12.27: Argyll

I was on the road around 9:30A and headed south on A82 toward Fort Augustus and Fort William. The distance was relatively short, so I knew I'd have to make as many stops as I wanted. It was a bit overcast as I left and the forecast was for rain in the afternoon; it would be my first day of rain while in Scotland.

I stopped again at the shop in Loch Ness, but there wasn't anything there I couldn't live without so I headed on to Urquhart Castle to do the tour. There is an 8-minute film that gives the history of the castle and is really well done. The castle began as a Pict stronghold until the arrival of Saint Columba in the 6th century when the Pict chieftain was converted to Christianity. The castle was in the possession of Edward I for a period of time and then, depending on the political situation, it was and was not royal property until the early 1500s when it was given to the Clan Grant. Then there is quite a story of the castle being captured by different groups until the 1690s when the Clan Grant set fire to the castle to prevent it from becoming a Jacobite stronghold. The castle does have impressive views of Loch Ness.

Then I was on the road to Fort Augustus, which is bisected by the Caledonian Canal. It's a total of 60 miles in length, 38 of which are along 3 lochs, one of which is Loch Ness. It was a pretty little town.

Back on the road to Fort William, but I didn't stop. It was a lot darker and starting to rain. I continued south through North Ballachulish and along Loch Linnhe with the Glen Duror forest on the left, through Appin to Oban. Oban is listed as the Gateway to the Isles, but there are several ways to get to the western isles, depending on which might be the destination.

It was raining quite hard by the time I got to Oban and I drove around and around for about 40 minutes trying to find my hotel. The directions led me to a shopping center--Tesco seems a lot like a SuperTarget. I finally gave up backtracking and trying to figure it out by the maps, but I couldn't figure out how to make a local UK call to get directions from the hotelier, no doubt operator error (me). Then I asked a woman if she knew the hotel and she told me it was back 30 miles north. I'd seen a Hotel Stewart as I drove down, but figured there was likely to be more than one in Scotland. I figured wrong.

Back up through Duror on the narrow bendy roads and in the rain. The Hotel Stewart is an old manse to which someone added about 20 rooms in what looks like prefab materials. Kind of dorky looking. Ugly, actually. The folks who run the place are pleasant enough--transplants from London about a year ago. That night was their first night open since the Christmas holidays. The only guests were me and a couple, though they were expecting a large group on 12/28 and to stay through 1/3.

I had dinner in the bar (venison curry; it was pretty good, and a McEwan's) then went up to my room to repack my suitcase for the last trek. I cranked up the heat as high as it would go as I'd been told it would go off that night but come back on in the morning. I put on extra togs for bed as the heat went off at 10:30P and the room chilled quickly. It was a long cold night.