I feel like I'm leaving Skye with a mixed bag of feelings. While I'm happy I made it out here and love the beauty of the isle, I feel slightly disappointed because I don't think I've done it justice with my visit.
Skye was one of the places I had on my list to visit this year. I've been interested in seeing it since hearing about it when I was in Inverness two years ago. I nearly gave up hope with coming here, knowing it was logistically quite hard to get to without a car. However, I did my research, found out about Skye backpackers and was delighted I could make it here just with public transport.
While I did make it to Skye, I quickly realised I should've done more research. As soon as I got there, I felt a bit stuck because it became very apparent that a car was needed to conveniently get around the isle.
Not wanting to and not having the budget to hire a car, I settled for public transport and a tour. On my first full day, I took the bus to get to Sligachan to start my walk to the Faerie pools. My bus got me to Sligachan past midday but I took the wrong path and never made it to the beautiful pools. On the positive side, I got to see the amazing Cuilin mountains up close on foot. On my second full day, I paid for a bus tour around the isle despite being offered a free ride by a fellow traveller from Spain. I only saw a little more with the guided tour than I would've with the boy from Spain as the weather was very Scottish and even worse, Scottish island-like. It was a day of heavy showers only dotted with faint rainbows giving us equally faint hope of having some sun. But on the plus side, Mike, our tour guide shared some very entertaining stories about the isle and its fascination with fairies.
I know this isn't my last visit to Scotland. I'll have the opportunity to come back to see the isle and do it properly. Next time, I'll definitely be hiring a car.
