The next morning was a wonderful sunny day and we set off on the main road to Crainlarich after a wonderful breakfast. The road was along the bottom of the valley with steep forested sides climbing up to the tops of the mountains on both sides. The road started to climb up as we passed through Tyndrum and headed towards Bridge of Orchy. The country side was amazing with rivers flowing at the bottom of the valley running beside the road and waterfalls everywhere down the steep hillsides. We climbed up towards Loch Ba and then the view across loch opened up in front of us. It was a sight that I will never forget. The camper van was labouring a bit as we climbed out of the valley towards the top of Glen Coe. The landscape changed to become peat bogs with a long climb up in front of us. As we got higher and higher we could see further into the distance. We got to the top and could see right down to the sea. The views were fantastic. There on the side of the road is the memorial to the Glen Coe massacre when the MacDonald clan was attacked by government troops in 1692. We drove on down the road towards the Loch Leven. At the bottom we could turn lef to go to Ballahulish and the little ferry or turn right and go along Loch Leven to Kinlochleven. We decided to go right and drove right alongside the loch on the south side, right into the little town of Kinlochleven. It was a good place to have comfort stop for the family. The drive along the north side of Loch Leven towards Ballahulish is glorious with the deep loch on the left and the high mountains on the right. We could see across the loch to the road we had just come along from Glen Coe.
After Ballhulish we travelled north along side Loch Linhe heading to Fort William and Ben Nevis. It was lunch time when we stopped on the loch side in Fort William. Ken found a good pub and we had a smashing lunch and pint. The road to Mallaig is a smashing route for scenery. First we drove along side Loch Eil and out towards the sea. I just could not over how spectacular the views were. When we got to the head of the loch and turned north the bays along the coast were white sand and it really looked like the Caribbean at times except for lack of palm trees. The bed and breakfast we had booked in Mallaig was on the north side of the harbour and over looked the harbour and the docks. We were welcomed by a lovely lady who put the kettle on as we arrived and insisted we sit down to tea with her before we went to our rooms. She brought out lots of homemade scones, best butter and pots of jam. We really enjoyed the pampering. Our rooms were at the front of the house and we all had fabulous views across to the isle of Skye. We could even see MacLeods tables in the distance on Skye.
That night we asked if anywhere could be recommended for us to have our evening meal. The lady said the best place was the Jacobean Restaurant , they had good food at reasonable prices, We went along and were well catered for with local roast lamb and all the trimmings. After dinner we wandered down to the harbour where the fishing boats were loading up with ice from the ice plant. This was used to store the fish they intended to catch when they went out later. The water in the harbour was crystal clear and we could even see fish under the pier. We found the local harbour pub and went in. It was full of locals and fishermen but we were made welcome, even Heathers younger siblings Kenneth and Morag were allowed in the pub. The beer was a brew I did not recognize but it was heavy like I had never had before. The ber in Scotland is not called biter or mild as in England but heavy or light meaning the strength. Heavy is as near to bitter as you can get but it is a different flavour, more hops and malt, stronger usually. A good evening was had by all chatting to the fishermen about their job and how it was a dying trade. At closing time we wandered up the hill to the bed and breakfast and again the teapot was made for us all before we retired for the night. This time it was hot toast and crumpets instead of scones
We had booked for two nights in Mallaig and the next day we were going to have a rest day just local around the village and the harbour. We thought the breakfast might be bacon and eggs but we got a real surprise when it started with juice and cereal, then went on to porridge, followed by bacon, eggs, sausage slice, tomatoes, beans, mushrooms and fried white pudding. The tea pot never seemed to empty and there was toast and marmalade if we wanted as well. We could not move for a good thirty minutes after, we certainly would not need any lunch. After breakfast we went down to the harbour and I was surprised to see wild seals coming right into beside the sea wall. I stood transfixed for ages watching them chasing the fish around the plies of the pier. Kenneth, his dad and I went fishing of the pier and the girls went for a look at the shops in the town. They were back within an hour and I am surprised it took then that long, all the shops were on one street about one hundred yards long. As we sat on the pier the big Caledonian Macbrae ferries came and went, they would tomorrow be taking us over the sea to Skye.
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