A Hebridean Curry

Pouring over holiday brochures for sunny and hot climes is a ritual enjoyed by many in this country, and sometimes more than once a year these days. A combination of lack of money and an inbuilt suspicion of packaged holidays has meant that this is not a ritual I have taken part in very often. Holidays are not something I've had a lot of.

However a recent two nights and one night excursion to the Isle of Skye and Glencoe respectively leads me to think that I must get away more. I have seen them before but I think I must see more of Scotland. I've been to Skye and Glencoe before many many years ago, but the scenery never fails to astonish and evoke awe. For sure you have to consider that rain is very likely but it only adds to the atmosphere. They are simply the most stunning of landscapes, on our very own doorstep.

At times you are looking at a scene that has been gazed at for thousands of years. A mountain that looks as if it harbours infinite secrets - the majestic, perfect shape of Buchaille Etive Mhor on the road to Glencoe. In Glencoe itself one cannot ignore the story of the Government sponsored assassination of the McDonald clan in 1692. The Glen is dark, heavy and foreboding and over 300 years later it feels as if the Glen's very pores still ooze the tragedy in a tone of lamentation.

The Clachaig Inn claims to have been in Glencoe for over 300 years therefore it may well have opened it's doors to the warring clansmen. Catering much to the walkers and climbers but very welcoming to the sight seeing tourists, one cannot imagine an Inn with more dramatic surroundings. This was a place with a warm atmosphere, a great selection of beers at non tourist prices and pub meals, which while slightly pricey were of really good quality. The Inn appears to work really hard at creating an identity. It provides a wealth of information about the local area from its website . It is linked to CAMRA (real-ale) and it has regular live music playing one of the bars.

Glencoe appeals to walkers, climbers and tourists alike. The Isle of Skye does so too but with a greater emphasis on the capital T of tourism. Perhaps its island remoteness makes this all the more necessary but the twists and turns of Skye's roads are adequately dotted with the cottages of the B&B trade. The towns of Skye (mainly Broadford and its "capital", Portree) are adeptly focussed on the tourist experience, with craft shops, art galleries, boat trips, accommodation and of course the all important pubs and restaurants. I say restaurants. Some of them were offering pub grub at restaurants prices, which in real money was basically about twice the price of an equivalent pub meal in Dundee. Of course Skye also has its fair share of highly regarded restaurants, not least the Three Chimneys and Lady Claire MacDonald's Kinloch Lodge.

A real find was "The Prince of India" in Portree. I could not believe that there was a curry house on Skye! Yet there it was offering an array curries well known to any curry fanatic. The Chicken Jalfrezi and a Balti Chicken Madras at our table were of a pretty good quality and they would have beaten many a Dundee curry house hands down. There's a lot to be said for eating Indian in the Inner Hebrides.