| Trip Pics - Aran Islands |
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| Off the coast of Galway there are three Islands that are totally Irish speaking. My tour book said the locals were not very pleasant on the Islands but the scenery was nice enough to make the trip. In order to get to the largest Island we took an hour ferry ride (which cost us 15 punts each = about 25 CDN). On the way over we met a Canadian girl (from Halifax) and two American friends she was travelling with. The Island was nice but very primitive, no paved roads, most roads were just cart paths with grass growing on them. We rented bikes while we were there and went for a nice, but hilly bike ride. These pictures are from our ride. |
| The landscape was so rocky that instead of building fences to keep their sheep in they built stone walls. |
| Thatched-Roof House - We weren't sure if it was still inhabited. |
| Stone forts were built during Ancient times to protect the land. This one was one of the oldest surviving forts. |
| The Island also had a Seal Sanctuary. There were many seals in the water. We sat for a long time and just watched them. One was flirting with us. It kept coming closer and closer but then it would disappear under the water. It was beautiful. |
| Once we left the Island we wanted to head up to a town call Westport. The road from the ferry was split in three and we took the centre road. We ended up on the tiny, skinny, mountain road that led us through the Maam-Turk Mountains. In that part of the country the sheep just roam where they want to graze (as well as cows from the picture below). At one point we came to a bunch of cows just hanging out on the road. Even when I honked at them they wouldn't move. |
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| While we were in Westport we went to a pub owned by Matt Malloy of the Chieftains. We scored seats right beside the band and before we left we asked them to pose with us. They were very nice. The town of Westport was both T and my favorite stop on our trip. It had a population of 4500 and it was beautiful. The hostel was nice and friendly and while we were in town we went horseback riding. |