Sometimes, when traveling, things you don’t plan for amaze you more than the planned ones. The unplanned is unexpected, unburdened by any preconceived notions or expectations. It’s a real surprise gift, unlike the birthday ones you have to fake being surprised about. That’s exactly the feeling we got when driving through one of the deadliest roads in the world, unintentionally.
We had just finished a circular tour of the Isle of Skye and were heading back to our Hotel outside the Isle. Due to “Skye” high hotel prices, we booked a B&B in Apple Cross two hours away from the isle. In these two hours, we unknowingly got on Bealach na Bà.
A sign near the entrance to the road warned about the danger and advised an alternate safer route. We missed the sign as we rushed through to reach our destination before sunset — the Scottish Highlands have narrow roads devoid of artificial light at night, making driving dangerous after sunset. If we had seen the warning, we (probably) would have taken the alternative route. In retrospect, I am happy that we missed that sign; ignorance is bliss, as they say.
Not knowing we were about to climb 2053 feet, I still hurried to beat the sunset, until we climbed a little higher and the view made me forget about my haste. A winding road through a valley, turning and twisting in the middle of nowhere, with peace and calmness mixed with fear of falling over the edge — thrilling. I glanced at the rearview mirror to see the flat land we were leaving behind.
Right before the top, we hit a steep section of the road — I learned later that the steepness was 20% — and that’s when I started wondering, “Where the hell are we going?”. I was glad I replaced the car’s old tires for a new set right before this 1500+ miles road trip. I slowed to less than 10 mph to climb the steep hairpin turns; no longer bothered to beat the sunset. Any mistake here wouldn’t go unpunished.
Passengers in the car held their breaths to avoid disturbing my concentration. Everyone sighed a breath of relief when we passed the top to descend. There were no more hairpins to maneuver, but I couldn’t relax. “I should have replaced my brake pads too”, I worried as I repeatedly braked to stop rolling downhill too fast.
We reached the bottom safely soon. We stopped by a restaurant for dinner, the Walled Garden (probably the only one open in a 90-minute radius), before going to our B&B. The next day, our B&B host was surprised to hear we took the route over the mountain. Apparently, most visitors tend to come via the alternative coastal route, which is also scenic in its own way.
We decided to use the alternative route for our onward journey. While all of us were pleased to avoid the mountaintop then — driving through Bealach na Bà once was enough for a single trip — we definitely wanted to revisit it in the future, and instead of rushing through it, we would love to take our sweet time to enjoy the views.