Skye - too many people

Last night we had trouble finding a parking place or a restaurant. Today we had trouble finding a cafe with some coffee, where we could park the van. There are simply too many tourists on Skye. Yesterday we asked if they offered dinner at one hotel - oh no, said the barman, shaking his head, we can't get any chefs.

This morning, we drove to Sliganach, went to the big hotel asking for coffee, but unsurprisingly there was none. We walked over to the famous Sliganach bridge, built by Telford, to take a photo. 

And resumed the search. 

Eventually, we did find a cafe, plus parking. Cafe Cuil was Hackney-on-Skye, run by a London chef who was born on Skye. Achingly hip, brilliant coffee and pastries and a cracking view. 

We tore ourselves away and drove the winding, severely potholed road to remote, deadend Glenbrittle, home of a campsite, and yes, another cafe. There were wonderful views of the dark, magnificent mountains of the Cuillin range.

Had a short walk, battered by a Force 7 wind, then a coffee and a long sit in the van where we both gazed, read, lunched on our own sandwiches and had forty winks. 

We retraced our journey from Glenbrittle to Sligachan, not stopping at the 'famous' Fairy Pools, where you walk miles to reach a wild swimming place. Too windy, too many people, too confected. We booked into the Sligachan campsite, in a dip surrounded by famous peaks.

There is a Tacos van at the campsite and nearby is a pub called Seamus's that serves 400 whiskys. 

Today there have been bright blue skies, which is unusual around here, and perfect visibility. I imagine the Cuillins never looked better.

The locals marvel at the sunshine and shrug at the gale. We're surprised at the amount of traffic, and that half the campervans are rentals; we hardly saw any rentals in the Outer Hebrides. 

We went for a short walk, past the Collie & Mackenzie statues celebrating the two men who first mapped this part of Skye, and a (very) little way up the trail that goes right across the mountains to the sea.

The sky of Skye is still clear blue - remarkable. On our return L said let's just look into Seamus's - N thought it probably v touristy but agreed. It was lovely. We each had a half of Skye Black beer in the bar area and played two hands of cards (one each). We thought they'd be booked up but no, we could have a table. L had haggis, tatties & neeps and N had Skye sausage in a tangy tomato sauce with beetroot - all delicious.

To top it off two young men started playing a combination of fiddle, guitar, underarm bagpipe and ukulele. Excellent! The fates threw us a wonderful last evening in the Hebrides.