The prose and photography muse is with you Karen, great report! Your description was of the events was excellent but I also Googled images for "Claigon Coral Beach Carpark". Not many showed up but it's clear how that can be a problem. Glad it got resolved and I presume you had something stronger than mango lassi when you finally got to A Taste of India.

Talisker is very peaty scotch to my mind, an acquired taste, one I've stopped trying to acquire, being just a wimpy Speyside drinker.

The statue of Collie and Mackenzie wasn't there when we were at Sligachan, but one of my prized possessions is a first edition copy of Collie's book, "Climbing on the Himalaya and Other Mountain Ranges".

Loved your Cuillin misty mountain photos! I hiked up one of them in the region, Bl� Bheinn, and the view from the top us just mist, up close and personal.

Nelson, I definitely had a glass of white wine at A Taste of India!

How cool that you have a first edition copy of Collie's book!

JUNE 12, 2023: LEAVING SKYE ON A FERRY AND SEARCHING FOR THE LOCAL HERO BEACH

We had reservations for the 11:45AM CalMac ferry from Armadale to Mallaig. I knew it would take a minimum of one hour, if not longer due to traffic, to drive there from Portree, and we had to be there about 30 minutes before departure. So we left Portree early and made it to the ferry port with almost an hour to spare, I think. We were one of the first ones there. But we didn’t mind because there are some small shops and a coffee shop with outdoor seating by the water, so we relaxed with coffee while enjoying the sun. The ferry ride to Mallaig is 30 minutes.

From Mallaig, we drove to Arisaig. I want to thank BritishCaicos for suggesting that we visit Arisaig and its lovely beaches. I looked up Arisaig in my Michelin Green Guide and discovered that the beach scene from the movie Local Hero was filmed at the White Sands of Morar, and from there I discovered the actual beach is Camusdarach Beach.

Side Note: I have been a fan of Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler ever since Sultans of Swing. But I didn’t know Mark wrote the music score for Local Hero until the pandemic when I probably spent too much time on the internet and Youtube. I didn’t know about Local Hero which came out in 1983. So I rented Local Hero from Netflix and fell in love not only with the music but with the movie. I love its quirky characters and the whole story and I love the ending. I’ve watched the movie several times since then, including the night before we left for Scotland. So it was my mission to find Ben’s beach! 😊

First we stopped at Silver Sands beach to take a few photos. Then we continued on and found a carpark but it was full. So we turned around and drove the way we came because I knew we must have passed the beach. We saw a sign for Camusdarach Campground and drove down the dirt road. The sign said the campground is closed, not sure if it is closed permanently or hadn’t opened for the season yet. Looks like a nice campground with some glamping pods. We saw a No Parking sign but we parked anyways! I figure there was no one around so what the heck! There was a path but we didn’t know if we should go right or left. Then we saw an elderly man walking his dog, and I asked him how to get to the beach and he pointed to the left and said “Ah, Local Hero fans!”

We followed a lovely path past some grazing sheep and through sand dunes, and then found Camusdarach Beach. Yeah!!! The character Ben owned this beach and refused to sell it to the oil company. He lived in a shack that didn’t have a door and he climbed in and out of the windows. So I was very happy to have found this beach. Made my day! All because of BritishCaicos suggestion to visit Arisaig!



From here we continued along A830 looking for a place for lunch. Many places were closed. So we pulled into the Glenfinnan Visitor Center hoping they have a caf�, which they do. We purchased sandwiches at the Viaduct View Caf� and had lunch at a picnic table and then spotted a sign with the train’s timetable, and discovered the train would be coming over the viaduct in 15 minutes. We stayed and got a few photos of the train from a distance. We didn’t walk to the viewing platform.

We continued on through beautiful Glen Coe to the Glencoe Inn, our home for the next two nights. Glen Coe is absolutely gorgeous! The scenery will take your breath away. Green and lush valleys, majestic mountains, rivers and lochs and millions of rhododendrons! Glen Coe and the Isle of Skye are our two favorite places although every place was beautiful but I can honestly say that Glen Coe and Skye surpassed our expectations. I want to thank janisj and gardyloo for suggesting Glen Coe and the Glen Etive Road. When I was planning our itinerary, Glen Coe was not on my radar. I was really stumped on where to spend our last 3 nights after Skye. We decided on 2 nights in Glen Coe and one night near the airport which was perfect except that I wish we had an extra night in Glen Coe.

We are happy with our accommodations at the Glencoe Inn, which is across the street from Loch Leven. Our rooms are small but clean and nicely decorated. They look like they were recently updated. The Inn has several nice lounge areas and two restaurants and a nice bar with lots of windows overlooking the mountains. They also have a pizza place on the property that is detached from the main building.

Our dinner reservations for tonight are at The Gathering, one of the inn’s restaurants. All 4 of us loved our meals. Me, Ed and Joanne had rack of lamb and Roger had salmon. Ed and I shared a trio of Scottish ice cream for dessert and R and J shared a Knickerbocker Glory sundae. We love this restaurant and highly recommend it.

Funny sign! Do people actually drive off the dock???

Our CalMac ferry approaches

Our car is the blue car on the left

Silver Sands Beach at the White Sands of Morar

Grazing sheep along the walking path to Camusdarach Beach

The path goes through sand dunes

Almost there!

Camusdarach Beach - Ben's Beach in Local Hero. Ben owns the beach and refuses to sell it to the oil company

Beautiful Camusdarach Beach

The Harry Potter train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct

View from the Glencoe Inn after a thunderstorm

View of Loch Leven which is across the street from the Glencoe Inn

One of several lounges at the Glencoe Inn

Our very delicious rack of lamb - I don't have a photo of Roger's salmon

The trio of Scottish ice cream that Ed and I shared

Beautiful view from the Glencoe Inn - in the early evening

Glencoe Village - across from the Glencoe Inn

Glencoe Village

The Glencoe Inn

Glencoe Village

We stayed at the Glencoe Inn for a couple of days in 2017 too and loved the whole area. Stunning vistas, as your photos show, thanks Karen!

Your experience with salmon in Scotland reminds me on my experience with salmon in New Zealand - best I've had anywhere. Come to think of it, some of the landscape of Scotland reminds me of New Zealand too. Are you sure you flew over the Atlantic and not the Pacific?

Tripplanner001, I agree with you about Scotland resembling New Zealand even though I haven't been to New Zealand yet. There were days on our trip when I said to myself "This scenery reminds me of Lord of the Rings which I believe was filmed in New Zealand."

And speaking of New Zealand, we hope to visit Australia and New Zealand next year. Have you been there?

The Scottish really know how to prepare salmon. We loved every single one of our salmon dishes. Always cooked perfectly and prepared so well.

Geetika, we really enjoyed our stay at the Glencoe Inn; the location, the scenery, the food! Did you eat at the Gathering?

Yes, I�ve been to Australia six times and New Zealand twice. It�s one of my favorite parts of the world.

Karen, your description and photos of Ben's beach actually got me a little teary; I remember watching Local Hero with my parents in 1983! Love your trip report - thanks so much. And love the chocolate flake on your ice cream dessert.

We have never been to Scotland and it wasn�t on our travel radar until I read your terrific trip report! We like to travel abroad in May and June so this sounds perfect.

Jackie44, that is so cool that you watched Local Hero when it came out in 1983! I think I didn't know about it then because my youngest daughter was born in 1983 so I was taking care of a toddler and a newborn. We didn't get babysitters until our daughters were older so we never went to the movies, dinner, etc when they were young. I don't think it was a big hit in the US but I could be wrong. It might be more well-known in the UK. It has a cult following.

HappyTrvlr, I am sure you will love Scotland. It more than surpassed our expectations. The scenery will really take your breath away. And the food was so much better than we were expecting. And the gardens are gorgeous. I would love to return but not sure if we will because we want to visit countries we haven't been to yet.

I can't think of Local Hero without thinking about Mark Knopfler's fabulous score. Every time I hear the Going Home (aka Wild) theme I am transported back to Scotland. I was personally involved in working with some local Highland and Island communities faced with possible impacts from offshore oil development, so the movie's theme resonated with me. How do you protect something as precious as traditional communities while letting them prosper along with everyone else? This music brings that all back, forty or fifty years later.

Here's the theme accompanied by photos of Scotland (most of the pictures, anyway) and a second video from an Edinburgh Tattoo finale a few years ago. For me, it's goosebump time.

Oh my! Thank you, gardyloo, for including those two marvelous videos. Does the military band always perform Going Home at every Edinburgh Military Tattoo? Mark Knopfler should rightfully be proud of himself. He was only in his early 30’s when he wrote the amazing Local Hero score.

Workers were installing the seating for the military tattoo when we visited the castle in June. Our tour guide told us it takes them 2 months to install everything.

Not Gardyloo -- but no -- the program is entirely different each year. The only numbers performed every time are God Save the Queen/King, No Awa, Tae Bide Awa, the Black Bear, and Scotland the Brave

JUNE 13, 2023: GORGEOUS GLEN COE AND GLEN ETIVE

Breakfast at the Glencoe Inn consists of your choice of a hot dish from the menu, typically eggs cooked however you like them with a choice of meat, toast, and a small breakfast buffet with the usual suspects. After breakfast, we headed off to Glencoe Mountain Resort where we took the lower chairlift to about half way up the mountains. The views are nice and the air is cool. We walked around a bit, and then returned to the bottom using the chairlift. There are biking and walking trails. We saw people biking down the mountain! Looks scary to me! We stopped at the caf� to have some cold drinks outside.

From here we drove to the Glen Etive Road which is one of the highlights of our trip. Once again I want to thank janisj and gardyloo for suggesting this drive. Lucy from the On The Luce blog also blogged about it, and she considers it one of the most beautiful drives in Scotland. I agree!

https://www.ontheluce.com/glen-etive-road-scotland/

This drive is stunningly gorgeous and the scenery will take your breath away. The road is 12 miles long, follows the Etive River, and ends at Loch Etive. A scene from the Bond movie Skyfall was filmed somewhere on Etive Road. There is the lush green valley, majestic mountains, the river, the loch, and probably millions of rhododendrons! I might be exaggerating a bit but the mountain sides are covered with rhododendrons. I understand they are invasive and the lady who works at the Inn called them pests, but boy are they beautiful. We were stopping about every 5 minutes to take photos. No exaggeration. I hope our photos do this drive justice.

We didn’t have dinner reservations tonight because we wanted to eat at the Clachaig Inn, and they don’t take reservations. We were there early, by 6PM, and there was plenty of empty tables. The food is standard pub fare. I ordered an Angus beef cheeseburger, the men had venison pie, and I forgot what Joanne ordered. We thought the food was good but we much preferred The Gathering. The location of The Clachaig Inn is beautiful, though, directly across the street from beautiful mountains. And it seems to be a family-friendly place with a children’s playground.

Beautiful scenery on the A82 on the way to the chairlift

What can I say that would be different? just more beautiful scenery on the A82

A panoramic view - is this the Three Sisters? Not sure.

Taking the chairlift to the top at the Glencoe Mountain Resort

And the view going down

The Glen Etive Road follows the River Etive - One of the most beautiful scenic drives in Scotland - Don't miss it!

Rhododendrons and mountains

Gorgeous in green!

And more rhododendrons - they are everywhere!

And more rhododendrons . . . . .

And more rhododendrons - growing along the hillside

We finally reach Loch Etive

Another view of Loch Etive - the end of the road

Loch Etive

People enjoying the Loch

Last photo of the scenery along the Glen Etive Road

Along A82

Scenic viewpoint on the A82

The parking lot on the right is for the Clachaig Inn

Karen,
As it turns out, Mrs. Z's doctor just returned from Scotland and her itinerary was very similar to yours. Its hard to imagine better weather than she and yourselves had!
I am done. the carry-on