The sky over Skye

I’m writing today from the Skye, a motel near Port Hastings, Canada, where we decided to overnight yesterday after a tortous 66 km ride under the rain and on unpaved roads for most of the way. We’ve been mostly camping but my cough and chest pain have worsened, so we’ll try to be a bit warmer and drier today.

The landscapes (and the sky, above all, the sky!) in this part of the world are astonishing. People in Nova Scotia are helpful and friendly, and we can really feel a bit like in the Highlands, as we roll along lakes and moors.

Rural areas here are very different from my home country, Spain. Here people live in huge houses scattered along the road, but apart from the occasional church or fire station (where most social events seem to take place), there are very, very few restaurants, pubs, cafés or even petrol stations to stop by. Yesterday we saw none of these in nearly 70 km. This makes travelling a bit of a challenge for us, because we have to carry a lot of food, not knowing when we’ll find the next convenience store or café.

In Spain, if you were cycling along rural areas you could stop at the local pub for a hot coffee and a snack every few kilometres, and talk to the locals if they’re in the mood.

I guess social interactions here happen at the church or on special occasions, private parties and so on. I’m an urban animal and I can’t imagine living as isolated as this, despite the wonderful blue sky.