The standing stones at Calanais
One of the party of cyclists sharing our dorm was suffering from knee trouble and feared he'd have to curtail his holiday. My sympathy vanished overnight when he kept us all awake by snoring. I hauled myself bleary-eyed from my bunk, stepped outside... into rain! We donned waterproofs for the switchback ride up to the main road, what a change from our sunny arrival yesterday!
The scenery to the north as we entered Lewis was not so absorbing, moorland with higher peaks way in the western distance, but easy cycling as the rain petered out. We stopped at Calanais Visitor Center (pronounced Callanish as in the anglicised spelling) where my foot became entangled in a toeclip and I toppled over to the consternation of passing elderly tourists and overlooked by a coach. I got up and walked away with just a few grazes, so I was at least able to display toughness to accompany the show of ineptitude! The café took priority over the stones, which we examined after ingesting yet more coffee and excellent carrot cake. The standing sones date from around 3000 BC, pre-dating Sonehenge, and unlike the Wiltshire site are not spoiled by the proximity of a major road. They form the pattern of a Celtic cross, the central monolith being over 12 ft in height.
Six miles on is another ancient monument, Dun Chàrlabhaigh
Broch, a 2000 year old drystone defensive house. We were just a few miles
from our night's lodging at the Gatliff Trust hostel in the restored blackhouse
village of Na Gearrannan but at ther visitor centre we learned that the entire
village had been hired for a big wedding. We were sure that the hostel would
still be open but were a little anxious as there is little alternative accommodation
in the area. We arrived to find the village swamped by men in kilts and elegantly
dressed ladies. They knew nothing of a hostel so we walked around and found
the one house which hadn't been taken over - the hostel, which was open for
business with vacant beds!