15 May 2008 →Isle of Skye

Speaking of their happy ferry trip to Armadale in Skye, they didn’t know Piching forget to check the bus information to Kyleakin. Kind Pigen hurriedly comforted Piching and suggested to hike to Kyleakin because he thought it was not far. He saw the Armadale Castle on the sea when they were nearly approaching the port. Referring to the map, Pigen inferred that it wouldn’t take long to walk to the hostel in Kyleakin from Armadale. Piching was in doubt but she accepted Pigen’s idea. There were two reasons. One was she was too scared of the high taxi fee as some guidebooks mentioned and the other was they could take more pictures throughout the journey. Thus, they started their looooooooooong walk.
話說兩人開心搭乘渡輪到天空島的阿曼黛爾，萬萬沒想到P青忘記查詢公車資訊!!!此時體貼的P根趕緊安慰說：「沒關係，剛剛在海上有看見城堡，感覺離這裡 滿近的，對照地圖距離，用走的到Kyleakin的旅館，應該不遠，要不要走走看？」P青心想好像沒有那麼近，但又害怕書上所說的搭乘計程車的恐怖天價， 沿路健行拍照似乎是個好主意。於是兩人就這樣天真的上路了。

It seemed to walk long. They searched for any sign or landmark for reference but there was no one in this sparsely populated island. They tried to inferred where they were by the seashore. More and more results showed that they were still far from the hostel. They would arrived there much later than they expected in the beginning. This truth let Piching’s mood down and down.
感覺好像走了很久，四處搜尋有無地標可做參考，但在這人煙稀少的島上，連地標都少的可憐，只能藉由海岸線做可能性的推敲，卻每每讓P青的心越來越沈，離抵達旅館的時間越來越遠。

[不管旅行再艱辛、克難，遇到任何情況，都要懂得自得其樂，隨時不忘拍張相]

While they had walked halfway, it passed 7pm. Pigen and Piching had walked for more than 4 hours without any water. They were too exhausted to reach the hostel before midnight. Cars moving on the road were less and less, should they ask for a lift?
當走到路程一半時，已經是晚上七點多(幸好夏天日光時間到晚上十點多才會天黑)，兩豬也已走了四個小時多，照兩豬體力已接近臨界點及攜帶的水也已用盡的狀態下，半夜十二點應該也到不了，眼見公路旁呼嘯而過的車子用來越稀少，心裡浮現是否該擺出搭便車的手勢呢？

Shyness stopped them to ask for a lift. They kept walking ahead with hesitation. While they encouraged themselves to raise their hand, the approaching car suddenly turned to a path. Pigen and Piching felt that asking for a lift was inconvenient especially for tourists.
不過害羞的東方人情愫不斷阻擾兩豬做出這樣的舉止，兩豬只能努力往前走，當鼓起勇氣要舉手時，身後的車子卻突然轉往小路裡，讓兩豬更覺得搭便車是件很叨擾人的事情，特別是來這裡度假的旅客。

Immersing themselves in walking, Pigen joked that the residents were cold because they didn’t actively express their concern for foreigners. For my opinion, drivers might think they were happily hiking because they did look like hikers!!!
繼續埋頭苦幹往前走時，P根突然說起島上的人真沒有愛心，都不會主動停下來詢問之類的玩笑話。或許是因為兩豬看起來就是登山客的樣子，行駛過的車主，可能認為他們很自得其樂的在健行吧！

It was darker and darker. Seeing nobody surrounded, Piching was on tenterhooks. Pigen and Piching still hesitated to ask for a help. They turned backward few time, and few cars were passing through quickly, suddenly one car stopped and asked if they needed help. Thanks God. Here comes a kind lady. Luckily, her destination was nearby their lodge but she still missed few minutes of Holby City produced by BBC and played on weekdays’ 8pm.
天色越來越暗，P青望著毫無人煙的四周，內心不自覺地惶恐起來，身後呼嘯而過幾輛快車，兩豬往後望並猶豫著是否該呼救，突然有輛車子快速經過後緊急停下來，搖下窗戶詢問他們是否需要幫助。感謝老天，終於出現個富有愛心的太太!!慶幸的是，她要前往的方向跟住宿的地方相去不遠，載兩豬到旅館門口的太太卻也因此錯過幾分鐘的BBC八點檔Holby City。

In the car, the lady asked that why they didn’t posture for a lift or her husband driving in front of her would helped them right way. Her husband owned a taxi company in Kyle, it called KyleTaxis. It had not only taxi service but also cars rental. Some customers returned rental cars in Armadale so they went to pick up cars and drove them back to Kyle. Except taxi and rental services, they also did the guide trip.
在車上時，太太問說他們怎麼沒有打「搭便車」的手勢，不然行駛在前頭的先生一定會停下來幫助我們。她先生在開耳開了一家計程車公司，同時也有出租汽車服務，因為客戶把車子停在南部的阿曼黛爾，所以他們一群人開車去把車子接回開耳，除了計程車、租車服務以外，還有導覽包車服務。

If you are confident to drive in right, it is strongly to recommend you to hire a car to travel around the Skye. It’s absolutely fun and saves time. You can find more information on their website and had an order, no doubt that you will feel their enthusiasm and kindness.
對於右邊開車有信心的人，強烈建議到天空島遊玩時租輛車子，如此不僅玩起來方便，也絕對盡興又省時間。有興趣的人可到他們的網站瀏覽並使用其服務，相信絕對可以讓你感受到他們的熱情。
http://www.skyecarhire.co.uk/
http://www.lochalsh.net/taxi/

Check-in時間太晚，旅館的酒吧餐廳已準備打烊，走到侍者介紹的唯一仍營業的酒吧餐廳King Haakon Bar邊享用份量超大的餐、邊欣賞漂亮的夕陽。

[→ Kyle]
[休息一晚後，前往開耳]

[關於住宿]
同樣透過HostelBookers預定的Saucy Mary's Lodge，雙人套房，當時一人22.75鎊，剛重新裝潢完不久，分配到的是有斜天花板的房間，床飾很幽雅漂亮，浴室的入口若主人沒介紹還以為只是鑲嵌在牆裡的櫃子門，拉開木頭門，裡面是寬敞的浴室及廁所。房間內還附有有線電視、典雅的咖啡瓷杯組、煮水器及喝不完的咖啡、茶包，是滿推薦的旅館。早餐要另外計費，原本滿心期待有點不同的蘇格蘭早餐，其實與英式早餐並無不同。網路訂房時，介紹寫有網路，不過入住時，主人卻說還在努力中，因此當時還沒有。若真需要網路，訂房時，可先詢問。(似乎直接透過旅館本身網站訂房還比較便宜又免費含早餐!!!)

Go to Pigen's Flickr to see more pictures.
到P根相簿瀏覽更多圖片。