CLIFFS OF MOHER

Several months ago, my late friend Anwar Batcha phoned me up why I was not updating my blog for nearly a month. It was followed soon after by an email from my respected elder. He was wondering whether I was not well that caused my silence. Alhamdulillah, I am okay. It is just the lazy bones that often stifles enthusiasm. Just like bears in winter, it is the hibernating season.

I do have two other updates in my draft before I would call it curtains down for the trip my wife and I took to Dublin. Returning from Venice, we had planned a 2-day outing to Cliffs of Moher, two days before our departure for home.

Located about 260kms from Dublin, on the western coast of Ireland, we decided to take an easy drive there.

Renting a car was the best option. It accords flexibility of travel and unregulated stops - just like touring on my bicycle, except that the speed is multiplied many folds.

We booked a night at a Travelodge in Limerick, a town roughly 60kms from the cliffs.

Limerick is the 3rd largest city of Ireland. Records states that it started as a viking settlement, with the Shanon River being the major waterways of the wandering vikings.

Entering Limerick city, we were greeted with a huge crowd of Irish in their familiar green colored t-shirts and jerseys leaving the stadium. They were the supporters of their rugby team. There was no rowdiness, so we further assume the local team must have defeated the visitors.

Other than the pockets of these supporters and their vehicles, Limerick remains relatively not busy.

We stopped for a photo shoot at King John's castle. It is one of the numerous castles you can find as you drive on the roads. The cloud was dull grey as one can expect in late autumn approaching winter. On the river bank, the winds dropped the temperature by a few more celcius and staying out could not be a prolong option.

So, a quick photoshoot for the 3 ladies in the entourage. Here is mom and daughter Syakira, hugging close for warmth.

And the two sisters admiring each other on the screen of my EOS camera. Nowadays, I prefer a compact than the heavy DSLR and a comprise on quality has to be expected. The compact suits well for my light travelling on my bicycle tours.

This is the Travelodge Limerick we stayed for the night. I downloaded this picture from the internet as I discovered none of us took a shot of the lodge.

A Travelodge is a cheap option to bed down for the night. It is a no frills hotel and for Euro 40 a night, one gets a room with large size beds adequate for 4 Asians, though maximum allowed is 3. It is very clean with modern facilities. Just across the road is a shopping mall where we got to buy our provisions for dinner.

The following day, we checked out of the hotel very early in the morning, still in darkness. The cliffs of Moher was still a good 60kms away. The car showed a quarter tank and when we passed a petrol kiosk a few kms from the Travelodge, we decided to proceed on and fill up somewhere along the way.

This proved to be a very poor decision. As the fuel needle slowly dipped to the red zone, there was still no sign of a petrol kiosk. We should have known that petrol kiosks are as rare as halal restaurants in Ireland! We were also driving in darkness.

I recalled that during our stay in Dublin, we did not come across any petrol kiosk in the city. I could perhaps be correct to say that Subang Jaya has more cars than a few cities in Ireland combined! Little wonder that working Malaysian students in Dublin can afford to buy a 3 series BMW. Poor demand, hence low price - simple economics. Well not really la!

Back to reality, I was driving cautiously. When we finally came across a petrol kiosk, it was still closed. We drove on to another small town. Same story. We were not even sure whether this other petrol kiosk will even open on Saturday. We waited for a while but decided to check whether there will be another one around. Wishful thinking it was. But a man in a sundry shop which surprisingly opened early said there was another kiosk towards our direction to the Cliffs of Moher. He did not know how far but gave us a "about 10 minutes drive from here" distance. Reminds me of the "sebatang rokok" story of the orang asli back home.

He was right. It was roughly the time he mentioned. Boy, were we happy to see a petrol kiosk? You bet. It was already daybreak. We filled up full. From the kiosk, it was only 10kms to the cliffs. This place is called Liscanor.

We passed a golf club and there were already golfers arriving at the club. If invited to play, I would politely turn the offer down. In the cold, my swing would be too stiff and I would not have a feel of the club in my hand.

I could not avoid but notice the generous speed limit of 100kms/hr on what I would classify as a kampong road. Even stretches of our PLUS highway has speed limit of only 80kms/hr. and of-course that would be the favorite hunting ground of our traffic police.

The road to the Cliffs passed through some farmland

and the famous Liscannor Stone. We did not buy any Liscannor stone as a momento. It would be too heavy for our luggage. Besides, what can we do with a stone!

We were early. We were the only second group of visitors to arrive. We were greeted by this crow and it was not able to provide much information to us! We asked, but the informant just flew away.

This is the entrance to the site. At such an early hour, it was still unmanned. But it was opened so we decided to pay our "exit" fee later instead of entrance fee.The winds blowing from the Pacific Ocean was cold, very cold. I just cannot imagine how Vikings travelled in their ships in such weather in the old days. The blankets we brought came in very handy indeed.

The cliffs are indeed a spectacular view. This was my shot.

Compare it with the shot I shot of the cliff in the souvenir shop! Well, the professional photographer has all the time to take this kind of shot.






There are also adequate protection and signages to deter some crazy tourists from venturing too far.

There is also a lookout castle and we made our way there, all the time taking turns with the blankets for warmth.

There was really nothing much to do here, except to capture the memories in several poses. So here goes.

and more poses

and yes...the jump

Obviously Shakira has a lot of practise to do before she can perfect the jump. Ila, you better learn it from Mimi fast.

and finally an Abbey Road ala the Beatles...well....not quite there