Having reviewed the success of the "Trial Run" it was now time to complete the last bookings. With these I planned to book everything for those places where I was sure where and when I was going to be there. I was going to stop in Glasgow on my way from the south west to Islay, so I booked a room at the Willow Hotel (picture on the left, 228 Renfrew Street, Glasgow; Tel. +44 -141 -332 2332). Due to the departure time of the ferry I also needed to stay in Argyll for one night. Here I decided to stay in the Empire Travel Lodge in Lochgilphead (picture on the right, Phone +44 -1546 -602381). The Empire Travel Lodge is a converted cinema, with an interesting history. I'll tell you more about it once I write about it during my main tour. As I will be returning with the evening ferry from Islay I also needed something not to far from the ferry but on the way north.

I remembered a nice Bed & Breakfast I had stayed in a few years ago: Dunchraigaig House (Kilmartin by Lochgilphead, Argyll, PA31 8RG; Tel. +44 -1546 -605209, email: Dunchraig@aol.com), which is on the A816 approx 3 miles before the village of Kilmartin. From several of the rooms you have a view over one of the stone circles of Kilmartin Glen. Then I turned my attention to where to stay on Lewis and Harris later during the tour. As this is going to be my first visit to the Western Isles I decided to use the booking service of the Western Isles Tourist Board. This went reasonably well, unfortunately their booking form is not on a secure server, so I had to fax my credit card details instead of being able to send them directly. But then they booked me some very promising B&B's: On Harris I will stay in Sith na Mara, on Lewis I will stay in the Hebridean Guest House in Stornoway. And with that I've completed the bookings I wanted to make before leaving.

Now it was time to complete some other preparations to get ready for the big tour...