Inish Maan

Inish Maan was so breathtakingly beautiful. I began it with a ferry ride on a boat named the "Happy Hooker." Yes, boats here are called hookers. I am leaving that one alone.

I met up with my new friend Signe from Denmark who I met the previous evening and we set off to explore the island. I had read that this island is quite remote and has the least amount of tourists, and the guidebook was right! About 10 people got off the ferry and nobody got on. There are only two ferry's per day unfortunately so I only had a couple of hours to explore.

Our first task was finding a toilet, which are not easy to come by! After a 30 minute walk from the pier we happened upon the post office where a lovely young woman told us very vague directions for bike hire and toilets. We then wandered around a bit, but what a beautiful place to wander in. I would most definitely come spend a week here. And bring my own supplies! The sun was shining, wind was blowing, rock walls surrounded us, and wildflowers were a bloom.

The first bike hire place which was also the market was out of bikes and he directed us down the road. To note: all of the signs were in Irish, so we had no idea where we were going. We happened upon the pub, and it had a fantastic ambiance. It really did feel like someones living room. Dark wood ceiling, red curtains on the windows, locals enjoying craic. The kind of place you could cozy up in when a storm blows through and make friends that would last a lifetime. Signe and I debated about whether to have a pint, then decided against it as we knew we wouldn't make it out of there to see anything else! There are pictures of it on my Flickr.

Post pub we decided against bicycle rental as we had 2 hours left and went with the hiking option. We happened upon a stone age fort which is where we enjoyed our lunch. On the menu for me was a goat cheese and tomato sandwich, apple, and potato chips. The view from the top of the fort was breathtaking, the sea and island dotted with tiny houses and the other islands in the distance.

Post lunch we wandered back into the village and parted ways as Signe was heading on to Inisheer Island (I will be going there tomorrow).

I then took a brief tour of Synge's house. For those not in the know (myself included before 1 pm today) Synge is a famous author from Ireland who wrote most of his plays on Inish Maan. The woman who gave to tour was very kind and is the great grandaughter of the owners of the cottage who rented a room to Synge. She had an array of pictures of her family that Synge had taken on the island from the late 19th century. It was a great little museum with a peat fire burning infusing the air with its scent. Picture a cosy white cottage, thatch roof and inside all the tools required for life back then including a spinning wheel and a butter churn. Quite quaint. The woman who led the tour grew up in the house and it has been her life's mission to turn it into a museum. It was lovely.

Post tour it was time to take the ferry back to Inish Mor. Now as I was walking the 30 minute walk back to the ferry I saw one leave at 2:45. I thought for a minute that it was early as my ferry was supposed to leave at 3:15. Ah Island time! Kind of like island directions. Super vague. 3:15 rolls around and there is no ferry in sight. I started having a mini inner panic as all of my belongings were on Inish Man, and I was not alone in my inner panic. Approximately 10 people were waiting for the ferry with me and we all conferred on what to do as there are only 2 ferries per day. One of the woman thought maybe they told us the wrong time and we were supposed to be there at 2:45. I started coming up with a plan B in my head which mostly involved going back to the pub!

Alas no plan B was needed, the ferry arrived albeit 20 minutes late. Ah island time!
I am now back on Inish Mor and have booked a night tomorrow on Inisheer to be followed by an 8 hour trek down to Dingle where I will be spending at least 3 nights. Tonight I am going to the same place for dinner, the vegetarian options were scrumptious. Last night it was cous cous, lentils, tomato salad, and a tomato/vegetable sauce, all of the ingredients are organic and came from the hostel's garden. To note this is not at my hostel, but another hostel up the road. When I asked the gentleman who runs my hostel how to get there he gave island directions.

Him: You just go up the road and it will be on your left in 20 minutes.
Me: Umm okay is there a sign?
Him: No we don't do signs here.
Me: Um what does it look like?
Him: White house all by itself with a bench in front of the window.

I headed up the road and went up a couple of driveways to private homes on my right as those were the directions. Turns out there is a sign, and the hostel was on my left. At least I know where I am going tonight!