Ireland Trip - Day 4
I've been really enjoying hiking/running the mountains here, most of them are 600-1000m high which makes it a short 1-2 hour hike, but with consistent intensity and a fantastic reward at the end. My AirBnB was just 20 minutes away from Glenveagh National Park and An Earagail, which was voted "Ireland's Most Iconic Mountain".
In the parking lot, another trail runner headed off a few minutes before I did, and I tried to keep up with them, but they kept getting farther and farther from me! It made for some pretty cool photos though!
Just as I got to the summit, they started heading down, so I went to chase down after them, but they were even faster going down!
Either way, I got some pretty fantastic views from the top.
The next stop, was Sliabh Liag (where Sliabh means mountain and Liag means pillars). There was a parking lot halfway up, which cost €15, or a lot + shuttle at the base which takes you up closer to the summit which cost €8. So it was a no brainer to take the shuttle, especially since I was trying to fit more into my schedule today.
I hiked farther out and up for about an hour out and jogged back, in time to catch the shuttle to take me back to my car.
It was starting to get late and so it was time to head to Sligo, the town I was hoping to stay in. On the way, I took a quick stop at Creevykeel Court Tomb, a tomb composed of a huge number of stones all arranged from around 3500 BC.
The entrance to the main burial chamber can be seen here, with a massive capstone.
I also took a stop at a viewpoint to see Benbulben, a steep flat-topped mountain. It was quite a drive to find a good vantage point for this mountain, because Irish country roads both don't have shoulders and are flanked with large hedges (obstructing views), you need to drive around to find an ideal spot to stop and take a photo!
When I finally got to Sligo, I searched for some veg friendly restaurants and immediately settled on Funké, an "Afro Caribbean" restaurant that had an excellent tofu egusi stew. I had to get a side of their jollof to try as well, it was also fantastic.
As I strolled around town, I came across a Westlife mural -- turns out that Sligo is where they are from. I later told my coworkers about this part of my trip and funny enough, pretty much none of them had heard of Westlife. Which blew both our minds, considering how popular they were, but I guess they weren't actually that popular in North America.
Today was also the first day where I was having trouble finding a place to stay for the night. There weren't any reasonably priced AirBnbs and all the hostels I called and checked with were booked up, so I swung by a RV park/campsite nearby, set up my tent and settled in for the night. And oh what a night it would be...
