Page 210 - Udaan 2019-2021

Our entire plan for that day was jeopardized as we reached Inverness late and

missed our buses. We rescheduled that day’s activity to the last day of our trip. We
spent that day moving around Inverness city which was itself a beautiful city and

went to the bus stand to plan our schedule for the last day.
Next day we started early in the morning to go to Isle of Skye, the largest and the

Northernmost island. Unfortunately, there is no train service to Isle of Skye and the
nearest station is Kyle of Lochalsh which is on the mainland. The Skye Bridge connects
this island to the mainland. We hired a car and went to Portree, the largest settlement

on this island. Everything was really quiet with few people moving around the place.
We had our lunch in a restaurant run by an elderly couple. They were doing everything,

including cooking, serving and cleaning the tables. I envied their peaceful life.
We had to leave Portree early and come back to Kyle of Lochalsh, as the last train was

at around 5 P.M. Father had already warned us saying that if we missed that train we
would have to spend the night in that desolate place , waiting for the next train in the

morning.
Next day we went to Inverness Bus Station and took the bus to Urquhart Castle, on the
west bank of Loch Ness. In Scotland, the lakes are called Loch. Loch Ness is famous

for Loch Ness Monster or Nessie. The journey by the bus was really awesome. It was
moving through a road covered with green trees and we could see the Loch Ness on

the left for most part of our journey. The bus is available only one in two to three hours.
Urquhart Castle was destroyed during the Scottish War by English people in the 15th

Century. We saw this massive structure which was used to quell enemies by pelting
stones at them, which was very similar to what has been depicted on celluloid in

Padmavat. They showed us a video on the fort and we explored the fort for a few
hours. The best part was to see Loch Ness from top of the castle. There was also an
option of boating in Loch Ness but we couldn't avail that as we had to start our return

journey to India via London.