SCOTWATER (ABRIDGED)

Описание: Our intrepid trio made the long trek from London to the Western Isles in Scotland for the Hebcelt (Herbridean Celtic) Fest in Stornoway, Lewis. Nice place, good festival (the Mark Saul Band, from Oz, got my vote!) crap weather. It was gorgeous in the Lake District while camping en route to the Highlands ... and just as nice in Glasgow when we stopped to collect one of our threesome. But shortly thereafter, and almost as though we were being followed by one storm system or another, it began to rain. Sometimes horizontal rain. And it stayed wet throughout - from Ben Nevis, Invergarry, to Skye, Harris and Lewis - and back again. We gave up on the idea of being able to stay dry while camping with no way to dry anything - even Betha's (the campervan) Campingaz supply could only do so much and gave off moisture in the bargain. This then became the theme for what is basically a video blog with a few twists. WATER. How can one place have so much of it when other places have so little? Mind-boggling. Wind and rain. Little islands in view from ferries we used to get from one place to the next, crossing and re-crossing The Minch. Dramatic, eerie, even lunar landscapes with cascading waterfalls. Peat bogs. Lonesome standing stones. Lochs. Teeming rivers. Flooding. Teeny tiny biting gnats called midges which thrive in the damp and summer humidity and swarm so densely that people wear nets. We even started running into issues to do with water - like the conflict between salmon farming and wild salmon populations. All said, a trip worth making. Some people do it every year just for the Hebcelt Fest, when the town comes alive with music on every street!

http://www.marksaul.tv/
http://www.hebceltfest.com/
www.visithebrides.com/
http://www.isle-of-lewis.com/history/...

For info about B&B in Oban with Jeremy Inglis (he's been running the best B&B in Argyll there for a long time, and used to run a restaurant called McTavish's Kitchen too - "The idea is to have simple but decent dinner and meanwhile to enjoy an authentic Scottish show with music, Highland dancing, bagpipes, fiddles and Gaelic singing") see:

http://www.hostel-scotland.co.uk/host...

and

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/...