Outer Hebrides - Days 8, 9 & 10 - Harris

On Saturday, after taking a local bus in the pelting sideways rain on North Uist to a ferry across the Sound of Harris (a very shallow zig-zag crossing) to another local bus, I arrived in the village of Tarbert on the Isle of Harris. I walked to my hotel, checked-in, had dinner and basically crashed. I was pretty tired by the end of that journey. :) Sundays in the Outer Hebrides - especially on Harris and Lewis — mean that nothing much happens AT ALL. Nothing is open, no shops, no touristy things, very few restaurants. So I spent the morning reading in the garden at the Harris Hotel (which is absolutely beautiful), went for a walk around the village and the pier / harbour area in the afternoon, came back and took a nap and then ventured over to the other hotel (Hotel Hebrides, right now on the pier) for dinner. On the way into town, I ran into an Indian woman named Lakshmi who was visiting Harris for the first time. She was born in Singapore (when it was still a British colony), lived most of her life in South London (her dad was a CID for the London police force) and moved to Glasgow about 3 years ago because she got divorced and her daughter in at university there. We had a great time talking over fish and chips. I keep thinking about the fact that sometimes people are surprised that I’m so comfortable with traveling by myself. ‘Don’t you feel alone?’ etc. But really, I’ll talk to absolutely anyone I meet anywhere so no, I never feel alone and I love meeting new people across the globe, if only for an hour over dinner. Yesterday (Monday), I got up and took the early bus headed south down the west coast of Harris to check out the famous beaches. There was a bit of morning mist and fog but generally, the day was very dry and good for walking. I started at Scarista which is probably the most famous beach then worked my way back north, walking along the ‘Hebridean Way’ walking path some of the time and along the road others. Trying to play nice with the free-range sheep and cows and make sure I didn’t scare them and end up getting butted by approaching them slowly with my head lowered, supplicant. ‘You’re the alpha. I’m your friend.’ :) I made my way through the village of Borve and stopped off at a community arts centre called ‘Talla Na Mara’ (the venue with a view - and what a view it is) to check out their artist studios and have some tea. Then I kept walking north back towards Tarbert through Horgabost and Seilebost up to Luskentyre where I took a bus back to Tarbert. The combination of Norse and Gaelic place names is fascinating. I’m really falling in love with Scots’ Gaelic. It’s a language that comes so much from the oral tradition that the same word can mean three different things depending on context and can be spelled three different ways. Heavy on feeling, light on grammar. This morning (Tuesday), I went to the Harris Tweed warehouse and shop, then hung out at the docks watching the big ferry come in, unload and reload killing time until Noon when I had booked a tour of the Isle of Harris distillery. It’s a very young operation - they opened in 2014 so their first whisky isn’t ready yet and won’t be for another 5 years but they’re producing a lovely gin in the meantime. I had lunch at the Harris Hotel and then got the afternoon bus up to Stornoway where I am now and will be for the next three (final) days of my trip.

looking south from the isthmus of Tarbert (which means isthmus)

new friends reluctantly posing by the seaside :)

Seilebost, Luskentyre and the west coast of Harris beyond