Day 35: Kildonan - A841

This time we did wake up at a decent hour... and with sunshine! Finally. After so many rainy days, the blue sky seemed like a Scottish miracle. And it turns out that the place where we slept was not only quiet, but also beautiful. We had direct views of the sea, and right in front of us, an islet with a very pretty lighthouse: Pladda. Daddy Edu explained to me that Pladda is uninhabited, except for the automatic lighthouse and the seabirds that make their neighborhood life there. They say it was one of the first lighthouses in Scotland to have flashing light to distinguish it from the others, although it seemed to me more like a setting from a mystery movie.

With this landscape and that unexpected sun, we made plans to take advantage of the good weather. We left by car around ten o'clock, heading for Machrie Moor, where there are some stone circles that daddy had wanted to see for a long time. Google Maps, in its usual way, sent us first to the middle of nowhere, where there were only cows, mud, and "no parking" signs. But we soon found the correct parking lot and started the walk towards the famous Machrie Moor stone circles.

The trail is very pleasant, about 2 kilometers each way (and then another 2 back), along a path between open fields full of flowers, sheep and cows that looked at us as if we were the first humans they had seen in weeks.

The Machrie Moor circles are ancient megalithic monuments, dating back more than 4,000 years. There are several, all different, and some with standing stones (those vertical stones like menhirs that seem to be stuck in the ground by some bored giant). Unlike Stonehenge - which, they say, is always crowded with tourists and fences - here we were almost alone. You could only hear the wind, some distant bleating and my footsteps sniffing everything. The place has something special. I don't know if it's cosmic energy or just the silence, but it feels truly ancient.

After the walk, we went back to the car and started looking for a quieter place to stop for a while. We found it in the south of the island, in a corner without spectacular views but with privacy, which is what daddy needed to take an outdoor shower without putting on a show for all of Arran. While he was lathering himself with a frozen Viking face, I inspected the perimeter. Then he cooked, we ate and rested a little in the sun. A short, but effective nap.

Around five o'clock, with renewed energy, we headed to the King's Cave car park. From there we took a circular trail of about 5 kilometers, well signposted and varied. The outward journey was through a quiet forest, where the trees formed a green tunnel. As we left the forest, the path gave us incredible views of the coast. And suddenly... the caves.

The most famous is King's Cave, which according to legend was the refuge of King Robert the Bruce (the one from Braveheart, but the real one). Actually there are several caves, and in one of them someone - or rather, many people - had built piles of stones, those little towers that you humans make when you get the zen spirit or want to mark territory like I do with the bushes. They were quite photogenic, I'm not going to deny it.

The way back, through the other half of the circuit, was even more beautiful. On one side the dense forest, on the other open views of the countryside and the mountains. Everything quiet, hardly any people, and with that soft light at the end of the day.

When we got back to the car park we thought about sleeping there, but... error! As soon as we parked, an aerial patrol of insects began the attack. First me: flies, mosquitoes, and some small things called "midges" that are like the Scottish cousin of the devil. Then daddy Edu was also the target of the bombing. We tried to resist, but in three minutes we were already running back to the car. We fled as if we were being chased by a swarm (well, literally it was that).

We looked for another place and were lucky: we found a car park by the coast, between the road (which hardly has any traffic) and a pebble beach. There are more campers, but well spaced, with plenty of space between each one.

We're going to sleep here tonight. The place is beautiful, quiet and without killer bugs. The beach is just a few steps away. Before we settled down, we went for another walk. I ran on the stones, played a little and marked my new territory. Then we went back to the camper. It's cooler now, but the sunset was a marvel. The kind that makes you think: okay, today was a good day.