were free by then, I in to start my toilet. Ahh, what could be more relaxing than a hot shower, especially when the climate is a bit nippy. I all but melted under the soothing jets of hot H2O, but quickly and rudely awakened when within five minutes the pleasant stream of water, became a FRIGID STREAM OF LIQUID ICE. Well, I should have seen that happening.

Remember guys, when there is a limited size boiler in the house, DO NOT LET THE GIRL TAKE THE FIRST BATH. Well, you can imagine the scene - me nekked and all soaped up cowering in the far corner, as far away from the stream of water which is so cold that it BURNED. From the other bathroom, a scream of pure anguish fell on my ears. I smiled sourly; apparently George had found the hot water had run out too.

I don’t want to recount how I managed to shower off the remaining soap off me, but I still dream about it sometimes. It haunts me. Kumar of course, having been the last person to get up did not have to suffer the agony of the temperature of the shower dropping from a pleasant 40 C to around 0 Kelvin. He simply opted not to have a bath, which worked out well for him, but forced the rest of us to spend that day travelling with our heads sticking out of the car window.

10 am: Last Moment Leaving Panic
After a hurried breakfast and a careful packing of the car, by which I mean throwing everything we had in the house in the back of the car, Kumar with great skill and resource lost the car keys. He made it seem so easy. Well, after a frantic ten minutes, where he panicked and jumped around like a castrated cockroach, we found the keys in his pocket, and checked out, and were off on our way, with Gupta at the wheel.

We found our way very easily this time, mostly due to my amazing memory and map reading skill, and were soon on our way to Fort William.

10.45 am: Loch, Stock and four smoking tyres.
We avoided the A90, and the bridge, which was apparently heavily crowded, but went west on the Glasgow road and merged onto the M9, which we left at Kildean to go on the A84.The A84/A82 is an amazingly scenic route, especially after Callander, after which we drove through several well wooded areas, and passed several Lochs with fascinating names like Loch Lubnaig, Loch Earn, Loch Tulla (with a turnoff to the ominous sounding Black Mountain), Lock Nah-Achlaise and Lock Ba.

We stopped at one of these lochs to take a few photographs and stretch our legs, and then we were off again. And here they are -

Remember, click on the slideshow to view them in detail. It's quite worth it, I promise you.

At Glencoe, we turned off our route to circle Loch Leven, passing Kinlochleven (a picturesque small town with amazing views), to reach the A82 again at North Ballachulish, after which we were on the Great Western Way, driving along the HUGE Loch Linhe, till we reached Fort William.

3.00 pm: Hunger Pangs

By this time I was trying to subdue a rebellion in the car, as except for Gupta and me, the remaining three were clamouring for their food. The worst was Kumar, who could hardly go an hour without shovelling some sort of sustenance into his gaping maw.

The trend went like this – about 15 minutes from the previous stop where Kumar had demolished a couple of burgers, he’d start to look uneasy. Twenty minutes in, and he’d be darting shifty sidelong glances at the rest of us, looking more starving coyote than human. Thirty minutes was usually the breaking point, at which point he would turn around and ask if anyone else was feeling hungry. Not that HE was feeling hungry, of course, he declares emphatically; but he just likes to be considerate. At which point I usually squelch him by pointing out that if we stopped as often as he would like, we would still be around the outskirts of Norfolk.

But it was late afternoon, by the time we reached Fort William, and I was afraid that forcing the troops any further without fuel would result in a lynch mob, so we pulled into the first parking we saw.

4.00 pm: Tourism = McDonalds.
Fort William was decent enough, but very touristy and commercial. Kuruvilla had been yearning for a McDonald’s burger for the past two hours, and Manish had to feed his pet tapeworm, so we went into the closest McDonalds. There were a large option of burgers with different kinds of meat, but unfortunately not the Haggis burger I had been hoping for. Surprisingly, there was not even one veggie option, so Gupta had to do with fries while he mumbled and cursed.

5.00 pm: A Drive at Dusk; The Isle of Skye.

It was mid-evening by the time we left Fort William, and we hurried along the Great Glen Way, another very scenic route, passing Loch Lochy, where we left the A82 at Invergarry to continue on the A87, Loch Garry and Loch Cluane. By this time it was getting pretty murky, and most of the occupants were comatose, twitching and muttering in their sleep. Loch Duch loomed out from the gloom, with the Eilean Donan castle eerily lighted up. This castle was where the Highlander movies were shot, and is as remote and beautiful as in the movies.

It was getting pretty dark by this time, and we finally reached the Kyle of Lochalsh, where we crossed a huge bridge and were finally on the Isle of Skye!