Our first motorcycle free day drove
us to sweat as we decided to climb
Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nev-
is. At only 1345 metres above sea-lev-
el we thought it would be an easy
walk, and as we set off a local told us
to dress warmly. We understood as
we reached just below the summit,
the temperature was less than 10
degrees with fog and sleet. This was
no easy walk and as we re-turned a
group of hikers from Switzerland told
us that the view from the summit is
only available ten days a year.
The following day took us on the
A82 past Glencoe to Loch Lomond.
As with Skye, Glencoe is over-run by
tourists. Fortunately, once again, we
were lucky with the weather. The
mixture of clouds and sun could not
have been better.
The bikes took us on to Loch Lo-
mond with a road that runs around
the west bank of the lake. The curves
and hills were a real treat as we made
our way to the famous Museum of
Transport in Glasgow.
Designed by Zaha Hadid, the muse-
um was one of Scotland's most visited
attractions in 2015 and as we stood in
front of the wall with motorcycles we
were filled with a very special feeling.
Above us we saw the two bikes ridden
by actor Ewan McGregor on his two
Long Way … trips with Charley Boor-
man.
TRAVERSE 71
Our tour was ending, and we had
one more day before heading back to
the ferry, we decided to follow the ad-
vice of Mark from Newcastle and rode
further south across the border into
the Lake District. It proved to be the
right decision. In perfect weather, we
spent a wonderful day in the national
park. Our English friends from the
campsite in Inverness accompanied
us the last kilome-tres to Newcas-
tle. They showed us the Angel of the
North; the rust-brown steel figure of
an angel has the wingspan of a jum-
bo jet. The construction is decorated
with many details.
We said goodbye on deck of the
"Earl of Zetland" and promised to