After leaving Inverness I headed down to Edinburgh where i had booked a 3 day Highland adventure. For the one night I was in Edinburgh I stayed at the Budget Backpackers Hostel. This hostel is great! There nothing esthetically spectacular about it, what makes it amazing is the staff and there way of looking at backpacking/hostel life. They go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to socializing and entertainment. Every weeknight they have a free pub crawl (the hostel is surrounded by great little quiet pubs), every day at 11:00 they do a free walking tour of Edinburgh. They do pool tournaments and movie nights. all the staff are very friendly… sorry, enough about the hostels character. so I knew before the pool tournament and pub-crawl that i had to be up at like 7:30 to walk to the tour office. I knew that i had to leave the pub crawl early to go to bed early. I knew that if i enjoyed myself too much that first night that i would not enjoy the next morning. I knew that none of that would ever happen. i went on the pub crawl with every intent of leaving early and not drinking too much, but like i do i got caught up in people and conversations and drink. i looked at the time 10:15… OK cool I can do one more pub then its time to go. I looked at the time again 1:20… fuck.
The Tour:
The next morning i got up at 7:30 for the tour… it hurt…ALLOT! I made it to the tour office though. Aside from the need for a nap i was actually doing pretty good. We headed out. 16 of us and our tour guide. i feel it will be hard to describe the tour, but i will do my best, i think i will stick with the social parts and not bore you with the sights. our tour guide was very good at getting us to meet each-other, and by the time we arrived at the place we were going to be staying we had gotten to know each-other pretty well. After we had all checked in we walked into town for a demonstration on what it was like to be a Scott in the times of William Wallace. It was very cool demonstration, they showed us the weapons and all the ways of life including the clothing and how to wear it. when they asked for model volunteers i was the only guy to raise his hand, i mean why not when in Rome… Scotland. anyway, standing in-front of the 15 people i had met that morning, the demonstrator says ”so this being a demonstration of tradition, you have to be true to tradition,” the Scottish did not wear anything under their kilts. “drop ‘em , son” Crazy Sexy ken said to me (yes that is what he called himself), i laughed it off. “we are all waiting, take off your trousers,” “is he serious?” i asked one of my fellow travelers. “serious as a blood infection” says C.S. Ken, and i must say this was the first time i had to be talked out of my pants ( there would be pictures but i can’t get my camera to talk to a computer with out it crashing). after some coaxing from the women in the crowd and a quick check to see if i was actually wearing undies, i was standing in-front of 15 people who were no-longer strangers in nothing but red boxer-shorts with corn-dogs printed all over them. I am very glad I am a man of very little conviction. After the demonstration i needed a very stiff drink so We walked through the little one road town at the mouth of Loch Ness and had a very good meal of fish ’n’ chips , 4 Aussies a kiwi and myself. then we headed back to the hostel and settled in for a night in the hostel bar. Side bar- our guide asked us at the beginning to come up with a clan name, something original. so after a few beers we decided on clan McDirty-Jocks in lew of my earlier performance, and we had our clan tartan, red with little corn-dog prints.
The next day we went out to the Isle of Skye. this island is very sparsely populated. our guide told us of a tour he did for a sorority from the states (41 giggling 18, 19, and 20 year-old collage girls and one guy). when they went in to town of a night of drinking they filled a little pub that had the usual 3 or 4 drunk toothless Scott’s. the bar tender looked at the guide and said let me make a few calls. 20 minuets later all the 14-16 year old boys from town were in there just looking mouths agape. they had never seen that many women in one place ever before. i just wondered who the one guy in there group was and how could i be him. after our day on Skye we returned to the hostel where one of the 5 day tours had arrived for there last night of the tour. Needless to say there was much revelry and drinking. towards the end of the night, i came up with a great idea… how may times in your life are you staying next to loch ness all boozed up with a ton of like minded people, and what would be the one thing that i have never heard anyone doing? this is what i thought, and the answer was never and skinnydipping! so i organised a skinnydipping party. and sorry there are no pictures… its cold, and i don’t need any more jokes about my… corn-dog. point is have you ever gone skinnydipping in loch ness?
day 3 our last day
this was a mostly uneventfull day. We just headed back to Edinburgh. we did happen to stop for lunch and I had haggis! it was actually very good, once you got past what you were eating. when we got back we all decided to meet up that night and decompress and talk and drink a little. it was allot of fun. i would (and have) recommend the haggis tour to any and all looking for a tour.
sorry this took so long to get out, i have been… distracted. more to come
November 28, 2008 at 5:34, am
Sounds like a terrific tour, Ben. I’m probably never going to look at corndogs the same way. Ever. And if you’re eating haggis voluntarily then you’ve gone way native my son.
We’ve had a great Thanksgiving over here, although everyone missed you a lot. They love your blog and say for you to write more. Tell us soon about the people you’re meeting. they sound like interesting folks, especially if they’re willing to go skinny dipping in Loch Ness!
Love, Dad